THE PARTY’S OVER

July 18, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

Rage Against the Machine arrived on the music scene nearly a quarter century ago as a socially-conscious band not afraid to speak its mind about racial and political inequality, as well as stir up controversy in its wake.

The band’s history includes being banned by “Saturday Night Live” for performing with an upside down American flag, as well as staging a raucous performance at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles during which singer Zach de la Rocha said, “Brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hijacked.”

Apparently the band members feel that remains true today with the recently announced supergroup Prophets of Rage, which features Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk joining forces with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and DJ Lord, as well as Cypress Hill’s B-Real.

“Knowing the political climate was right, we got in a room and it felt awesome,” said Wilk, calling from Los Angeles. “We realized there was something really exciting there. We just wanted to stay vital in playing new music and to pay respect to our history.”

That’s what fans should expect when Prophets of Rage makes a special Northeast Ohio appearance Tuesday at the Cleveland Agora to coincide with the Republican National Convention (RNC).

Having only played a few shows, Prophets of Rage’s setlists have included new song “The Party’s Over” along with material by Rage Against the Machine (“Bombtrack,” “Sleep Now in the Fire,” “Bulls on Parade” and “Killing in the Name”), Public Enemy (“Shut’em Down”) and Cypress Hill (“How I Could Just Kill a Man”).

As for “The Party’s Over,” Wilk said the tune could end up being on a Prophets of Rage release later this year; however, the project doesn’t have a street date.

For those who live in Northeast Ohio, there’s currently only one party. That’s the one associated with the recent Cleveland Cavaliers NBA championship.

So when it’s pointed out to Wilk that a riotous RNC could negatively affect Cleveland’s newfound positive image, he laughed, “Let’s hope not. I mean, that’s why we’re coming to you. That’s why we’re coming to shake things up. We’re all really excited to be another voice at the RNC.

“There are a lot of disenfranchised people, disenchanted people living in a system that clearly doesn’t work anymore for them. Throughout history it’s been shown that people have the power to change systems that only cater to a select few people.”

Similar to folk songs in the early 20th century that spurred change, Rage Against the Machine has crafted numerous anthems that will seemingly forever inspire the disenfranchised. One of which is its 1999 tune “Guerilla Radio,” which includes the lyrics “What better place than here/What better time than now?”

“I have to give credit to Zach de la Rocha,” said Wilk. “He’s such an amazing lyricist and I do remember hearing that part for the first time and just feeling really proud. If you can be a part of music that affects change and at the very least makes people start to think differently, I think that we’ve done our job.

“And as Prophets of Rage, we want to continue on that tradition.”