LOS ANGELES -- An hour and a half before Rage Against the Machine started its free concert at the intersection of 11th and Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles on Monday night (8/14), someone threw an empty water bottle in the air. Within seconds a flurry of other water bottles joined them, and in a manner of minutes the sky in the outdoor area walled off from the Staples Center and the Democratic National Convention was crowded with water bottles, smoke bombs and bras.

Organized as a protest against the two-party system, generally, and the Democratic National Convention, specifically, the free concert featured Rage Against the Machine, Ozomatli [ tickets ] and a host of sloganeering speakers leading the crowd in chants of "No justice, no peace/no racist police" and "Human need/not corporate greed"--in addition to which, many complaints were made about a "Bush-Gore" ticket.

Although the thousands that packed the parking lot area adjacent to the Staples Center--and the few that climbed trees at the back of the yard to watch the show--might not agree, the protest was essentially a small storm in a pretty big teacup. Fifteen-foot high fences on concrete barriers kept a healthy distance between the protesters and the Staples Center, while hundreds of police in full riot gear stood at the ready in case tensions began to escalate.

Prior to Rage’s set, the crowd alternated between chanting for the band and heaving projectiles at the speakers. When Rage did appear, launching into "Bulls on Parade," the 10,000-plus throng surged to the front and the moshing began, as producer Rick Rubin and MTV talking head Chris Connolly watched from the wings.

Rage kept its set short, playing something of a greatest hits package, with a cover of the MC5’s "Kick Out the Jams," and a host of original songs such as "People of the Sun," "Testify," "Guerilla Radio," "Sleep Now in the Fire" and the set-closing "Killing in the Name." For a band that’s normally politically outspoken, Rage mostly skipped any direct politicking apart from playing its songs, and one has to wonder if the concert organizers asked them to keep things down to a dull roar.

About 30 percent of the crowd headed for the exits after Rage finished. Those who stayed were bombarded by people passing out everything from Green Party fliers to socialist newspapers. Helicopters circled and buzzed over head. Photographers were stationed on top of the Holiday Inn near the concert area and were lined up on impromptu platforms behind the stage.

Ozomatli [ tickets ], a nine-man, percussion-heavy L.A. collective, got the crowd up and jumping early on, but unruly fans to stage-right sparked them to remind everyone to keep calm enough to allow the show to continue. One song later, the power was cut and a police officer’s voice came over the P.A. declaring that those gathered were guilty of an unlawful assembly and that anyone remaining in the area after 15 minutes would be arrested, an announcement that sent those left on hand grumbling on their way to the exits.

The protests and chants that marked the early evening were organized and vocal, but the abrupt ending to festivities showed that as long as the Democratic National Convention is in town, this guerrilla radio can and will be turned off with the flick of a switch.