SPILL LIVE REVIEW: TOM MORELLO @ RICHMOND HILL CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, RICHMOND HILL

TOM MORELLO

@ RICHMOND HILL CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, RICHMOND HILL

OCTOBER 24, 2025

Tom Morello is currently in the midst of his A Night Of Stories & Music Tour which sees the legendary Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave guitarist take the stage across a series of Ontario and Quebec theatres from mid-October to early November. In addition to being billed as a solo and largely acoustic tour, Morello is also using this as an opportunity to share his life story, detailing his numerous artistic projects and his continued political endeavours.

On Friday, October 24th, Morello took the stage at Richmond Hill’s Centre For The Performing Arts, a venue that has certainly never before seen the likes of the intensity and heard the sounds of wailing guitars as it would that night. Promising to update the sold-out audience on the Jays score – “Fuck the Dodgers” he would exclaim as a die-hard Cubs fan – Morello opened his set with an acoustic performance of “Keep Going”, a strikingly bare arrangement of his 2021 collaboration with The Blood Beetroots. From here, he continued with a series of stories, recounting his upbringing as a mixed person of colour in the overwhelming white community of Libertyville, Illinois. Through his stories, he touched upon his encounters with racism, the radical actions of his mother, Mary Morello, and his introduction to rock ‘n’ roll. Rather than feel like a self-indulgent biography, Morello’s narrative focused on a greater scope. For example, save his stories about filming the music videos for “Freedom” and “Sleep Now In The Fire” and later, meeting Chris Cornell, the Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave stories were kept to a minimum. Instead, Morello spoke of running an underground student newspaper in high school, his decision to pick up the acoustic guitar as The Nightwatchman, performing in solidarity with striking unions, and the importance of global citizenship.

Throughout the night, in between chapters of his story, Morello would pick up a guitar and perform. While billed as an acoustic tour, his signature Stratocaster adorned with hippos was also called to action on multiple occasions. Much of the show saw Morello perform within the folk context with just his voice, an acoustic guitar, and a harmonica. Pulling heavily from his Nightwatchman catalogue, Morello performed songs like “One Man Revolution” “House Gone Up In Flames”, and “The Garden Of Gethsemane”, a beautifully heartbreaking song he continues to perform in memory of Cornell. Additionally, “The Last Rung On The Ladder” and an acoustic version of his latest single, “Pretend You Remember Me”, also made for special appearances in the set. As the night went on, electric guitars were used more frequently. First it was simply a pair of shredding solos, demonstrating a contrasting virtuosity and innovation to his musicality. While he would close the show with a powerfully electric performances of “Killing In The Name,” the stage mic turned to the audience, allowing for the venue to take on the vocals behind Morello’s axe, it was his cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Ghost Of Tom Joad” that marked the climax of the night. As Morello played to a backing track, his voice harmonized with that of Springsteen over a sparse arrangement that grew more intense with each passing verse, giving Morello the opportunity to perform two fantastical solos.

Morello speaks with a disarmingly candid understanding of the world, with both a biting sense of humour and an aggressively brilliant anti-colonial stance. Through this, he effectively used his own story to empower the audience to remain vigilant, to question authority, and to take action against oppressive forces. This was furthered through his use of visuals, which ranged from his own photos to provocatively powerful images of protest, including a statement reading “Stop Killing Children” in the colours of the Palestinian flag. This was no ordinary concert, but rather, the A Night Of Stories & Music Tour feels more like a seminar on political activism with musical interludes, making this current tour a special affair among Morello’s diverse and iconic career. In a time where instability and authoritative forces are on the rise, Morello brings a message of hope among hopelessness. His performance at the Richmond Hill Centre For The Performing Arts was a reminder of the values of solidarity and resilience, the importance of approaching your neighbour with kindness, and the need, perhaps now more than ever, to be a voice for the voiceless.

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