It was a crapshoot, but lucky locals who won the lottery-style concert giveaway will get to attend today’s big show at the Denver Coliseum.

The Democratic National Convention-themed event features the reunited Rage Against the Machine, The Coup, State Radio and Colorado’s own Flobots. The acts are coming to town to speak their political minds and to provide some free entertainment.

The members of the Flobots are political activists in their own right, but the band also has been busy promoting its latest CD, Fight With Tools, and getting the word out on its unique brand of progressive hip-hop.

“We’re just wrapping up a quick tour before we get to Denver,” MC James Laurie said. “We’re excited to be back in Denver. We’re getting ready to release our new single, ‘Rise,’ and it’s nice that people are recognizing us as a band that exists outside the format.

“We have some deeper content to our songs.”

Laurie says the Flobots have a deep interest in this year’s political process. The band has been busy working at registering voters, and the group’s new single reflects its political ideologies.

“‘Rise’ is emblematic of who we are,” Laurie said. “It’s a song that’s appropriate for this time period. It’s about coming to terms with the pain in our lives and it’s about global consciousness. We really want this song to unify our listeners. The video for ‘Rise’ is also going to be uplifting and authentic. We filmed it at the Gothic in Denver, so it’s very Denver-centric.”

Many of those fans will be showing up at today’s Flobots set.

“There’s a big activist community in Denver and we all stay in touch,” Laurie said. “We’re pretty plugged into community organizations in Denver. All of us are part of the anti-war movement and we’re really about educating our neighbors. We’re just trying to get everybody inspired behind the nominee. We want to get people plugged in.

“This may be a rally — but music is the rallying force.”