Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello takes the stage in Marseilles

The stage held the weight, according to Gov. JB Pritzker, because it was put together by union labor – but Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello tested it when he requested as many members of the crowd as possible to join him on stage Thursday in Marseilles for “This Land is Your Land,” and jump up and down at the conclusion of the song.

Morello, performing his solo project as The Nightwatchman, joined members of Laborers 393 and about 500 people in attendance to commemorate a 1932 labor riot that cost Joliet’s Steve Sutton, a Croatian immigrant and father of four children, his life.

It’s the first time Morello performed in Marseilles, where his mother was born and he spent some summers, even winning a Little League baseball title, which he called a favorite memory.

“My mom’s back home in L.A. and when I told her where I was going, she said, ‘You’re playing in Marseilles?’ Finally, after 35 years they invited me to play in Marseilles and I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Morello said at the beginning of his acoustic set, which featured the songs “Night Falls” and “Interstate 80,” both written specifically about events in Marseilles.

“Night Falls” is written about “Big Steve” Sutton, specifically, and how he was killed on July 19, 1932, while protesting with other laborers in seek of work and a better wage.

“We’re all in this together!” Morello shouted in between songs, getting cheers from the crowd. He started his set by encouraging attendees to get closer to the stage.

Morello said he, himself, is a union man with Musicians Local 47 in Los Angeles and his mother, Mary, was a public school teacher in Libertyville for more than 30 years.

“We never had a lot of money, but we had enough for food on the table, clothes on our back and guitar amplifiers in our basement because my mom was a union high school teacher,” Morello said.

Morello rounded out his set with “This Land is Your Land,” including the “forbidden” verses often not taught in schools when children first learn the song.

“As I went walking I saw a sign there, and on the sign it said ‘No Trespassing.’ But on the other side it didn’t say nothing. That side was made for you and me ... "

“In the shadow of the steeple, I saw my people, by the relief office I seen my people; as they stood there hungry, I stood there asking is this land made for you and me?”

The crowd answered with the well-known chorus: “This land is your land and this land is my land from California to the New York island, from the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for you and me.”

When Morello finished his set, attendees started to leave. The emcee had to remind them that the governor and other politicians were slated to speak.