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By Dave Miller

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Before playing a song Friday night at the Bottom Lounge, Tom Morello asked everyone to be quiet, and that included not Twittering or checking the Sox score. The mention of the South Side baseball team drew a mixed reaction and prompted one concertgoer to hurl an insult about the Cubs. "Let's not turn this into a blood letting," Morello said good naturedly. "We've having a good night here. I'm still on the side of the underdog. Just watch your World Series DVD."

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It was a rare moment of fivolity in a set filled with a serious addressing of important topics such as workers' rights, the wars in the Middle East, economic justice and Arizona's newly-passed immigration law. The night was a benefit for the Industrial Workers of the World union and Morello was just the man for the job. Trading in his electric guitar that he's shredded for Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave for an acoustic one with "Whatever It Takes" written on it, Morello drew a line in the sand  and staked out the territory of the underdog in the best tradition of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

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Morello has adopted a solo acoustic persona of The Nightwatchman. He's released two well-received albums under the moniker. He's described his political alter ego as "the black Robin Hood of 21st Century music." As advertised on his guitar, The Nightwatchman served noticed that he is prepared to do whatever it takes in what amounts to his theme song, "One Man Revolution":

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On the streets of New York
The cabs don't stop
On the street where I live
They called the cops
Found a noose in my garage
Now how 'bout that
So tonight I'm in the bushes
With a baseball bat

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Early in his set he played "The Union Song" which was made for just such an event with the following lyrics:

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For Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez
Who fought in their own time
For our brothers and our sisters
Up and down that picket line
For the unnamed and unnumbered
Who struggle brave and long
For the union men and women
Standing up and standing strong

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The Nightwatchman sounded more dynamic than on his albums with his authoritative baritone, insistent delivery, strong strumming and foot stomping. He doesn't so much sing songs as he rallies soldiers for a fight. Morello unveiled a new tune called "Worldwide Rebel Songs" about international solidarity. It's a reminder that we're all in this together, and he emphasized that by inviting anyone to join him onstage. He schooled us on its lyrics and then led us through the song like a political Pied Piper. Seeger would have been proud at how Morello upheld the folk tradition of turning observers into participants. Morello invited the fans on the packed stage to stay for Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" in which he sang all the lyrics, including the oft-omitted final verse:

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In the squares of the city/In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office /I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me

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For a grand finale, Morello brought openers Bucky Halker and The Rust Belt Ramblers back onstage among the fans for a rousing "Solidarity Forever." After receiving its message, Morello's rounded-up posse filtered out of the venue and splintered into the darkness. The Nightwatchman had done his job.

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The setlist:

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Flesh Shapes The Day
The Fabled City
Union Song
Joe Hill
Guerrilla Radio
One Man Revolution
When The Tigers Broke Free
Dogs of Tijuana
The Road I Must Travel
Worldwide Rebel Songs
This Land Is Your Land
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Solidarity Forever (with The Rust Belt Ramblers and Bucky Halker)

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Start: 10:20 p.m./Finish: 11:30 p.m.
Totals: 12 songs/1 hour and 10 minutes

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The Rust Belt Ramblers and Bucky Halker were also on the bill. Both were effective in rallying the workers and music fans in the crowd.

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The Rust Belt Ramblers featured a rustic, high-energy kind of Americana. The highlight for me was a cover of Janis Martin's "Bang Bang." They're fun to watch. If anything, I might suggest for them to tone their activity down a bit and concentrate more on their playing, but I'd definitely be up for seeing them again.

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The Rust Belt Ramblers setlist:

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Atonement
Wild Wild World
Empty Beer Bottles
Break Your Heart
I Got a Home
When You Go
Bang Bang
Devil's Got Me Wandering
Johnny's Song
Rhythm of it All

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I really enjoyed Halker. I'm a sucker for Woody Guthrie songs and he played a pair, "I Ain't Got No Home" and "Deportee." It was the first time I heard "Stockyard Blues," a cover of Chicago bluesman Floyd Jones from 1947. Halker's appreciation and knowledge of folk music really came through in his song choices and enlightening, conversational introductions to them. Plus he had a positive, fun spirit. I could have listened to him all night.

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Bucky Halker's setlist:

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I Ain't Got No Home
St. Francis
Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)
Stockyard Blues
The Dying Miner
Emma Goldman
Fish on a Line
Casey Jones the Union Scab
I Don't Want Your Millions (with The Rust Belt Ramblers)

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