At Coachella, we made a brief visit to the Urb magazine booth when we saw a poster of the cover of the next issue of the magazine. In bold letters, the cover states "BEASTIE BOYS' 4-STAR NEW ALBUM." Look for the magazine, which features The Roots on the cover, to hit store shelves soon.

We are overwhelmed with calls and emails from friends in the Beastie Boys fan community about our promised review of the Beastie Boys' new album The Mix-Up. We will definitely have a review and more information about the new album to share soon.

All we'll say for now about The Mix-Up is the album is completely unique. All the clues you've heard and read are accurate. Northern soul, soundtrack, spy music...it's all there. It's NOT a repeat of The In Sound from Way Out. Do not expect to hear "Sabrosa"-style songs. It's the Beastie Boys like you've never heard them before.

Click on photo for enlargement.
Photo courtesy of EMI/Capitol. Posted with permission.

Due to a wild weekend at the Coachella Music Festival, we've had to postpone our promised review of the new Beastie Boys album The Mix-Up. While we patch the cuts, bumps, and bruises that we received at the Rage Against the Machine set last night, we ask you to review the goofy-funky album cover art.

By chance, we ran into Zoe Rogers at Coachella and asked her opinion of the Beastie Boys new album. "I love it!" she gushed.

Here's a clip of Beastie Boys performing An Open Letter To NYC live at MTV Europe Music Awards on November 18, 2004 in Rome.

We have been waiting and waiting to find out something about the new Beastie Boys album. Well, wait no more because we have the entire scoop!

Today the Beastie Boys new album, which is titled The Mix-Up, was provided to Capitol Records associates for promotional review, along with some additional information about the release. The album will be released in North America on July 10, not June 26 as we reported earlier. [Edit: The label has changed the release date back to June 26.] The album is, in fact, completely instrumental. By "completely instrumental," we mean NO VOCALS.

Get ready to hate us because we have been invited to a private listening party of the new album in Los Angeles tonight. We will provide additional information about the release after the party. We wanted to share the love so we invited select members of the Beastie Boys Message Board in Los Angeles to attend this party with us. So look to hear what those people have to say about the album on the message board.

Several fans contacted us about a short article published by Albumvote.co.uk, a UK music site. The article reads:

The Beastie Boys are expected to follow 2003's To The 5 Boroughs with a brand new album called 'The Mix-Up'. Full details are still to be confirmed but the CD has been slated for the June 25 release.

I sent an email to a few friends at the Beastie Boys' record label in the United States and asked if they could confirm the album title and release date.

One friend replied that the release date has indeed been set. The Beastie Boys new album will be released in North America on June 26, 2007. The information the label currently has for the album title is "TBD" (i.e., To Be Determined).

Although it's nice to have a confirmed release date, it's the secondary information my friend supplied in the email that got me excited. My friend writes:

6/26 release date, with festival tour then club tour to follow. That's all I know at the moment.

Go back and re-read that. Festival tour then club tour! Woo-hoo! Rejoice Beastie Boys fans!!

With a festival tour of Europe already planned for this summer, one can assume the club tour will be in North America this fall.

Click on the image to see an enlargement.

Here's a photo of Mike Diamond at the red carpet arrivals for the Food Bank of NYC's Can-Do Awards Dinner on Monday, April 23.

Visit this site to listen to the interview with Mike D conducted by Ian C. Rogers.

Click on the image to see an enlargement.

Beastie Boys have generously donated an orange spray-painted guitar owned by Adam Horovitz and signed by all of the Beastie Boys to an auction that benefits the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls. The money from the auction will help financially needy kids attend music camp where they can write songs, learn instruments/DJ, form bands, and rock out together.

The guitar (auction item #113) has a reserve price and a starting bid of $200. Please consider bidding on this unique item and contributing to a worthwhile organization. Bidding ends on May 7, 2007.

My friend and business partner is at the Food Bank of NYC's Can-Do Awards Dinner at Pier Sixty in New York City tonight. I just received the following text message from her:

Afro Beastie is here. I took a pic for you.

We'll have more on this event later.

Here's another pic from the opening reception of Cey Adams' "Untitled" exhibition at the Eye Jammie Fine Arts Gallery in New York on April 12.

The deck on the far right with a Billie Jean King design was created by Kathleen Hanna, aka Mrs. Adam Horovitz.

Tons of photos from the opening are available at thecrusade.net:
Page 1 // Page 2 // Page 3 // Page 4.

Designer extraordinaire and old-school graf artist Cey Adams has put together an exhibition of original skateboard art, which he has cleverly titled "Untitled." Adams enlisted an impressive line of creative types (painters, photographers, clothing designers, skaters, musicians) to contribute to the exhibition. Adams provided each artist with a blank skateboard and avoided giving any instructions or deadlines for the finished work. The results were unique.

The exhibition runs through May 5 at the Eye Jammie Fine Arts Galley in New York.

An opening reception was held at the gallery on April 12. It drew many of Cey's supporters and friends, some of whom you may recognize in the following images from Eyejammie.com.


Kathleen Hanna, Cey Adams, and Adam Horovitz


Adam Yauch, Lisa Cortes, and Bill Adler

Related Links

Photos of the exhibition by John Prolly

Dante Ross writes about the opening

If you missed out on getting pre-sale tickets to the instrumental show at Le Bataclan in Paris on June 27, please be aware that the ticket information for today's on-sale provided in the Beastie Boys official newsletter is incorrect. The correct link to use is here. (Click on the "Your Order in English" link if you don't understand French.)

We have a few video clips from the private show the Beastie Boys played in Portland on April 6 to share. The first clip was shot by two locals who outwitted security and snuck into the party.

"Sure Shot"

The following video clips were shot on a camera phone by a Portland local (not a W+K employee) who was invited to the party.

 

Clip 1: Introduction to Sabotage; Clip 2: Sabotage

 

Clip1: Body Movin' (Part 1); Clip 2: Body Movin' (Part 2)

Intergalactic

Many thanks to Natallica for sharing these video clips with the Beastie Boys fan community!

In the process of interviewing about a dozen people who attended the show, we learned a few interesting things.

The Good
Everyone we spoke to said the Beastie Boys were "incredible," full of energy and "completely on" in their performance.

The band were jovial, joining the audience in celebrating the organization's anniversary. Before "Something's Got to Give," Alfredo Ortiz opened a bottle of champagne and poured glasses for everyone in the band, except teetotaler Adam Yauch, who jokingly reached for the entire bottle from Fredo. Adam Horovitz made a toast to Portland [YouTube.com] and the company, congratulating them on their anniversary.

The Bad
Alcohol had been flowing freely at the party since 3 p.m., which is not a bad thing in itself. (We enjoy a cold one, especially if it's free.) Several of the W+K employees we spoke to expressed regret for being too inebriated to properly appreciate the show, which began at 8:45 p.m.

The Ugly
At one point during the show, someone in the audience threw a beer bottle and almost hit Adam Yauch. Angry about the incident, Adam Horovitz stopped the show. Yauch played the diplomat and convinced his friend that he was ok, and the show continued.

We would like to thank all the W+K employees, guests, and "show bandits" who contacted us to share their impressions, photos, and videos of the show.

A number of Swiss news sources are reporting Beastie Boys are confirmed to play the Montreux Jazz Festival, which takes place from July 6-21 in Montreux, Switzerland. The full artist line-up and performance dates will be announced on the Montreux Jazz Festival web site tomorrow (Thursday, April 19).

Update (4/19):
According to the Montreux Jazz Festival program, the Beastie Boys will be appearing at the festival on the following dates:

July 9 - Hip hop set
Purchase tickets (CHF 89)

July 10 - Instrumental set
Purchase tickets (CHF 79)

Thanks to X-Man!

Received in our inbox tonight:

17 April 2007

MORE BEASTIE BOYS SHOWS

A few more shows going on sale AND exclusive ticket hold for LIVE EARTH!!!

June 11th - Lisbon, Portugal - Aula Magna
Beastie Boys - A Gala Event - Exclusive Instrumental Show
Exclusive Presale starts Thursday, April 19th at 10am here.
Tickets to on sale to the public on Friday, April 20th at 10am here, or by phone at +351 707234234.

June 20th - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
Beastie Boys - A Gala Event - Exclusive Instrumental Show
Exclusive Presale starts Thursday, April 19th at 10am local time here. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, April 20th at 10am local time here, or by phone at +49(0)1805-853 653.

June 23rd - Cologne, Germany - E-Werk
Beastie Boys - A Gala Event - Exclusive Instrumental Show
Exclusive Presale starts Thursday, April 19th at 10am local time here. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, April 20th at 10am local time here, or by phone at +49(0)1805-853 653.

June 27th - Paris, France - Bataclan
Beastie Boys - A Gala Event - Exclusive Instrumental Show
Exclusive Presale starts Thursday, April 19th at 10am local time here (English Version) and here (French Version). Tickets go on sale to the public on April 20th at 10am local time here.

July 4th - Stockholm, Sweden - Grona Lund Tivoli
Exclusive Presale starts Monday April 23rd at 9am local time here. Tickets go on sale to the public on Tuesday, April 24th at 9am local time here.

July 7th - Live Earth - Middlesex, UK - Wembley Stadium
Beastie Boys have arranged for a special block of tickets to be set aside for their fans. Beginning tomorrow, Wednesday April 18th, at 9am local time, follow this link and enter the password: **If YOU WANT PASSWORDS, YOU SHOULD SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER. WE'RE NOT GOING TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING.**

There is a 2 ticket limit for this special fan-exclusive sale. These tickets are very limited, so act quickly at the specified time.

Does anybody even want to go to Live Earth?

Here's a video of Beastie Boys performing "Skills to Pay the Bills" live at Melkweg, Amsterdam, on May 16, 2004. Many fans, including me, say this is one of their favourite performances of the song. At the beginning of the video, you can see Beastie Boys giving a shout out to BBMB'er Romanpetr.

Wouldn't you like to be body-snatched by the Beastie Boys?

This advertisement, which aired on MTV to promote the 1987 Daytona Beach Spring Break Body Snatchers Contest, was presumably filmed in New York. Once the winner of the contest was located and "snatched" by the Beastie Boys, he/she and a friend would be flown to Daytona Beach, Florida, for MTV’s Spring Break 1987 Weekend. In addition to the trip and cash to spend while in Daytona, the winner also was given a walk-on appearance in the movie Revenge of the Nerds II.

Money Mark talks about his new album "Brand New By Tomorrow" in a behind-the-stage interview with Sundance Channel Online.

Take a peak at the email that I received last night from a friend at the Beastie Boys' record label. I underlined the important parts in red, confirming the release date and format of the new album.

Beastie Boys are among the artists who will perform at the Live Earth Concert in London on July 7. Ticket sales will start on April 13. You can find ticket information here.

Click on image to view slideshow. Photo courtesy of happytoshare.

We've been hearing good things about the private show the Beastie Boys performed in Portland last Friday from the good people at Wieden + Kennedy. A number of them have generously shared details about the show with us and given us permission to post their photos. Click on the above image to view a slideshow of photos taken at the show.

If you experience problems with the Flash slideshow, view the photoset at Flickr.com.

The videos are back!

Youtube.com sucks now, so we're moving our videos to a different host. Check Mic to Mic regularly to see your favourite Beastie Boys performances from TV shows and concerts. Here is a video of Beastie Boys performing "So What'cha Want" with Cypress Hill on the Arsenio Hall Show on July 29, 1992.

"Shake Your Rump"

You know the words.

We felt that it was time to recap the tour dates and update you on ticket information. Some of the ticket links and prices have changed since our last update.

We did a quick check on ticket availability and found that both the Connect Festival in Scotland and the Electric Picnic in Ireland are sold out. It is possible for additional tickets to show up in the system again, so if you want tickets to either sold-out show, check the ticket service frequently.

All of the standing tickets for the show at Le Zenith in Paris are sold out; however, seated tickets are still available. One-day passes for the Rock Werchter Festival are sold-out. A waiting list is available.

Ticket information on both the Alive Festival in Portugal and the Virgin Festival in Baltimore, Maryland, are still forthcoming.

Beastie Boys 2007 Tour Schedule

May 26 - Sasquatch Festival - George, Washington, USA - Tickets ($100 for 2-day pass)
Exclusive Instrumental Set

May 27 - Sasquatch Festival - George, Washington, USA - Tickets ($100 for 2-day pass)

June 10 - Alive Festival - Lisbon, Portugal - Tickets

June 14 - Sonar Festival - Barcelona, Spain - Tickets (€48)
Exclusive Instrumental Set

June 15 - Sonar Festival - Barcelona, Spain - Tickets (€45)

June 17 - Efes Pilsen One Love Festival - Istanbul, Turkey - Tickets (66.50 YTL)

June 22 - Hurricane Festival* - Scheesel, Germany - Tickets (€101)
*International ticket service seems to be unavailable.

June 24 - Southside Festival* - Neuhausen, Germany - Tickets (€101)
*International ticket service seems to be unavailable.

June 26 - Le Zenith - Paris, France - Tickets (€40.70 or €46.20)

June 28 - Rock Werchter Festival - Werchter, Belgium - Tickets (€75)

June 30 - Heineken Open'er Festival - Gdynia, Poland - Tickets (269 PLN for 3-day pass)

July 1 - Heineken Open'er Festival - Gdynia, Poland - Tickets (269 PLN for 3-day pass)
Exclusive Instrumental Set

July 3 - Quart Festival - Kristiansand, Norway - Tickets (1735.00 NOK)

July 6 - Roskilde Festival - Roskilde, Denmark - Tickets (€200 for 4-day pass)

July 11 - Moon & Stars Festival - Ticino, Switzerland - Tickets (CHF 88.00)

July 13 - Exit Festival - Novi Sad, Serbia - Tickets (€78.50 for 4-day pass)

July 14 - Nuke Festival - Vienna, Austria - Tickets (€79.90 for 2-day pass)

August 4 - Virgin Festival - Baltimore, Maryland - Tickets

August 31 - Connect Festival* - Argyll, Scotland - Friday-Only Tickets (£45)
*Appears to be sold out

September 1 - Electric Picnic* - Stradbally, Ireland - Tickets (€220 for 3-day pass)
*Appears to be sold out

September 8 - Bestival - Isle of Wight, UK - Tickets (£115.00 for 3-day pass)

September 9 - Bestival - Isle of Wight, UK - Tickets (£115.00 for 3-day pass)
Exclusive Instrumental Set

We created a tour calendar for those who prefer a visual review of the tour. You can find it in the links section in the right column on this site.

We've learned a few things about some of the shows that may affect fans' opinion about attending. For the Rock Werchter Festival, Beastie Boys will be performing in the Pyramid Marquee, not the main stage. The tent holds fewer than 2,000 people, so it will be somewhat akin to seeing the band in a club.


Pyramid Marquee

The Turkish Daily News reports that tickets to the Beastie Boys show at the Efes Pilsen One Love Festival will be limited to 1,000. Again, this means their show will be more intimate than you would associate or expect with a festival.

Do YOU know something about any of the shows that might be helpful to other fans? If so, hit our inbox with an email, and we'll keep everyone informed.

Photo by bgirl*555

Last night (April 6), Beastie Boys performed a secret show in an old bowling alley in Portland, Oregon. The show was staged to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Wieden + Kennedy, a Portland-based advertising agency.

Approximately 500 people attended the private, invite-only event. Beastie Boys went on stage at 8:45 p.m. and played until 10 p.m. Among the songs played were:

Shake Your Rump (with an Alive snippet)
Intergalactic
Body Movin'
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
Brass Monkey
3 MCs and 1 DJ"
So What'cha Want
Root Down
Alright Hear This
Jimmy James
Something's Got to Give
Gratitude
Sabotage

Earlier in the day, a number of fans bumped into the band at Laughing Planet, a cafe located on Mississippi Avenue. One witness told Mic to Mic that the fans were overly enthusiastic, insisting on getting photos taken with the band. One fan reportedly tried to push his business card on Mike D. Not a pleasant scene.


Photo by bgirl*555

Photos from W+K Studio blog:
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
Photo 6
Photo 7

Photo by s_mazariego

Ahhh, man! I was hoping the rumor about the Portland gig was false because it's pretty poopy for a band to play shows for people other than their fans. But guess what? It was true. The Beastie Boys performed in Portland, Oregon, last night for the Wieden + Kennedy 25th party, exactly as rumored.

What do you think about the Beastie Boys playing a private, corporate gig? Sound off!

More photos at s_mazariego's Flickr page.

This afternoon I received a message from a peer, asking me if I had heard anything about the Beastie Boys playing a secret gig tonight in Portland, Oregon.

Huh?

He pointed me to the source of the rumor, a Portland blog, at which the following was posted:

While out walking N. Mississippi, I noticed the old Richard's Housewares lot has privacy fencing up and a security guard. Also, there are porta-toilets in the back. After asking around, I learned that there may be a private event occurring there this evening or Friday and the performers are the Beastie Boys. Yep, you heard it here first. I have nothing to back this up other than hearing it from people who work or own businesses on the street.

A reader of the blog provided additional information, quoting an inside source who says it is the Beastie Boys playing a corporate gig for Wieden & Kennedy, a Portland-based advertising agency. BS or not? I have no idea.

Although I think this rumor is highly improbable, I'm posting it in the event that it pans out to be true and/or someone has concrete evidence to either confirm or dismiss the rumor. If you know something, hit our inbox with an email.

Click on the image to see an enlargement.

The Mic to Mic team has been on a prowl (as always) to satisfy your thirst for Beastie Boys updates. And look what we've got here - another image from the filming of the new video in Australia! We can only guess what brought Horovitz to his knees.

We're digging deep in the bins to offer you a little diddy that you might not know or have forgotten about. In 1999 Mix Master Mike contributed his DJ talents to a song by Methods of Mayhem, a rap metal band created by Tommy Lee after he quit Motley Crue. The song, titled "Get Naked," was the first single from the Methods of Mayhem self-titled album.

In addition to Mix Master Mike, "Get Naked" featured Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Lil' Kim, and George Clinton. Crue's guest artists all appeared in the video for the song, which we bring to you courtesy of Youtube.com. The song and video dealt with the notoriety Lee faced following the leak of a sex video with his then-wife Pamela Anderson.

Don't blink while you're watching the video or you'll miss seeing Mix Master Mike naked in it. We kid not.

Get Naked - Methods of Mayhem [mp3 download via ysi]

As we suspected, the Beastie Boys will be performing at this year's Electric Picnic, which takes place in County Laois, Ireland, on August 31 and September 1 & 2. The line-up for the "boutique music festival" was announced today.

Tickets, which cost a whopping €220 (US$300), go on sale tomorrow (Tuesday, April 3) at 9 a.m. local time at Ticketmaster.ie.