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October 10, 2004
Jew Klux Klan
As eighties hip hop pioneers, The Beastie Boys are pushing 40 in a genre that's seeing its breakthrough superstars age for the first time. Tonight at Madison Square Garden, they proved that elder man can still dance and rhyme on stage as good as MC's half their age - minus the stamina.
The night kicked off with Triple Trouble, their current struggling single off To The 5 Boroughs, and quickly merged into crowd favorites Sure Shot and Root Down from Ill Communication.
The set list was confusing, much like the Beastie Boys' present identity. For the past ten years or so, they have been altruistic rock stars, using their celebrity to promote women's rights, Tibetan Freedom and liberal causes, among others. Tonight, they kept mum about their agenda, except for when they 1)showed a Will Ferrell as Dubya video snippet; and 2)dedicated Sabotage to George W. Bush in their encore.
In fact, they almost seemed to retrogress to their frat days of Licensed To Ill. They performed three songs off that album - Time To Get Ill, Paul Revere and Brass Monkey, the last of which they've historically avoided in concert. Maybe I'm getting old, but seeing MCA rap about the pleasures of excessive drinking is just plain silly.
(Noticeably absent was their least young frat album, Paul's Boutique, represented only by the party anthem Shake Your Rump.)
But after taking a look at the ocean of white known as their audience, one can see why they're confused. I've been to several Beastie Boys concerts, and I don't think any have been as "white frat" as this one. I should've known I was in for trouble when young drunk boys entered MSG in a shouting chorus of The Biz Vs. Nuge. And I should've seen the light when clusters of white boys gathered around the big screen televisions in the corridor to watch the Yankees game. But it really became apparent when the big ass mosh pit erupted. Isn't moshing so yesterday? And don't even get me started on the post-concert, MSG-exiting chants of "New...York...YANKees!" Ugh.
The Beastie Boys don't want you to think they've completely sold out. They had a strong opening act in Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli, let the legendary Doug E. Fresh beat box with them (I guess Justin Timberlake was busy), and gave a "shout out" to fellow pioneer DMC of RUN-DMC. They performed a kick ass instrumental interlude, with the band set up much like an old school Italian wedding - blue formalwear, stringed lights, upright bass. And in a time of excessiveness in the entertainmnent industry, their minimalist, yet artful, stage was quite refreshing.
All in all, The Beasties did what they do best. They put on a fun, high-energy concert, performing all their hits to a crowd of devoted fans. With a set clocked at 1 hour and 35 minutes, I just wish they would've played more.
Posted by Michele at October 10, 2004 12:55 AM
Comments
word!
Posted by: cootie girl at October 10, 2004 01:53 PM
Jew Klux Klan! That's a chappelle skit waitin' to happen. Or maybe it's Ben Stiller's next project.
Posted by: Brian at October 15, 2004 01:48 PM
