Opening night of a con is always an exciting prospect. One can usually expect thinner crowds then will be seen the rest of the weekend, rare merchandise and back issues to abound and a full blown concert from the legendary Tom Morello… wait what? That’s right ladies and gentlemen, Tom Morello of Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine fame took the stage tonight at New York Comic Con under his solo moniker of The Nightwatchman. Backed by a group of musicians known as The Freedom Fighter Orchestra, The Nightwatchman is Morello’s social
y conscious persona known for his metal infused folk rock style protest songs. One might ask why such a rock star as Morello would be playing a venue such as New York Comic Con? The answer of course lies in his recent partnership with Dark Horse Comics to publish his post apocalyptic saga Orchid, which hit shelves this past Wednesday.
In true Nightwatchman style, Morello took the stage with a guitar inscribed with ‘Arm the Homeless’ and after plugging the Occupy Wall Street movement, he kicked off his set with It Begins Tonight, the first of a series of free tracks available with the purchase of his Orchid books. He then explained that while ‘love songs’ weren’t usually in his catalog he felt the need to write one for this particular love: his new guitar, Black Spartacus. After displaying his love affair with his guitar Morello described an amazing, beautiful song he and Ben Harper wanted to write that would sound like ‘freedom flowing down like a mighty stream’, however they decided they couldn’t and played Save the Hammer for the Man, another protest style song. At this time the token heckler yelled ‘Freebird‘, indicating they wanted him to play the song originally made famous by southern rock band Lynyrd Sknyrd. Morello responded by claiming he was squashing the first amendment by banning the song. Morello continued the set with a quietly moving song known as ‘The Garden of Gethsemane‘ and ended with a Rage Against the Machine style cover of Bruce Springsteen’s The Ghost of Tom Joad.
As can be expected from the Grammy winning guitarist of Rage against the Machine, Morello rocked the house tonight at New York Comicon. Be sure you check out Robb Orr’s review of Orchid from Dark Horse Comics and pick it up at your local comic shop and be sure to check back here at Comic Booked for all your New York Comic Con coverage!
All Photos Taken by Nick C.
Tags: Comics, Dark Horse, New York Comic Con, Nick C, NYCC, Orchid, Rob The Wrecker, Robb Orr, The Freedom Fighter Orchestra, The Nightwatchman, Tom Morello
About the Author
Written by Rob The Wrecker
Born and Raised in Northeast Philadelphia, Rob likes to refer to himself as an 'omni-nerd'. Comics, Video games, RPGS, and CCGs are all among the things that can be found on his person, at any given time. When not being a total nerd Rob The Wrecker will usually be found working his Loss Prevention day job or tearing it up in the nearest mosh pit.
Dude! Tom Morello, Comic Con and Dark Horse? Wow, that’s cool to another level!
Sounds like they had an awesome time.
It’s cool to see Morello so involved in comics, since he’s also such an amazing musician.
Epic! Great coverage.