Hellllooooooo, Brooklyn
It turns out that New York really is a hell of a town and last night me and Maria got Brooklyn down. They played McCarren Pool last night and I couldn’t resist - I came to the Beatsies late in life so when do I get a chance to see them not in a stadium? Yeah, never. It was great - as usual they put on a ridiculous show, songs that I don’t generally love come alive on stage. It’s the boys, but a lot - I think - has to do with the presence of an unleashed Mix Master Mike on stage, doing whatever the hell he wants to do.
The set list was great. They did a super cool version of Paul Revere, played some new instrumentals that I generally am only ok with but was surprised to find that I really loved, what else… oh, the So Watcha’ Want was also particularly fantastic. I didn’t know this, but until then they had never played in Brooklyn! So of course they ended the show with No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn. And breaking the string of atrocious Brooklyn crowds this crowd couldn’t stop moving, even to some of the slow instrumentals! Was great, but it was all aging Beatsy fans and not Crooklyn hipsters, so don’t think I’m letting you off the hook that easy - Brooklyn is still on notice - it’s going to take a lot for me to forgive that ramrod straight crowd at the Detroit Cobras.
I also want to talk about my great love for Money Mark. He must win the award for most energetic keyboardist ever. Ever. Adding to his repertoire of jumping crazy high while playing, he now also simply stands on his keyboard singing as well as dancing madly to some of the hardcore songs. The best part is comparing his on stage presence with the Beasties to his own music, which is really great as well, but completely mellow. Good times. Even Maria now understands why I have that Money Mark vinyl on the shelf, now. :)
For way better pictures than my crappy ones check out flickr as always.
UPDATE: Here’s a fellow who enjoyed the show and was good enough to post a set list at the bottom of his post. Oh, and what Giant said. Yes.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Well fine sir, it appears I was about 20 yards from you all night. Go figure. Anyway, while I agree the sound, the venue and the band was fantastic, I would have to disagree with you on the mix master mike thing. He has grown on my over the years, but I found the beastie boys to be much more complete with DJ Hurricane on the wheels of steel. Granted, he did not mix up the beats as much, and without MMM on dj duty now, they would not have crossed over as much as a whole. Still, I believe Hurricane was a perfect match for the bboys and not hearing him live with them is always more of a let down than mmm is an addition to the group. His Voltron hat during Intergalactic was sure cool though.
Anyway, couldn’t not agree more with Money Mark. At one point, he ran in front of the DJ stand and just moshed with himself for a while. It was quite a sight. He reminds me of a mix between David Burn and Trent Resnor on stage. Check out my pics and mov files of the show here:
http://happyboxproductions.com/bboys/
Oh, and a nice cameo from DJ Run, from RUN DMC.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I can’t speak to Hurricane as that was before my day, never saw them live. But for me a lot of the goodness of these shows comes from Mike - it just throws a level of unpredictability into the show and makes it feel more live to me. I remember when he first started touring with them and he would throw out some wierd beat and they’d just mess up. That was awesome.
Glad someone’s with me about Money Mark! I’m also surprised I didn’t see you! I told Maria that I felt like I should see someone I know there, but I didn’t. Sigh. Looks like you were on the other side of the stage from me.
And it was great to see Run. But was he always DJ Run? I mean, Run DMC was two MC’s and Jay, no? I always knew him as Run or now Reverend Run. They shoulda had him rap with them, just a little. :)
And how awesome was that video mobile thing hanging above the stage? It was great, even greater than the giant discoball.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Backstage?? Jerk! :)
August 10th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Sorry, MC Run is correct.
January 10th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
[...] that I love Money Mark. You can tell by the vinyl I have as well as the fact that I already said $Mark kicks ass right here. Anyhow… I came across this video of him playing live - not only playing live but [...]