Tom Morello, one of the most innovative rock guitarists of the last 30 years, has been added to the lineup of the inaugural South Star Music Festival in Huntsville, Alabama.
Morello rose to fame with his band Rage Against The Machine. He replaces fellow alt-rock icons Jane’s Addiction on the South Star bill. Jane’s Addiction canceled the rest of their 2024 reunion tour after singer Perry Farrell attacked guitarist Dave Navarro onstage mid-song during a Sept. 13 concert in Boston.
Morello will perform 5:15-6:15 p.m. Sept. 28 on South Star’s opening night on the festival’s Supersonic Stage. Nineties R&B legends TLC have been moved to the 7:15-8:15 p.m. Saturday slot on the Supersonic Stage Jane’s Addiction was scheduled to perform.
Pop superstar and No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani will close out Saturday night at South Star with a 9:30-11 p.m. Supersonic Stage set. Other artists set for Saturday at South Star: Shinedown, Jimmy Eat World, Juvenile, Gin Blossoms, Candlebox, Dexter and the Moonrocks, and Winona Fighter.
Pop-punk stars blink-182 headline on Sunday. Sunday’s lineup also boasts: Beck, Sublime, Goo Goo Dolls, Ludacris, Big Boi, Pete Yorn, Vanessa Carlton, Bully and Billy Allen + The Pollies.
Morello recently released the solo single “Soldier In The Army of Love.” The track features Morello’s signature head-bobbing riffs, with soul-sister backing vocals on the chorus. Morello’s son Roman Morello plays wah-drenched lead guitar on the track.
With Rage Against The Machine, Morello developed a unique guitar technique that emulates the sounds a rap DJ produces by scratching a record and manipulating a mixer. Morello’s conventional guitar influences include metal gods like Randy Rhoads and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi. Rage Against The Machine scored hits like “Killing In The Name.” The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.
In the early 2000s, Morello was part of Audioslave, a supergroup fronted by Soundgarden expat Chris Cornell. Morello has also released folk albums as The Nightwatchman.
Born in New York, raised in Illinois and later relocated to Los Angeles, Morello also has released four solo albums under his own name. He had an early 2010s stint playing guitar with Bruce Springsteen, too.
Morello’s setlists have included, according to setlist.fm, solo cuts like “Hold the Line” and the aforementioned “Soldier in the Army of Love,” versions of Rage classics like “Bulls On Parade” and “Bombtrack,” Audioslave essentials “Cochise” and “Like a Stone,” and covers of MC5′s “Kick Out the Jams” and John Lennon’s “Power to the People.”
South Star is being produced by C3 Presents of Austin, Texas. C3′s other festival productions have included Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Atlanta’s Shaky Knees and New Orleans’ Voodoo Music + Arts Experience. South Star tickets available at southstarfestival.com/tickets.
Huntsville has been without a large-scale music festival since the final Big Spring Jam in 2011. The engineering-centric city’s music profile has risen steadily since the opening of Orion Amphitheater in spring 2022.
