"3 MC's and 1 DJ," which does not appear on the setlist, was performed after "Sure Shot."

"Mother. Fuckin'. Beastie Boys."

I must have cursed Beastie Boys a hundred times yesterday. I cursed them because I like them so much that I stood for hours in the rain and mud to see them perform their hip-hop set at the Heineken Opener Festival in Gdynia, Poland.

"I bet they're in a warm room, wearing dry socks and drinking hot drinks," Midzi snarled in the early evening, as our clothes became completely water-soaked from the rain.

"Mother fuckin' Beastie Boys," I cursed.

"Damn Beastie Boys," Midzi muttered.

It's a good thing that at a festival called the Heineken Opener, they serve Heineken -- because the beer kept us going when we were miserably wet and cold. If it were my decision, I would have skipped the set and gone back to our lovely and warm rented house near the sea, but it wasn't my decision. My Polish friend had her heart set on seeing her favorite band in her own country. Nevermind that she has been fighting a cold. Nevermind the pouring rain and muddy field. She was going to see the Beastie Boys if she had to crawl through the mud.

Before heading to the festival grounds, we went searching for rain gear in Gdynia with little luck. The stores had been cleaned out by other festival goers. I managed to score an umbrella, which was a lifesaver later in the evening, and Midzi purchased large garbage bags to serve as rain wear.

As we began to fashion rain clothes out of the huge garbage bags, we laughed at how ridiculously stupid it was.

"We are dressed to impress!" Midzi laughed.

"Mother fuckin' Beastie Boys making me wear garbage bags!" I cursed and laughed.

It seemed that the rain was going to stop before Beastie Boys went on stage, but the weather was just teasing us by starting and stopping the rain repeatedly. It rained throughout most of the evening.

When Beastie Boys finally came on stage, Midzi and I scrunched up our noses in disgust when we saw Adam Yauch wearing a warm winter jacket.

"Mother fuckin' Beastie Boys!" I yelled aloud, as I pulled my stuck foot out of the mud.

My opinion of the show is greatly different than Midzi's. For me, it was one of the weakest Beastie Boys sets I've ever seen. For Midzi, however, it was a fantastic set. We agreed that our opinions are a matter of concert experience.

I thought the band were sort of sloppy. They didn't get their shit together until midway through the show with "Off the Grid." The first half of the set was full of flub-ups, with the band stopping and restarting many songs.

"Wheel up!" Mike yelled, trying to infuse some humor into their mistakes. When you're standing in the rain and mud, the last thing you feel like is laughing at mistakes. The mistakes probably would have been funny to me if I hadn't been freezing my ass off and standing in the mud wearing garbage bags.

Standing back from the stage, Midzi and I were able to watch the video show that accompanies the band's set. We're not sure if we missed these videos previously because we've always been so close to the stage, but we think the videos and animations might have been new to the tour last night. Some of the animation looks to be the work of Bill McMullen, particularly a robot animation for "Intergalactic."

The setlist was very similar to all the other hip-hop shows the band have performed in Europe. It's disappointing how predictable the hip-hop sets are. Even Midzi, who has only seen two hip-hop sets ever by the band, was able to accurately predict the songs and the order in which they would be played before the show began. The band seem to be saving all their creativity for the Gala Events -- which I'm totally cool with because I am 100% a Gala Event gal.

When the band came out for the encore, they were all carrying hot drinks.

"Is that a hot toddy?" Yauch asked Horovitz.

"Why, yes it!" Horovitz replied.

Midzi and I looked at each other and knew what the other was thinking. Mother fuckin' Beastie Boys!

Midzi was very happy when Horovitz spoke some Polish. "Na zdrowie," he said, holding his drink in the air. (It is a toast, equivalent to "Cheers!")

Last night's audience was pretty tame because of the rain and mud, but people seemed to enjoy the Beastie Boys set. The Hello Nasty songs received the most enthusiastic response. Midzi's song pick was "Pass the Mic," and mine was "Off the Grid."

Today's Gala Event is in a tent. We checked it out yesterday. The ground is muddy.

Videos

Bong-Bong/Bing-Bing routine and Electric Worm
Body Movin'
Super Disco Breakin'
Super Disco Breakin' and Brass Monkey
Sabrosa
Egg Raid on Mojo and 3 MCs and 1 DJ
3 MCs and 1 DJ
Ch-Check It Out
MMM Interlude
Sabotage

View a slideshow of the pics from the Paris Gala Event by clicking on the photo above or go to Flickr to see the photoset.

It has been difficult finding time to post photos and write reviews about the shows in Europe. The Beastie Boys devised a tour schedule that is completely crazy. They have so few days off that I find it hard to believe that they're enjoying any of their time in Europe. Midzi and I are enjoying little beyond the shows. If we're not at a show, we're traveling to the next. We skipped Turkey, Greece, Hurricane Festival, Southside Festival, and Werchter Festival so we could have some downtime and relax.

The lack of downtime for the band has been showing somewhat in their performances. They look physically exhausted on stage some of the time. The crew seem just as tired. There have been times when I looked to the side stage during a show and saw crew members struggling to keep their eyes open. I feel bad that the band and crew are working so hard. They should be having some fun.

Four days have passed since the Gala Event at Le Bataclan in Paris. As I posted previously, the show was super magnifique! I love seeing shows in Paris because when French fans love a band, they show it. I also like seeing shows in Paris because I've never been hurt at one in France. French men are unique in that they recognize and appreciate that women are not built like they are. The French men standing behind Midzi and me at Le Bataclan were very nice and watched out for us. Merci beaucoup!

When you don't have to spend your time fighting off meatheads during a show, you can hear and enjoy more of the songs. That's exactly what I experienced at Le Bataclan. After being disappointed with the standard setlist at Le Zenith the night before, I was really pleased that Mr. Yauch (aka Mr. Setlist) assembled a setlist with an interesting flow. It was the first show so far in Europe that began with a hardcore track (i.e., "Time for Living").

The French audience's enthusiastic response to the songs seemed to pump up the band. The show was high-energy and filled with many humorous moments. In his introduction to "Ricky's Theme," Adam Horovitz talked about how the band would go to smoke weed -- "Marajuana cigarettes," Horovitz clarified -- at Ricky Powell's cat-filled apartment. "It smelled like cat pee and weed," he told the audience.

Horovitz had funny one-line responses to fans yelling song requests.

"Egg Raid on Mojo!" a fan yelled.

"Ask and you shall receive!" Horovitz replied with a devilish grin.

"Open Letter to New York City!" another fan yelled.

"I appreciate that song request, but not today," he told the fan.

Midway through the show, Horovitz decided to add a song to the set. After "Ricky's Theme," he pow-wowed with his bandmates and then announced to the audience that they had an extra song.

"We have a free song for you. I mean, I know you paid to see the show -- most of you, that is," Horovitz said.

A fan interrupted by yelling, "Oh, yeah!" implying he had paid a lot to see the show.

A puzzled Horovitz replied, "What do you mean 'Oh, yeah'? I have to feed my dog, you know. This song is not on the setlist, but I like it and want to play it. It's called 'Suco de Tangerina.'"

"Song for the Man" was a song that saw a lot of funny audience participation. The French fans sang Money Mark's organ part instead of the lyrics. This song was particularly fun for Midzi and me after seeing how the Cologne audience reacted to this song (i.e., booing).

Because of the small size of the venue, the crew were unable to hang the potato chip lights/video screens, so the lighting was different. Yauch's setlist was lit by a small standing camp light. When Horovitz saw it on the floor, he picked it up and started singing "I Like to Move It" (by Reel to Real [video at youtube.com]).

"I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it! You like to move it, move it!" Horovitz sang and danced while holding the camp light in the air. The lights in the house went down and Mike joined Horovitz in the song. Yauch stood to the side and laughed at his two goofy friends.

More goofiness was witnessed when the band returned to the stage for the encore. Mike wore a towel as a cape. He announced that he was "Captain Poo-Poo." Holding a glass of champagne and talking animatedly to the audience, Mike spilled his drink in front of Horovitz, who laughed at his friend's inability to keep his drink in his glass because he was talking so much.

Earlier in the show, Mike explained to his bandmates and the audience that his expression for stopping and restarting a song was called "Wheel up!" (He did this after flubbing up and stopping one of the hardcore songs.) He asked the audience to chant his expression with him. "Wheel up!" he yelled, pointing his finger upwards in the air. Yauch and Horovitz laughed at how stupid it was.

The show ended with Horovitz giving a heartfelt introduction to "Sabotage." He told the audience, "We are all here now. When you're feeling low, remember that we had this moment together."

Videos

Live at PJ's
"Wheel Up!" (intro to The Maestro)
3 MCs and 1 DJ
Sure Shot

Photos