NEWS: Los Angeles Versus The Beastie Boys

MUSIC: Los Angeles Versus The Beastie Boys

My phone rang early Sunday evening, it was my buddy Dave inviting me to see the Beastie Boys at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles' Griffith Park. Some great tickets fell into his lap and I jumped at the chance to go. I had not seen them live in many years. The opener, whoever it was, was already on stage by the time I got the call.

We jumped in the car and I rang FearTheReaper to invite him along. But he was still recovering from his 40th birthday party...sucks to get old, right buddy? The old FTR would have lept at the chance. I hope staying home and rubbing your feet or whatever you did was worth it.

The Greek Theater is one of the best mid-size venues I've ever been too. Last time I was there I saw Radiohead play new tracks from their yet-to-be-released album. There's really not a bad seat in the house:



The worst thing I can write about the Greek Theater is that it happens to be in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has the worst god damn crowds on the fucking planet. The most a performer could hope for from a Los Angeles audience is that people will stay off their phones, kind of nod their heads and maybe sway a little.

Even if you manage to find someone that manages to get fired-up, he still gets it wrong because he's from Los Angeles. Like this useless dildo:


He whistled like that from the second the Beasties took the stage until the end. Who was he trying to help? The band? Us? He was a loud asshole with a stupid smile. My left ear is still ringing. As his nonsense dragged on, the woman he came with glanced around nervously. I looked right at her and smiled sympathetically. It wasn't her fault. Hopefully she didn't delete her Match.com profile. Poor gal's going to need it.



Adrock knew what he was dealing with early on. He told the Greek it couldn't hurt to dance if they felt like it. Nobody was going to make fun of anybody for enjoying themselves he assured the crowd. He knew exactly what city he was playing. The Beasties played a great show even if LA sucked for them.

The idiot in front of me snuck through security with a bottle of water in her purse. She took a sip, and put it back in her purse...without the cap. Luckily for her, most of it went straight through her oddly pourous bag right onto me. She was very apologetic. Too apologetic. I just wanted to watch the show and let my wet crotch air dry. Becuase this was Los Angeles, she had no problem turning her back to the stage to chat for most of Super Disco Breaking.

Fortunately, not even live music's most worst crowd could ruin the Beastie Boys' night. Here's "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" live from the Greek:



Here's the full set list for 8-19-07 from a set list nerd at the Beasties boards:
Time for Living
Remote Control
Live at PJ's
Off the Grid
Root Down
Triple Trouble
Sure Shot
Shake Your Rump
Electric Worm
Sabrosa
Gratitude
Tough Guy
Super Disco Breaking
Pass the Mic
Body Movin'
Brass Monkey
B for My Name
Shambala
Lighten Up
Egg Raid on Mojo
3 MCs and 1 DJ
No Sleep Til Brooklyn
Ch-Check It Out
So What'cha Want

Encore:
Mix Master Mic VS The Turntables
Intergalactic
Heart Attack Man
Sabotage


The Boys needed a mulligan a couple of times, they had fun the whole time, even when they fucked up and had to restart a song. It was charming. Not like when I saw Elliot Smith stop every song twice while he was high on horse tranquilizers.

I had caught them twice before, once with DJ Hurricane and once with Mix Master Mike. As always, they played the hits and they played their instruments. In the end, Los Angeles threw everything they had into it: loud retarded whistling, cell phones, loud stupid talking and even a purse filled with water. It wasn't enough -- it was still a great show.

The Boys are on tour until October if you want to get on it.

Gerry thinks Paul's Boutique is one of the finest albums of all time.

I have never seen the Beastie Boys live -- and have wanted to for a long time. Hopefully, I don't miss out on them before they retire, like so many other bands that so many people never get the chance to see. Won't get the chance on this tour - they are staying far away from Florida. Damn.

Why go to a show if all you're going to do is blab your mouth the whole time? I had difficulty hearing the Beastie Boys over your chatty neighbors!

yeah...as an angelino this makes me kinda sad. maybe thats why i always stayed away from the bigger venues and only went to the shows where the kids were still hoppin'.

I just saw them in red rocks and they were freakin amazing... so on top of their game, rock stars, having fun, not over choreographed... and yes a fun false start or two.

Why didn't you, you know, murder that whistling dildo?

Gerry would be correct.

And then you get those people who stand there with their videocamera all night. Fuckin' LA crowds....

right on, i really liked the greek theater, it was a very cool venue. i would have accidentally elbowed that dildo in the head though. christ.

You can tell that guy just learned to whistle like that.

Too funny! To think I have seen the Beasties dozens of times in rooms with less than 30 people and most of the time we wanted them off the stage so we could see the next band. I am even older than FTR!!!!!

LA is probably like that because they get so many concerts/shows/events. In Alaska we're so desperate for entertainment that even washed up bands missing half their original members get treated like gods.

Ehem. I was, uh, writing an article for the sight. And nursing a massive hangover. I have seen them before, if that counts for anything.

Gerry D, you have opened a can of worms.

am i the only one who thinks the beastie boys look ridiculous at their age still performing that frat rap shtick?

i gotta say, they looked stylish in their suits. they've grown up a bunch since the 30 foot inflatable dick joined them on stage.

we're all old. I'm following him shortly.

i know we get old, i''m old, but just seeing them sing no sleep 'til brooklyn while wearing suits and not looking like kids anymore is kinda off-putting to me.

Thanks for the mini video of No Sleep Till Brooklin. Is sound like an great concert even though the crowd sucked!!

Story of my life.

I hate LA! Before moving to the West Coast from NYC I defended Californians from people who insisted they were shallow, self-centered, rude, fake and on and on and on...

3 years later I accept that not all Californians are idiots but most of them in Southern California are.

They never use directional signals when they drive, they do a million things other than drive when they are in a car (painting nails, talking on the phone, eating and my favorite of all time... reading the newspaper while driving!)

You learn to love it because of the weather but you miss real people who tell it like it is.

I should say SoCal has been very good to me, sure, there are things that drive me nuts, like last night - but as a rule Cali has been very generous to me.

interesting...considering that most southern californians are transplants...

i can't stand when assholes come to a show and act like assholes...why don't they stay home and do that instead of dishing out goo-gobs of $$ to fuck up someone else's good time?!

LA crowds do suck. i try to ignore it.

wanna overcome this la crowd phenomenom? Small clubs like Largo, where reverence is tthe way, or try a Polyohonic Spree Show. Like them or not "we should prolly just jump up and down too cause this cult might kil us if we don't" is the order of the day. Nothing better when "ah fuck it" finally seizes the crowd.