The Kennedy Center Honors always present an odd spectacle. One of the hottest tickets in town, it brings D.C.’s elites together to sit in black tie and cheer for old rock stars (among others). It’s hard to imagine FDR mumbling along to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” an arm slung around Eleanor. But that’s the world we live in today.

As the Kennedy Center honors more and more aging rockers—Led Zeppelin last year, the Who in 2008—we’ll have to get used to such scenes. But this year’s induction was perhaps the strangest scene yet. Not because of who was inducted—i.e., Carlos Santana, whose decades-long career is responsible for “Oye Como Va” and “Smooth,” among other crimes against humanity. Rather, this year’s Honors should be remembered for who performed in Santana’s honor: Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine.