Beastie Boys have been chosen by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation for nomination for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. Other nominees are Afrika Bambaataa, Chic, Leonard Cohen, the Dave Clark Five, Madonna, John Mellencamp, Donna Summer, and the Ventures.

Five of the nominees will be chosen for induction by a voting pool, comprised of music journalists and industry peers. The winners will be honored on March 10 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

Instead of performing "Unite" as listed on the setlist, the band performed "Riot Fight" and "Flute Loop"

For the closing show of their world tour, Beastie Boys delivered a set packed full of goofy banter and stage antics. Mid-show, Adam Yauch questioned how many routines they had done that evening, noting that they might be exceeding the acceptable limit.

Chicago fans got to hear from Captain Michael Diamond about the special honor bestowed to him by the city -- that of the harbor being renamed "Mike D's Harbor." He also spoke of his 110-foot Kingfisher yacht parked in the harbor, where the afterparty would be held.

Captain Diamond shared some of the things he has learned as a member of the yachting community -- one of which is the expression "A captain is only as good as his crew" (a subtle note of appreciation to the tour crew). Adam Horovitz questioned from whom he had learned about yachting.

"Was it Captain Stubbing?" Horovitz asked his friend.

"It was Captain Stubbano," replied Diamond with a smirky smile.

A mention of yachting in the Caribbean by Diamond caused Yauch to begin singing "Caribbean Queen." Yauch's goof on the Billy Ocean song was the beginning of 80's song madness by the band. They dropped lines from popular 80's songs throughout the show. At one point, Horovitz sang lines from Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" When Yauch mentioned Human League, Horovitz couldn't recall which song they sang, which lead Yauch to bust into "Don't You Want Me Baby?" Diamond contributed a line from ZZ Top's "Legs" and attempted to sing something else; however, he was laughing so hard that his words and the song were undistinguishable.

Horovitz addressed the audience several times throughout the evening. He shared a musical technique/trick with the audience: how to end a song if you don't know how to end it. "You just say 'ruffff!!'" he explained. The technique was skillfully employed several times by the Beastie Boys during the show.

When a flip-flop was thrown on stage, Horovitz held up the shoe and lectured the audience about how wrong it was to wear to the show. "It's disrespectful!" he charged the fashion criminal in the audience. Disgusted that his friend was holding nasty footwear, Yauch knocked it out of Horovitz' hand, sending it flying across the stage.

One person who needed no lecture on proper apparel was Mike Diamond. When the band returned to the stage for their encore, Diamond had changed from his smart-looking captain's outfit to a sophisticated silk robe/smoking jacket and matching ascot.

"I'm preparing to retire," he told the audience.

"Retire from working or for the evening?" asked Horovitz.

"For the evening," Diamond assured his bandmate and the audience.

If it wasn't goofy talk that entertained the audience, it was goofy dancing. The Captain was infected with a high-seas dancing disease -- one that was contagious. Horovitz followed the Captain's lead in dance, often mimicking his moves. The disease afflicted Yauch differently. Instead of busting moves, he poised in peculiar praying mantis-style positions across the stage.

The setlist was the only element of the show that was not goofy. It was a very standard setlist with few surprises. "High Plains Drifter," which had been attempted by the band the night before at the Chicago Gala Event, was performed properly. The one song on the setlist that would have been a huge surprise -- "Unite" -- was overruled by Diamond, who instructed his bandmates that they would do "Riot Fight" and "Flute Loop" instead.

The show's one moment of seriousness came before the performance of "Gratitude." Yauch dedicated the song to the tour crew, saying that they were the best crew the band has ever had.

The one-and-only performance oddity was a partial redeux of "Pass the Mic," started by Yauch, toward the end of the show.

"What was that?!" Horovitz inquired.

"I don't know," Yauch replied with embarrassment.

At the show's conclusion, the band thanked the fans for supporting them and following the tour. Horovitz gave indication that the band would not be taking a break. "See you in a year and a half!" he promised.

Photos

Security were nazi-like about photographing the show, not even allowing cameraphone pics. Photos and video of this show may be hard to find.





Videos

MMM intro and Time for Living

Sure Shot

Banter about Mike D's Harbor and Shake Your Rump

Yauch's thank you to the tour crew and Gratitude

B for My Name

Sabrosa

Pass the Mic
"To all my yachtsmen out there...The captain's in the house!" -Mike

Son of Neckbone

Shambala

No Sleep Til Brooklyn

MMM Interlude and Intergalactic (Mike's robe is visible in this video)

Horovitz' words of thanks

It's a sad day. There will be no more Gala Events. Tonight's Gala Event at The Riveria in Chicago was the last of the special instrumental shows.

Chicago got special treats in the form of a performance of "Funky Boss" and "High Plains Drifter."

Like the Detroit Gala Event, the Chicago Gala Event was filmed for a possible dvd.

Setlist
Son of Neckbone [video // alternate video]
Groove Holmes
Jimmy James [video // alternate video // yet another video]
Suco de Tangerina [video of false start // video]
Live at PJ's [video]
Futterman's Rule [video]
Time for Living [video // alternate video (includes Remote Control)]
Remote Control [video]
Electric Worm
Do It [video // alternate video]
14th Street Break [video]
Ricky's Theme [video]
In 3's
Off the Grid [video]
Egg Raid on Mojo [video // alternate video]
The Gala Event [video // alternate video]
Root Down & Get It [video]
Mark on the Bus [video // alternate video]
Shambala [video]
B for My Name
Pow
Lighten Up
Tough Guy
Gratitude [video // alternate video (also includes The Maestro & Sabrosa)]
The Maestro
Sabrosa [video]
Heart Attack Man [video]
Funky Boss
So What'cha Want [video (includes a bit of Funky Boss)]
Sure Shot
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video // alternate video // yet another video]
High Plains Drifter (one verse with instruments)[video]
*Song request for Boomin' Granny [video]
Sabotage [video // alternate video // yet another video // video of robot dancing]

Photos







Press

Concert review by the Chicago Sun-Times ("whale calls"?)

Concert review by the Chicago Tribune

Jeff shares some details from the Detroit Gala Event:

It was a dope-ass show! The crowd was dressed to impress. There was very little knucklehead behavior. One kid bodysurfed during "Egg Raid On Mojo." Everyone was feeling it, and the sound was great. The atmosphere was very mellow and enjoyable.

A couple had their two-year-old daughter with them on one parent's shoulders. MCA pointed it out and said that he had family there from Michigan. He also mentioned that they performed "Cookiepuss" at St. Andrews Hall in 1983.

Setlist
Son of Neckbone
Groove Holmes [video]
Jimmy James
Suco de Tangerina
Live at PJ's
Futterman's Rule
Time for Living [video]
Remote Control [video]
Electric Worm [video]
Do It
14th Street Break
Ricky’s Theme
In 3's
Off the Grid
Egg Raid on Mojo
The Gala Event [video]
Root Down & Get It
Mark on the Bus
Shambala
B for My Name
Pow
Lighten Up [video (pt 1) // video (pt 2)]
Tough Guy
Gratitude
The Maestro
Sabrosa
Heart Attack Man [video]
So What'cha Want [video]
Sure Shot
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video]
Sabotage

Thanks to Jeremy for the setlist!

Press

Concert review by the Detroit News (see photo gallery link with review)

From Detroit News Online:

Late Monday, Detroit's Garden Bowl played host to several special guests: The Beastie Boys and Mandy Moore.

The Detroit News confirmed Wednesday the odd-couple party -- flanked by several security guards, band members and various other types -- arrived at around 10:45 p.m., just after the Beasties wrapped the first show of their two-night stand at the Fillmore Detroit. They pulled up in four tour buses and stayed until around 1:30 a.m., says Majestic Theatre marketing director Phil Childers.

Moore, who was in town for her own show Tuesday night at Saint Andrew's Hall, attended Monday's super, sold-out Beasties show and hitched a ride to the Garden Bowl on one of the Beasties' tour buses.

She and her entourage laid claim to three lanes, while the Beasties and their hangers-on used up about 11.

Childers says he got a call Sunday from the Beasties' people to set up the party. "Everybody was very respectful, and everyone had a really cool time," Childers says. He says Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch was the best bowler of the group, but he says everyone broke 100.

Though security was in tow, several fans managed to get autographs as the Beasties made their way out of the Garden Bowl. Moore -- who "looks just like she does on TV," reports Childers -- was shielded by her band members most of the night.

Members of the party enjoyed slices of pizza from in-house eatery Sgt. Pepperoni's and sipped on Miller High Lifes, the Garden Bowl's drink of choice.

All in all, "it was very surreal the way everything worked out," Childers says.

Related Media

Mandy Moore writes about seeing Beastie Boys in her blog [DEAD LINK]

From Time Out Chicago:

You’re all wearing suits these days—what’s up with that?
We started recording for this new record last year, and we decided to get into jazz-cat mode. So we went on mad eBay frenzies and we set ground rules: You have to wear period ’58–’64 suits every day. Now I have all this clothing.

You’ve said you want people to dress up for your instrumental shows. What do you have in mind?
It’d be nice to go ’58–’64 period dress-up. But I think the main thing is, we’re sick of the new international-dude look—it’s cargo shorts and fucking Teva sandals. You spend all this money to get a ticket to go see a band, and that’s what you do on your date? Fucking cargo shorts? I mean, come on. Honestly.

How did you guys get going on instrumentals?
Well, the last record was like an all-rap record. And I don’t know, we felt like making some instrumental music and got kind of carried away with it.

Paul’s Boutique has achieved mythic status in the music world. Is that the album you’re proudest of?
Not particularly. There’s nothing that stands out as something where I’m like, This is the one that sums it all up. I’m proud of all the stuff we’ve done, pretty much. Well, maybe not everything….

So the huge penis you had onstage on the first tour. Is that something that maybe…
That was awesome. You want to buy it? It’s been sitting in storage for 20 years.

How much is it going for?
We’re working out offers now.

It seems like the band suddenly switched from just music to getting involved in things like Tibetan freedom. How did that happen?
Well, as you get older, as you grow and meet more people and see more things and sort of see the world. The whole Tibetan thing started as we were traveling and met some Tibetans.

Do people say, Leave that to the politicians, just drop some beats?
Anytime you try to talk about something political, people think that you’re like a “No nukes!” or “Save the whales!” or whoever. But you gotta say what’s important to you. If people don’t want to hear it, they don’t want to hear it. So fuck it. We’re just trying to talk about something that’s important to us as opposed to just writing songs about Champagne and love or whatever.

Any thoughts on the current state of hip-hop?
The current state of hip-hop. Hmm. Hip-hop is the one music that always changes. If there’s nothing that’s hitting you right now, there will be two months from now. Nas will put out something that you’re going to love, or Jay-Z or whatever. Someone’s going to come out with a new “Hey Ya!” Like, 50 Cent’s “I Get Money.” Fucking great record.

So is that your answer to the question, Kanye or 50 Cent?
Umm, Kanye’s from Chicago, right? [Pauses] What am I going to say? I love New York, so New York music kind of hits me a little harder.

You just guaranteed angry protesters at your show.
No, no, no. I’m not saying anything against Kanye or Chicago. He’s a great producer. I love Chicago.

Is playing here bittersweet since the Bulls owned the Knicks back in the day, with Michael and Scottie?
Okay, listen. We were okay with the current state of hip-hop. But why? Why do you, why? What is that about? Why you got to bring up the Knicks?

Well, when Chicago beats New York, it’s like beating your big brother at hoops, you know?
But your big brother for the past ten years had knee surgery and is out. Can’t play anymore. I appreciate that it makes you happy. I’ll give you that.

Photo by Kevin Yezbick

Setlist
Time for Living
Riot Fight
Remote Control
Super Disco Breakin'
Triple Trouble
Sure Shot
Shake Your Rump
Heart Attack Man
Gratitude
B for My Name
Sabrosa
Root Down
Pass the Mic
Rhymin' & Stealin'
3 MCs and 1 DJ
Paul Revere
The Maestro
Electric Worm
Shambala
Tough Guy
Off the Grid
Body Movin'
Ch-Check It Out
Professor Booty
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
So What'cha Want
Intergalactic
Sabotage

Thanks to Brooklyndust for the setlist!

Jason shares some concert highlights:

During "Pass the Mic," Adrock totally messed up his lines and repeated the same verse from earlier in the song. They had to stop the whole show because MCA didn't know where to pick it up from. Mix Master Mike had to go back and start the beats over again. And again, during "Professor Booty," Mike D forgot his lines about halfway through, and they stopped the whole show. It was funny because Adrock and MCA were trying to help him remember. Mike D blamed it on not performing the song in 15 years.

Brooklyndust describes the surprise performance of "Professor Booty," which has not been performed since 1992:

I cannot believe they played it. The song was not flawless. They screwed up some parts. Mike was reading the lyrics off a piece of paper. MCA killed it during the 3rd Bass diss at the end. Right after "Professor Booty," they did the chorus from "Some Dumb Cop Gave Me Two Tickets."

Press

Concert review by the Detroit News

Photos

Photo by Chico

Matt describes the Toronto Gala Event:

The boys were in very good form. They seemed to be having a lot of fun. Their banter was hilarious. At some point Big Pun's line, "I'm not a player; I just crush a lot" came up. Adrock suggested that it might be an oxymoron, while Mike D insisted that it meant Big Pun was a big fella and when he partook in relations with women he was so large he would "crush" them.

At another point, Adrock spotted someone up front snapping pictures. He said something along the lines of, "Are you getting enough pictures? Maybe we could all come over here and pose. Maybe toward the end of the show."

They blazed through their set. From what I can remember, the setlist was very close to the Boston Opera House show -- perhaps a few more straight instrumental tracks from The Mix-Up. Just before "Sabotage," Yauch said to Mike that they should do "Riot Fight." Mike said that he felt the punk songs had been "weird" in the fan reaction department, but he was "with the team for whatever." Yauch said, "It's only 30 seconds, so let's do it." He then asked the guy on the soundboard to put it on any of the punk song settings and told the lighting guy he could do what he felt was best.

"Riot Fight" was very cool, and Yauch was very pleased afterwards. They did even more banter back and forth after that before realizing they had a curfew. The boys said the place had to convert to a disco hall.

Setlist
Son of Neckbone [video]
Groove Holmes [video]
Suco de Tangerina [video // alternate video]
Live at PJ's [video // alternate video]
Futterman's Rule [video]
Remote Control [video]
Time for Living [video]
14th Street Break [video]
Do It [video]
Root Down & Get It [video]
Electric Worm [video]
Ricky's Theme [video]
In 3's [video]
Off the Grid [video // alternate video]
Egg Raid on Mojo [video]
Jimmy James / Happy Birthday [video]
The Gala Event [video]
Mark on the Bus [video]
Shambala [video]
B for My Name [video]
Pow [video]
Lighten Up [video]
Gratitude [video]
Tough Guy [video]
The Maestro [video]
Sabrosa [video]
Heart Attack Man [video]
So What'cha Want [video]
Sure Shot [video]
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video]
Riot Fight [video // [alternate video]
Sabotage [video]

Big thanks to James for posting video of the entire show, allowing us to confirm the setlist!

Photos

Photo by Mono Industries

If it weren't for the video proof, I wouldn't have believed that they performed "Rhymin' & Stealin'."

Setlist*
MMM Intro [video]
Time for Living
Remote Control [video]
Root Down [video // The Weave!]
Sure Shot [video]
Time to Get Ill [video // alternate video]
Sabrosa
Shake Your Rump [video]
B for My Name [video // alternate video]
Electric Worm [video]
Pass the Mic [video]
Rhymin' and Stealin' [video // alternate video]
No Sleep Til Brooklyn [video // alternate video // and another]
Gratitude
Super Disco Breakin'
Triple Trouble [video]
Tough Guy [video]
The Maestro [video]
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video // alternate video]
Shambala [video]
Off the Grid [video]
Body Movin' [video // alternate video]
Ch-Check It Out [video // alternate video]
So What'cha Want [video]
MMM Interlude [video]
Intergalactic [video]
Heart Attack Man [video]
Egg Raid on Mojo [video (with banter)]
Sabotage [video // alternate video]

*Incomplete

Press

Concert review by Jam

Concert review by Eye Weekly

Concert review by Chartattack

Opinion (via Blog Search)*
*Uncredited on purpose

"Best. Concert. Ever. I yelled throughout the whole show, screamed every lyric and danced and jumped about like a crazy. It was super fun."

"It was an amazing show. They may be getting older, but they've still got the "gro-hoove." Mix Master Mike does some loving awesome stuff on the turntables...The crowd was weird. There were people from 18 to 45, so super diverse. Everyone was hammered drunk even though the ACC stopped serving $13 domestic beer at 9:30, and after about half an hour, there was a cloud of marijuana smoke in the air."

Beastie Boys are inviting fans with tickets to the final two Gala Events in Detroit and Chicago to bring their video cameras to the shows and document their experiences. The invitation was delivered in the band's official e-newsletter:

dear patrons of the arts,

we are planning to document the last 2 gala event shows of this tour. but we are also interested in your experience of getting ready for the shows to get another perspective on the events.

so if you have tickets for either the detroit (sept 25th) or chicago (sept 26th) gala event shows, and you own a video camera, please begin to document your preparations for the show.

if you are shopping for an outfit, or picking one out from your closet, getting mentally and physically prepared for the show, doing your squat thrusts or drinking margaritas... whatever it is that you do in the days, hours, minutes, leading up to the show, please document it. you can also bring your camera to the show to record your arrival, hanging out at the show, leaving, driving home..... of course we are not looking to to make AIFST! But you are welcome to use your camera to document your experience at the show.

and then send us the footage, and we will try to include it in our film of the show.

if you want to register to be a part of this, please email us at this address - galaevent2007@yahoo.com - and put "GALA EVENT 2007" in the subject line.

as always, thank you for your patronage, and we'll see you on the ice.

beatsie boys

Click on the above photo to see a video report on the Beastie Boys shows in Montreal by Canoe.ca (in French)

According to a reviewer for La Presse, Beastie Boys played to fewer than 10,000 fans at Montreal's Bell Centre, which has a capacity of 14,000. The reviewer writes that the band played many of the same songs performed at the Metropolis the night before, but in the Bell Centre the songs "lacked punch." The reviewer also reports that during the third song, there was audio failure that brought the show to a dead halt for 10 minutes.

Opener: Chromeo

Setlist*
MMM Intro [video]
Time for Living
Super Disco Breakin'
Gratitude
Live at PJ's
Tough Guy
Root Down
Sure Shot
Shake Your Rump [video]
Time to Get Ill [video]
Flute Loop
No Sleep Til Brooklyn [video]
Son of Neckbone
Egg Raid on Mojo
Sabrosa
Body Movin'
3 MCs and 1 DJ
Skills to Pay the Bills
Pass the Mic
Remote Control [video]
Ch-Check It Out
Intergalactic
Sabotage [video // alternate video // and another]

*Incomplete

A video of highlights of Gratitude, Live at PJ's, Tough Guy, Flute Loop, No Sleep Til Brooklyn, Son of Neckbone, Egg Raid on Mojo, Sabrosa, Body Movin', 3 MCs and 1 DJ, So What'cha Want, and Sabotage may be viewed here.

Press

Concert review by the Montreal Gazette

Concert review by La Presse (in French)

TQS showbiz report (video in French)

Photos

The Beastie Boys tour resumed last night with a Gala Event at the Metropolis in Montreal, Canada. Despite Montreal being my favorite city in the world to see concerts and the Beastie Boys being a band whom I kind of like, I was not in attendance. I can only report what others are saying about the show.

According to one blogger at the show, the band chewed out a guy who bodysurfed during "B for My Name" (see the last minute in the video below). They ridiculed him for not being dressed appropriately for the Gala Event and suggested he try out some dance moves instead of bodysurfing.


"B for My Name"

A reviewer for Canoe.ca describes the band as blasé and not at the top of their form. He reports their set was not tight; at times, their playing was out of synch. He also reports that only a handful of fans came dressed to impress.

Opener: Chromeo

Setlist*
Son of Neckbone
Live at PJ's
Futterman's Rule
14th Street Break [video]
Time for Living [video]
Root Down & Get It
Electric Worm [video]
Off the Grid
Pow [video]
Egg Raid on Mojo
Remote Control [video]
B for My Name
Lighten Up
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video // alternate video]
So What'cha Want [video]
Sure Shot [video]
Sabotage

A video of highlights of Son of Neckbone, Live at PJ's, Futterman's Rule, 14th Street Break, Time for Living, Root Down & Get It, Egg Raid on Mojo, So What'cha Want, Sure Shot, and Sabotage may be viewed here.

*Incomplete

Press

Concert review by Globe and Mail

Concert review by La Presse (in French)

Interview with Adam Yauch (in French)

Interview with Mike Diamond (in French)

Opinion (via Blog Search)*
*Uncredited on purpose

"It was not a perfect show. There were too many abrupt transitions -- changes from funk-lounge instrumentals to punk songs and vice versa. But when the Beastie Boys and Mix Master Mike gave the audience what they really wanted (at least what I really wanted), which was their rap hits, it was great."

"It kicked total ass."

Photos

From Hour.ca:

Bong hits for Yauch
by Steve Lalla

Beastie Boys exhale an all-instrumental album

After tearing the music industry a new one with Licensed to Ill 21 years ago, the Beastie Boys have reinvented themselves constantly through three decades, emerging as masters of lyricism and wit, cut-and-paste pioneers, philanthropists and moralists, designers, genuine musicians and overtly independent architects of their own reality - and ours. With their recent all-instrumental album, The Mix-Up, the B-Boys shocked us again, but still managed to debut at number 15 on the Billboard charts and garner rave reviews for their stylish accompanying tour.

Bassist, philosopher, videographer and dope MC, when he chooses to speak, the Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA, a.k.a. Nathaniel Hornblower) is a spiritual guide to a generation of trendsetters, delinquents, rappers and Buddhists.

Hour I read that you released an instrumental LP because your contract deadline was up and you didn't get a chance to lay down the vocal tracks.

Adam Yauch That was a lie that we told. If it got printed, that's always nice. In fact, we really wanted to do vocals, but all three of us got laryngitis.

Hour Are you gonna get mad when I print that?

Yauch No! I'll be happy if you actually do.

Hour I will.

Yauch It just seemed like fun. We've worked on instrumental music for a long time and usually end up throwing a couple of songs on each album. There was a compilation that came out called The In Sounds From Way Out that was instrumental versions of a bunch of songs. Making an entirely instrumental record was an idea we'd been kicking around for awhile. The last record [2004's To the 5 Boroughs] was pretty much a hip-hop record, made with drum machines, sequencers and synthesizers. We started this one with instruments, when we went back and started listening to stuff we had recorded it sounded really cool as it was.

Hour Six years have passed since 9/11; To the 5 Boroughs was quite vocal on the event.

Yauch It was pretty intense. But it's not something I think about day to day anymore.

Hour Have you seen any of these controversial online flicks, Loose Change or Zeitgeist?

Yauch Yeah. It's hard to know where conspiracy theory and crazy made-up shit ends and where the truth begins. My feeling watching Loose Change was that if 10 per cent of it is true, it's insane. And I thought it would make a great film, the whole thing with the CIA, smuggling the gold hidden under the WTC. It would be interesting to know if there's any truth to it.

Hour What happened with Grand Royal [the record label founded by the B-Boys in 1992]?

Yauch You heard that they sold it on eBay for a dollar, right? It's very possible, I don't know. When we started it we thought it'd be cool to put out some friends' music, but it got more employees, more overhead, and needed to sell a bunch of records to make ends meet. It got top-heavy and sunk. Whoever bought Grand Royal isn't allowed to make or sell Beastie Boys records. I'm no expert on this though. I just make the shit. You should be interviewing my lawyer.

Hour I quit smoking weed, and I always remember hearing your line "I quit smoking cheeba, it was part of the key," when I was a teenager.

Yauch When you were getting wasted [was it] all like, "Yo, this bong hit is for Yauch!"

Hour Ha ha ha! So what's your current stance on that?

Yauch For me there was a while that I was smoking weed and having fun. But it got to a point where it was making me paranoid and ruining my life. It turned on me. But each to their own, I guess. If someone's having fun with it, more power to 'em.

From The Detroit News:

Beastie Boys suit up
They have matured, and so has their look

By Adam Graham and Ursula Watson, The Detroit News

There once was a time when it was unthinkable to bring your fashion A-game when going to see the Beastie Boys.

But the Boys -- Mike Diamond, Adam Yauch, Adam Horovitz -- have grown a lot since their ribald early days.

Now, as the trio prepares to commandeer the Fillmore Detroit on Monday and Tuesday, they're asking their audience to step it up a notch along with them.

"Don't dress like a bum," says Yauch, on the phone from New York Tuesday. "Can you put that in your article as a pull-quote?"

He's referring to the dress code the Boys are enacting for Tuesday's "Gala Event-Exclusive Instrumental Show," when he's asking fans to "suit up," as "How I Met Your Mother's" Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) might say.

Monday, the band will perform from their two-decade catalog of hits in familiar Beasties style, and crowds are free to come as they are.

But Tuesday, "it's not that kind of party," Yauch says.

"We're trying to have an event, and it just kind of ruins it when someone shows up in flip-flops, cargo shorts, a tank top and a visor," he says of the show, which despite its billing won't be entirely instrumental. "If you're bringing your dog to the beach, that's fine, but we're trying to throw an event."

Says Horovitz, on the phone from New York last week, "If you are going to spend money to see a band and you are probably on a date, why wear cargo pants and Tevas? We are just trying to help."

The outside-the-box thinking that greets the "Gala" show is the same the Beasties utilize on "The Mix-Up," the all-instrumental CD the band issued in June. It is the band's second no-vocals effort, following 1996's "The In Sound from the Way Out!" compilation.

Horovitz says the largely funk-based CD is more than a stopgap between proper Beastie's projects and is another example of the Boys striving to be ahead of the pack by taking a musical risk.

"That is basically our bread and butter. People who like the Beastie Boys expect that we are going to do something that is not Top 40, that is on some different (stuff)," Horovitz says. "Doing the same thing is boring, and I don't want to be boring or bored."

Once the Beasties wrap up their current tour -- which Yauch calls one of the most fun tours the band has ever embarked upon -- they will begin working on new material for their eighth album and are tentatively planning on a 2009 release.

And though the one-time frat-rockers are now comfortably in their 40s -- Horovitz, the youngest Beastie, turns 41 on Halloween -- they don't see themselves slowing down anytime soon.

"I don't see it," Horovitz says of retirement. "This is what I do, and I want to do it for a long time."

From Detroit Free Press:

21 years later, Beasties rocking steady
Band members still hang loose onstage and off

BY BRIAN McCOLLUM

And to think the world was ready to dismiss them as disposable one-hit wonders.

Two decades after concocting a rap-rock Reese's Cup, and serving it up with a slice of Gen X pop-culture savvy, the Beastie Boys roll on -- older, wiser and just as musically feisty as ever.

It has been 21 years since "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)" shoved the Queens, N.Y., threesome onto the American consciousness, making its members the wild-eyed poster boys for snotty suburban hip-hop. The barrier-busting band has come a long way since the mayhem of those early days -- cementing its hip-hop credentials with 1989's "Paul's Boutique," reasserting its punk roots with 1992's "Check Your Head," at last assuring mainstream respectability with its Tibetan Freedom Concerts in the late 1990s.

The trio's latest album, "The Mix-Up," finds Adam Horovitz (guitar), Adam Yauch (bass) and Mike Diamond (drums) reaching back to their very earliest roots, picking up their instruments to careen through 12 tracks of eclectic dub-funk-rock. The juvenilia of '86 may be well behind them. But ahead of next week's twofer at the Fillmore Detroit, Horovitz says that little about the group's dynamic has dramatically changed.

"I think that's why we still work together -- we're kind of the same people we've always been," says Horovitz, who will turn 41 next month. "We have our place with each other. With Adam and Mike, they've got kids, so I think that figures into all of this. But we all interact with each other the same -- we have the same goals, the same sense of humor, all of that stuff."

What they've also got is one of the most enviable, easygoing fan relationships you'll find in contemporary music. As seen in the band's ongoing fan club correspondence and loose onstage vibe, it's a casual, knowing rapport that reflects a shared sensibility.

Horovitz says establishing the buddy-buddy connection was a deliberate move after the band's first major headlining tour.

"We had started as this hardcore band a long, long time ago. We never thought about an audience. The only people there were like your friends, you know?" he says. "Then 'Fight for Your Right' came out and it blew up, and we were suddenly in these weird arenas. It just seemed really detached.

"So when we came back in '92 for a (club) tour, we started meeting a lot more people. You'd meet these kids, they're your age, they're into the same stuff you're into. ... And that meant a lot to us, just to know that we're not these people on a stage disconnected from the people in the audience -- that they could just as easily be up on the stage."

The mutual trust with fans built a platform for creative freedom, a place where the only expectation is that there are no expectations.

"People that come to see us aren't just into whatever the top 10 hit is at the time," he says. "People expect us to do what we feel like doing. I think they get bummed out if we try to do some stuff that's not what we want to try to sell records or get airplay or whatever. People can see through that, and they'd definitely be able to see through it with us."

On its current tour -- which launched last month in California, wound through England and closes in Chicago next week -- the trio has advantage of that freedom for an unorthodox approach. Most cities have gotten a two-night Beasties stand: First, a classic set drawing from the group's hip-hop discography, featuring turntable work from Mixmaster Mike, a 10-year collaborator who's now essentially the fourth Beastie. It's followed by a night of instrumental funk and punk -- which comes complete with a quirky request that fans don spiffy evening attire for the occasion. That's the way the two shows are set up for Detroit.

"It's been going over good. Real good," says Horovitz. "It's weird -- usually thousands of people don't get that pumped for instrumental songs. Usually you go to a show and you want to sing along to the songs. So it's been cool. People get into it. It's keeping people working on their dance steps."

From Billboard.com:

Beasties Eyeing M.I.A., Cocker, Allen For New 'Mix'
By Gary Graff

The Beastie Boys are moving ahead with plans for a vocal version of their latest album, the all-instrumental "The Mix-Up."

Adam "MCA" Yauch tells Billboard.com the trio is "talking to some different artists who might do kinda like remixes and put vocals on it, so it wouldn't be us doing vocals on it. It would be kind of like a different version of the album, with a bunch of people guesting on it."

Among those in the loop, according to Yauch, are M.I.A., Lily Allen and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker -- "a bunch of British people," Yauch notes with a laugh. "It'll be interesting to see what they do with the stuff."

That might not be the only outgrowth of the "The Mix-Up," which Yauch, Mike "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz released in June. Yauch says the Beasties have an idea for a visual version of the album as well, incorporating images from the group's touring to support "The Mix-Up."

"We've been traveling with a Super 8 camera," he reports, "and a lot of times we'll just make something. While we were in Singapore we filmed stuff, and in Australia and different places. We're talking about cutting it together into a full-length film that kinda goes the length of the album."

Yauch says the group is enjoying the tour, which alternates standard Beasties performances with Gala Event shows during which the three Beasties and their cohorts play instruments throughout. "About half of it is instrumental and half of it has vocals, but it's all based around the instruments," Yauch explains. "And a lot of it is B-sides and album tracks. We're not doing as many of the singles. It's fun."

Yauch says there are no plans to document the tour with a live album or DVD. After the trek wraps Sept. 27 in Chicago, the Beasties plan to return to the studio. "We're gonna start recording again," says Yauch, who's also working on a documentary about high school basketball players and their journey to the NBA.

As for where the next Beasties album will go, he notes that, "We just kind of go in and mess around, see what happens. There's no plan or anything."

From The Gazette (Montreal):

A Different Animal

Current tour features two shows in each city - a massive one with rhymes, and an intimate one without. 'It's almost like two different worlds, as musicians,' Mike D says

By T'CHA DUNLEVY

"I meant to make the quinoa, but I didn't. I would just make the tofu."

Michael Diamond (aka Mike D) took a pause from our telephone interview to instruct someone (the tour chef? a friend?) what to cook for dinner for him and his kids, age 2 and 5. "It's all about priorities," the 41-year-old said. "This is what I do on my days off."

Beastie Boys, version 2.007, are back - more laid-back, paternal, nutritionally aware and eco-friendly than ever. "This tour, specifically - and we haven't done this before - is a (carbon-) neutral tour," Diamond explained. "Our trucks and buses are biodiesel. Beyond that, we're doing things with actual concert sites where people can do cellphone recycling and regular recycling on the premises. Heading into this thing, we said we've really got to figure out a way to make it work so it takes less of a toll on the environment."

The new disc is called The Mix-Up; it's a stylishly grooving, understated collection of instrumental jams thrown down by Diamond (on drums), Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA, on bass) and Adam Horovitz (a.k.a. Ad-Rock, on guitar), with help from old pal Mark Nishita (Money Mark, keys) and Alfredo Ortiz (percussion).

They're slowing down their tour, playing two nights in each city - one intimate, instrumental show at a small venue, and one big, block-rockin' arena gig, replete with rhymes, over-the-top antics and all-around good times. In Montreal, the band plays Metropolis tonight and the Bell Centre tomorrow.

"We're doing our regular show, and a Gala Event," Diamond said. "It keeps it a lot more interesting for us. In the (bigger) regular show, we're playing a bunch of stuff - our hip-hop and some of our (instrumental material). We keep changing that up, and it's always fun."

"The Gala Event shows are more focused on what we're doing with the band, the arrangements. It's almost like two different worlds, as musicians. It's a different mindset, and you're engaging a different part of the brain."

Ideally, Diamond would like it to be not just the band's mindset that changes from show to show, but also the fans'. During our interview, he repeatedly asked for people attending the smaller show to step up their game, wardrobe-wise.

"For the fans who come to the Gala Event, we would like to get that idea out. ... At some shows, people have really gotten into the dress code, and gone all out with full-on gala dress. That makes it more fun for us and everyone."

Looking spiffy was a running theme in the making of The Mix-Up. "During the recording sessions, we set a dress code for ourselves. We decided if we were going to make something more instrumental-based, we should show up at the studio in suits and ties, jazz cat style."

Fashion has always been a priority for Beastie Boys, from the goofball '70s bent of their Hey Ladies video to the classic retro-cop-show cool of Sabotage.

"When you dress in character, it helps you become the character," Diamond said. "Again, if I could make the plea for the Gala, if you dress the part, you'll become the part."

The purpose of the getups in the studio was to plunge into the vibe of the music, he said. "We've done some instrumental stuff before, but we've never had it be really raw in the way a lot of breakbeats we like are. We wanted to keep that mentality. Hip-hop breaks come from the idea of taking the rawest, funkiest two bars of a song and sampling that. Our approach was to make all three minutes of every song like those two bars."

Fans who find the album too mellow - and crave the Beastie Boys insanity of old - need not despair. This project is but a pit stop, Diamond assured - not a step toward retirement. He and his bandmates will return, wilder and crazier than ever, soon enough.

"We didn't realize it until well into this tour, but the nice thing with The Mix-Up is it left us really excited to go back into the studio, which we'll be doing after this tour. It made us hungry to record again. ... I can't say what (the sound) will be, but we've only in small ways hinted at what we could explore with the next record."

Beastie Boys' Gala Event takes place tonight at 8 at Metropolis, 59 Ste. Catherine St. E. The show is sold out, but a few additional tickets may be put on sale today. The band also plays the Bell Centre tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Chromeo opens both nights. Tickets for the Bell Centre concert cost $36.50 to $56.50; call 514-790-1245 or go to www.admission.com.

Adam Horovitz should have been a salesman. Listen to him sell The Mix-Up to a Japanese audience.

The moustache makes you believe his words.

From The Jewish Chronicle:

Taming of the Beasties
By Gisella Farrell

“Our instrumental album is not a statement against the current rap scene. It’s basically a statement against ourselves — our music,” Mike D says. “Our record before this one was the To The 5 Boroughs album, where we were MC-ing and using programming software and drum machines. So when we got together to make The Mix Up, we just sat down in a room with some instruments and started making music.”

“We’ve been playing this kind of music for a long time, but it’s the first record we’ve had that’s just instrumental — it’s just something we want to do,” adds Ad-Rock. “It’s basically inspired by a lot of funk and psychedelica that we’ve listened to over the years in the process of finding and developing our own sound.”

Mike D claims the album represents a new maturity for the band, who have not only learned how to behave themselves — they have also learned the art of sartorial elegance.

“We’re dignified now, we’re wearing suits, we eat at dignified places and conduct ourselves in a good manner,” Ad-Rock laughs, adding: “Of course, the dignified thing was always there for me — there’s a subtle maturity about it, that I have and these two people [indicating Mike D and MCA] don’t!”

It is not only aesthetics that are different this time. The Beastie Boys have swapped arena tours in favour of a tour visiting smaller venues and obscure festivals around Europe, which culminated in a headline slot at last weekend’s Bestival on the Isle of Wight and a performance at London’s Roundhouse. Is this by design or a reflection that the new sound has left some Beastie fans unwilling to rush out and buy their tickets?

“We’re doing a smaller-venue tour this time,” says MCA. “They wanted us to do stadiums, Wembley kept calling us, but we wanted to bless the people, you know. We have specified a dress code for fans too. We won’t be turning anyone away, you know, we’ve just asked them to wear suits, dress up a little.”

Twenty years ago, what the Beastie Boys were wearing contributed to an outcry in the press and questions in Parliament. Their infamous Licensed To Ill UK tour of 1987 was clouded by arrests, controversy and accusations of lewd behaviour. Their preference for bling fashioned from car badges led to a spate of vandalised VWs and Mercedes as fans sought to copy their heroes.

“Those old days, that was awesome. We were putting the fun into the music… there’s no one more fun than us!” says Mike D.
“But we feel like we’re owed the keys to London in payback for all the chaos,” says Ad-Rock. “We’ve been coming here for over 21 years as a band, we’ve bought revenue to you — dignity, in fact. Paul McCartney got knighted but we don’t want to be knighted, that would be extreme. We just want the keys to the city.”

If anything confirms just how far the Beasties have left their wild youth behind them, it is their wish-list of future collaborators.

“To be honest I wouldn’t mind working with Sir Elton,” says MCA. “We did cover his song Benny And The Jets once.”

Mike D adds: “Any artist with a Sir in their name, we’d work with them. Of current British artists, I think Dizzee Rascal’s good, I like him. MIA’s good too, although I don’t know if I’d call her a rapper, she does a lot of different stuff. The Streets [aka Mike Skinner] is pretty cool too.

“Then there’s Prince — he is funky…”

“I saw him on the street once,” Ad-Rock interrupts. “He got out of the car wearing head-to-toe yellow. Hats, boots, trousers — everything canary yellow.”

The Beasties continue to banter amiably. If there are any cracks in their relationship after almost 30 years together, there is little sign of it.

Perhaps it is their domestic circumstances that keep than seemingly so sane. All three have the kind of settled family lives that befit three middle-aged men.

Mike D is married to American film director Tamra Davis, with whom he has two sons called Skyler and Davis; Ad Rock is on his second marriage, to feminist singer Kathleen Hanna; while MCA’s wife is American-raised Tibetan Dechen Wangdu, a prominent activist for Tibet, and they have one child, a daughter called Tenzin.

“Yeah, I am a family man, and I even have a secret gardening hobby,” Mike confides. “I like picking the fruit — that’s how I contribute to the household. I’m good at playing with water balloons with the kids. I fill them for the kids, they tie them up. That I can do.”

MCA chips in: “Personally, I like to get up on the roof, do some DIY… I like to cook dinner too.”

Can these be the men who as recently as 2005 made an album praised for its political edginess? To The 5 Boroughs was inspired by the September 11 attacks on New York (all band members were at home or in their studios just blocks away from the Twin Towers on that fateful day).

Packed with Jewish references (the lyrics include a call to “holler back challah bread” and the slightly perplexing assertion that “the truth is brutal/your grandma’s kugel”), the album was a tribute to their home city, as well as a damning indictment of President Bush and the consequent Iraq war. Do their cosy lifestyles mean that edginess has gone forever? “Well, there’s definitely going to be lyrics on the next album,” Mike says, before adding: “I think right now it might be inspired heavily by water balloons because that’s an important issue.”

Ad-Rock corrects him: “It will be a serious album — the next album will be a very serious, political album.”

Expanding on the tour dates in Spain, we have the following Mix Master Mike tour dates in Luxembourg, France, and Belgium to report:

October 12 - Sonic Visions Festival / Kulturfabrik - Esch, Luxembourg [Tickets]
October 17- Nouveau Casino - Paris, France
October 19 - Festival Days Off - Bordeaux, France [Tickets]
October 20 - La Suite - Brest, France [Tickets]
October 26 - LC Club - Nantes, France
October 27 - Cargo - Caen, France
October 31 - venue unknown - Ghent, Belgium

Photo by Rocket Stu

I'm not sure what happened at Bestival, but most of the reviews I've found on the Beastie Boys' headlining set on Saturday are negative. I've been waiting to publish what little information I found on the show in hopes that I'd find some good fan reviews. That's not happening.

Did the Beastie Boys deliver a bad set or are British festival-goers overly harsh critics? How bad could a show in which Mike Diamond renamed the Isle of Wight (the location of the festival) to the Isle of Mike be?

Setlist*
MMM Intro
Time for Living [video]
Triple Trouble [video (with Sure Shot)]
Sure Shot [video]
Root Down
Off the Grid
B for My Name
Electric Worm
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
Ch-Check It Out
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video]
Intergalactic
Heart Attack Man
Sabotage

One blogger reports that they performed "Rhymin' and Stealin'." They have not performed that song in over 12 years.

*Incomplete

Press

Bestival Day 2 report by MTV UK

Concert review by Daily Telegraph

Brief concert review by The Sun

Festival review by The Guardian Ouch!

Opinion (via Blog Search)*
*Uncredited on purpose

"There can't be many bands that actually sound worse when they pick up their instruments, but the Beastie Boys headline performance at Bestival was a surprising let-down...I don't normally begrudge a change in direction for a band, but this is too much and they must be stopped. The crowd were leaving in droves."

"The Beastie Boys played a disjointed Saturday set which failed to hit the right balance between their new instrumental album and classic hits like 'Sabotage' and 'Heart Attack Man.'"

"The Beasties were quality, and the mixmaster was on top form. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I expected for the headline headliner, but we had fun all the same. They left a huge gap between set and encore. I got a little worried they weren't coming back. But eventually my head was blown off by the opening bars of 'Intergalatic' and the world was good."

"For me this was a set of two halves. When they boys rocked out the classics like 'Sabotage,' 'Intergalactic,' 'Check It Out,' etc., the place was on fire. There wasn’t a still body in the house. But they also dug into their punk rock back catalogue, which may have been better enjoyed by a group of 14-year-old boys moshing in a basement, as well as their new instrumental stuff, which was good but not for party o’clock, although I was surprised how instrumentally competent they were."

"With a set that spanned their career, they sure as fuck didn't disappoint. Ending with 'Sabotage' was a good move, as it made an entire festival spaz right out."

Photos

Photo by North Country Girl

Midzi has returned home from London, happy, exhausted and with three setlists in hand.

Opener: Electrelane

Setlist
Son of Neckbone [video]
Groove Holmes
Suco de Tangerina
Live at PJ's
Futterman's Rule
Remote Control [video]
Time for Living
14th Street Break
Do It
Pow
Lighten Up
Root Down and Get It
Electric Worm
In 3's [video]
Egg Raid on Mojo [video]
Something's Got to Give [video]
The Gala Event
Jimmy James
B for My Name
Sabrosa
Mark on the Bus [video]
Shambala
Off the Grid
Tough Guy
The Maestro
Ricky's Theme
Heart Attack Man
Gratitude
So What'cha Want
Sure Shot
3 MCs and 1 DJ
Sabotage

Photos

Watch the video for "Suco de Tangerina."

(Thanks to the Jamón Crisps Man!)

Related Posts

Beastie Boys film video in Sydney

What are the Beastie Boys up to?

Photo feature: Adam Horovitz at photo shoot

After the Beastie Boys tour wraps up at the end of September, Mix Master Mike will be hitting the road on his own. We've learned of the following tour dates in Spain:

October 13 - Industrial Copera, Granada
October 24 - Sala Apolo, Barcelona
October 25 - Joy Eslava, Madrid

Tickets for these shows may be purchased at Ticktackticket.com. We expect more European dates to be announced soon.

Adam Yauch is interviewed in the current issue of Time Out London:

Music - 10 things you didn't know about ... MCA
Interview: Eddy Lawrence

Adam Yauch, aka MCA, is 33.3 recurring per cent of the Beastie Boys, who play the Roundhouse this Thursday and Friday

He's excited about playing the Roundhouse
'Didn't the Ramones have a show there that had a big impact on a lot of people? I heard that like, most of the British punk bands were formed at that show. Well, let's hope we don't drag the good name of the Roundhouse down into the dirt.'

He can't tell whether UK press likes him or not
'It seems like the music press will do one thing, like Melody Maker and all that, and the tabloids will start writing negative stuff. It's swung back and forth more than a few times.'

He doesn't understand the band's early success either
'Licensed To Ill' is a weird record. It's kind of a surprise that it jumped into the mainstream in the way it did. It's a bizarre record, but it hit a nerve.'

The band's next album, 'Paul's Boutique', was buried by the nefarious machinations of Donny Osmond ...
'We went in to meet the head of the label and told him we were really excited, and he just said: "Nah, forget it. We have a new Donny Osmond record coming out next week." We're still ready to go at it, if Donny still wants to. We'll have an MC battle with him right now.'

He fought the first court case to use the word 'sampling'
'I think so, anyway. There weren't any real precedents for that stuff and there was no terminology, and we had to figure it out. And now it's just a mess.'

He'd actually love to play China
'I hope we do, at some point. I'd love to. I'm not sure if they would let us in or not because of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.'

He feels some responsibility for the rise of rap-rock
Goatee metal? Yeah, well if we can get a plaque for that we can hang up in the studio, that'd nice. A mounted Fred Durst head, that'd be nice.

He hasn't yet adjusted to being an 'elder statesman' of rap
It is weird, you see kids in the audience who are younger than the band. The band's been together for like, 26, 27 years, and there are kids out in the audience who are teenagers. It's extreme to think that when they were growing up, a lot of those albums were already old news.

He owes Time Out a hydraulic penis, bought from the band in Lisbon many years ago ...
'The collective band's one? How much did you buy it for? One dollar? What's the exchange rate with that? Well, you know, we've had it in storage, so that means you're paying the storage charges, so you owe us quite a bit of money. It's in good shape, though. We take it out every now and then and test the hydraulics, so it's in working order.'

Montreal, you lucky bastard! You're getting a Mix Master Mike show in addition to two Beastie Boys shows.

Mix Master Mike will be performing at Club 1234 on September 20, immediately following his performance with the Beastie Boys at the Bell Centre. Tickets may be purchased at Admission.com.

An audience recording of one of my favorite shows of the current tour has popped up. Download audio of the Berlin Gala Event at Livesets.us. It's an 83MB mp3 (not tracked).

Hot show, hot audio...

Photo by Fabbio

Opener: Spank Rock

Setlist
MMM Intro
Super Disco Breakin' [video (with MMM Intro & Sure Shot)]
Sure Shot
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
Posse in Effect
Time for Living
Live at PJ's
Remote Control
B for My Name
Body Movin'
Ch-Check It Out
Paul Revere [video]
Pass the Mic
Egg Man
Egg Raid on Mojo
Off the Grid
Suco de Tangerina
Tough Guy
Root Down [video // alternate video]
Triple Trouble
Hello Brooklyn
So What'cha Want
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video // alternate video]
Gratitude
Shambala [video]
Sabrosa
Heart Attack Man
MMM Interlude [video]
Intergalactic [video]
Sabotage [video // alternate video]

Opinion (via Blog Search)*
*Uncredited on purpose

"At some points, MCA looked so tired, like he wanted to go home and read a book, and the sound wasn't too great, but come on, it's the Beasties, who cares?!"

"Age definitely has not withered them. Musicianship and live band feel is the best I’ve ever seen them. With both Money Mark and Mix Master Mike on board, they are unassailable. Genre-hopping exquisitely from thrash to funk to hip hop and pogo pounding energy. Slightly let down by current fixation on instrumental tracks."

"Mostly a very enjoyable experience, they did put on a good show, and basically were doing greatest hits from every era. However, the sound sucked arse. Loud vocals, very quiet beats. As a big fan of their DJ Mix Master Mike, this was particularly annoying."

"The 'boys' were on top form, and just looked like they were having a brilliant time, with the audience in the palm of their collective hand. The set was a mix of old hits plus occasional instrumentals taken from their new album. The balance worked really very well, with just the right number of pauses and really gave the crazy hits room to breathe. Reminds you they started out as a 'proper' band too, and have some skills on the instruments, but more so as songwriters and showmen."

Photos

Photo by Matt Shannon

Midzi trekked to London for the shows there. We expect full reports from her...eventually.

Opener: Spank Rock

Setlist
MMM Intro [video]
Time for Living
Gratitude
Off the Grid [video // alternate video]
Root Down
Super Disco Breakin' [video]
Sure Shot
Shake Your Rump
Live at PJ's [video]
Remote Control [video]
Electric Worm
Lighten Up [video]
Tough Guy
Brass Monkey [video // alternate video]
Pass the Mic [video]
Flute Loop
Skills to Pay the Bills
Time to Get Ill [video]
Son of Neckbone
The Gala Event
Egg Raid on Mojo
Sabrosa
Alright Hear This
Ch-Check It Out
Body Movin' [video]
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video]
So What'cha Want
MMM Interlude [video]
Intergalactic [video]
Heart Attack Man
Sabotage [video]

Press

Concert review and photos by the London Evening Standard

MTV UK report

Concert review by The Times

Not-so-kind concert review by The Independent

Concert review by Sunday Mirror

Photos

Setlist
Son of Neckbone
Suco de Tangerina
Live at PJ's
14th Street Break [video]
Remote Control
Lighten Up
Root Down and Get It
The Gala Event
Jimmy James
B for My Name
Mark on the Bus
Time for Livin'
Off the Grid
Ricky's Theme
Do It
Heart Attack Man
Gratitude
So What'cha Want
Sure Shot
Sabotage

Lambrettara shares her experience attending the Gala Event staged at Electric Picnic:

The Gala Event was a lot more chilled out than the hip-hop show, because not everyone at the festival actually knew it was on. The Beastie Boys were billed as "Very Special Guests" in the Southern Comfort Crawdaddy Tent at 5:00 p.m. just after The Fall played. I watched The Fall (who were great) and waited for them, but then someone announced that the Beastie Boys would actually be playing in the Electric Arena again instead. My friend and I rushed over there and managed to grab a spot right at the front just in time before the place filled up, although it definitely was nowhere near as crowded as it was the previous night. The band came on earlier, at around 4:30 p.m., because they switched spots with Rahzel, who played in the Crawdaddy Tent instead.

Although the first show was great and had more stuff to sing along to, I enjoyed the Gala Event a lot more. It felt much more casual and relaxed. I was in front of Yauch most of the time, and he seemed a lot looser than the night before. Same goes for Horovitz, who talked a lot more this night. He gave some shout-outs to Donegal and Cork, and also told everyone about how "Ricky's Theme" was about summertime and smoking pot with Ricky Powell. It felt like the band were more relaxed this time around and were just having a good time.

The highlights of the second show for me were the instrumental version of "So What'cha Want," which sounded so groovy, and, surprisingly for myself, "Gratitude" since it really got the crowd going.

BBC Radio aired several songs from the Beastie Boys set at the Connect Festival on this week's Vic Galloway Show. You may listen to the songs streamed at the BBC web site (see upper right corner of page) or download the following mp3s (via zshare), which I extracted from a handy-dandy torrent.

Remote Control (includes Mike D's claim to Inveraray Castle)
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
MMM Interlude / Intergalactic

Download and enjoy an edited FM broadcast of the Beastie Boys set at the Electric Picnic on September 1, 2007, courtesy of MixesDB.com:

62MB mp3 via Rapidshare or Megaupload

Tracklist

Shake Your Rump
Heart Attack Man
Gratitude
B for My Name
Sabrosa
Super Disco Breakin'
Pass the Mic
Brass Monkey
Electric Worm
Shambala
Off the Grid
Body Movin'
Ch-Check It Out
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
So What'cha Want

(Big thanks to Sam!)

According to Beastieboys.com, Beastie Boys are going to be on Sirius radio's Alt Nation (Channel 21) at 11 a.m. EST tomorrow (Tuesday, September 4), so don't miss it!

Update: We were misinformed about the Sirius program. The band were on the Boombox Channel, not Alt Nation. We're guessing everyone missed the interview.

Photo by Live Music Pics

Setlist*
Triple Trouble [video]
Root Down
Remote Control
Shake Your Rump [video]
Heart Attack Man [video]
Gratitude
B for My Name [video]
Sabrosa
Super Disco Breakin'
Pass the Mic
Brass Monkey
Electric Worm
Shambala
Off the Grid
Body Movin'
Ch-Check It Out
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
So What'cha Want
Egg Raid on Mojo [video]
3 MCs and 1 DJ [video]
Intergalactic
Sabotage [video]

*Incomplete

Lambrettara shares her experience attending the Beastie Boys hip-hop set at Electric Picnic:

The hip-hop show was at 10:45 p.m. on Saturday. From 3 p.m. on, I waited in front of the stage inside the Electric Arena Tent. I was determined to be at the front for the Beastie Boys set. I got my wish alright, although as the show progressed I got pushed more and more to the side. The crowd was pretty rough, but it was tolerable. Apparently the whole tent (the largest at the festival) was full to bursting and no more people were being allowed in. There were plenty of people listening outside the tent too.

Mike D was really into the show on Saturday night. I feel like he was the one leading the show. He definitely had the most energy to spare. He seemed to be enamoured with Electric Picnic's name but decided that for the duration of the weekend he was renaming it to Mike D's Picnic:

Mike: This picnic isn't Electric anymore! No, it's Mike D's Picnic! Whose picnic is it?!
Crowd: Mike D's!!
Mike: That's right! [points at a random security guard] Put that in your record book, son!
Yauch: Mike, did you just call that security guard "son"?

Then Mike seemed to be embarrassed, while the others laughed at him. He then sat on the floor of the stage in shame before getting up again and proclaiming, "Arrest me now!"

Yauch pointed out a girl wearing water wings at one point during the show because he thought it was "an interesting idea."

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