Tom Morello has teamed up with Rise Against for A Concert Of Solidarity & Resistance To Defend Minnesota, a benefit show this Friday, January 30, at the legendary First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN.
The unprecedented concert lineup also features guitar virtuoso Al Di Meola, singer-songwriter Ike Reilly and a teased "very special guest." Tickets are on sale now via axs.com, with doors opening at 10:30AM and the show kicking off at noon.
Morello broke the news on Instagram on January 28, wielding language as sharp as his signature riffs. In a fiery statement, he declared: "If it looks like fascism, sounds like fascism, acts like fascism, dresses like fascism, talks like fascism, kills like fascism and lies like fascism, boys & girls it's f*cking fascism.
"It's here, it's now, it's in my city, it's in your city and it must be resisted, protested, defended against, stood up to, exposed, ousted, overthrown and driven out. By you and by me."
Morello's message went on to frame the event in the context of ongoing protests in Minneapolis, applauding local resistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Trump administration's enforcement tactics.
"Where the people have stood up for their neighbors and themselves, for democracy and justice," he wrote, adding: "Ain't nobody coming to save us except us and it's now or never."
The benefit show comes amid intense upheaval in Minneapolis following two fatal encounters during the recent Minnesota ICE operation. Earlier this month, 37-year-old Renée Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent during a January 7 enforcement operation — one of several such federal actions in the city.
On January 24, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis as well — the second deadly incident involving federal immigration forces in the span of just weeks.
Both deaths have sparked widespread protests and national scrutiny, with demonstrations spreading beyond Minnesota and calls for accountability and changes to federal immigration enforcement practices.
Organizers have pledged that 100% of all proceeds from the concert will be directed to the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, turning what may be a moment of collective mourning into one of musical solidarity and action.
