BEASTIE BOYS @ Festival Pier in Philadelphia - 8/1

With the Beastie Boys’ new instrumental album The Mix-Up I didn’t know what kind of show to expect from the legendary trio tonight, but alas I largely got a classic Beasties Hip-Hop show! (I’m talking ‘Paul Revere’ and all).  This stop did have sprinklings of their new instrumental material, which made for nice dynamic shifting and was great for interlude purposes. I learned that they’ve scheduled some 'gala' dates with fewer rap performances within their tour, but I must say I am ecstatic at what I got.

The veteran Brooklyn group kicked off their summer tour in grand style to a jam packed crowd of fans eager to see them. One front row spectator I spoke to traveled to Philly from Columbus, OH, waiting at the venue more than 5 hours early! The show started over an hour late so after the third chanting of ‘beast-ie boys, beast-ie boys’ I feared a riot. Luckily the barricades of the press pit would have protected me, but there was nothing to fear once Ad Rock, MCA & Mike D appeared. [Much more of my review below]

 

The boys opened the show with instruments in hand and quickly displayed a pure Hip-Hop energy. Their swagger is so genuine that they invite you back to old-school sensibilities whether you are nostalgic for them or not.

After the first few songs began a more punk rock heavy segment received just as well as the energetic opening.

 

The first new track they performed was headbanging and futuristic with dissonant sounds throughout accentuated by dramatic lighting effects. What they followed it with was noticeably less dissonant than the first – it had nice scratching and vocal samples and a bongo breakdown by one of the band’s supporting musicians. The band was at a loss for words when describing some of the new stuff simply saying, ‘this next song goes like this’ lol. I think the new stuff was well received considering it was probably a first listen for many.  After that, the band revved it right back up with ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn.’

After touching on their new instrumental tracks for a second time, they went right back to their mics for ‘Body Movin.’  It was the smart timing that made the entire show as consistent as it was. Turn up the guitars here, spit fire there, experiment with new song here, etc. Some of my favorite moments came with the danceable uptempos like ‘Intergalactic’ and ‘Body Movin’, two songs I’m old enough to remember distinctly – those really got the crowd hype. The Beasties ain’t afraid to dance and they even challenged the crowd to their dance abilities.  ‘Brass Monkey’ was one of those great moments as well.

During one of their crazy Hip-Hop medleys, the Boys graciously shouted out mainstay Mix Master Mike. Any Hip-Hop head can appreciate the use of other hot beats as MMM did to switch up old songs on the 1 and 2s.

 

 

In the end, the blistering heat simmered down a bit and the smell of illicit substances faded. The Boys thanked the beautiful and sexy people of Philly and closed with a frenetic 'Sabotage,' climbing their onstage props and finally bidding farewell to their friends in the crowd. It’s hard to believe these guys are in their 40s but it’s easy to see why their careers have lasted well over 20 years.

 

Comments

[Kc]

the Beastie Boys are indeed doing some all instrumental dates, but i feel you on your appreciation of this particular performance. thx for the review...i'm definately gonna try to catch one of these shows if theyre not sold out

[jose]

that review was great, i'm ampt right now !

[Hot Sauce]

"I heard they’ve scheduled all-instrumental dates within their tour"

You heard wrong. None of their shows have been or are going to be all-instrumental. The only difference between their hip-hop shows and Gala Event shows is the Gala Events have fewer rap songs in the set. Both kinds of shows have instrumentals, hardcore songs, and rap songs.

Instrumental show = instruments played

[jon]

oh ok, that's what's up then. that makes more sense, but some don't know what to expect from the show with this new project being the way it is

thanks for the info

[julio]

i think ur review is real nice, jon. glad u enjoyed urself!

[epc]

okay! i'm feelin those pics, good work

[columbus ohio chick]

I'm the one who traveled from Columbus Ohio to see the show in Philly. I want to thank you for my shout out. The show was well worth the long, long, long wait. Thanks so much to the Beastie Boys, for making one girl very, very, very happy. ( and the little brother she dragged 7 hours away for a short 2 day trip to see them)!!!!!

[Jon Pierre]

hey columbus ohio, i KNOW u had a ball. that's funny u dragged ur little bro too... i have a feeling he wasn't too madd @ u

[columbus chick]

Had a blast!!

[littlebro]

thanks sis the show was sweet and you are the best sister i have and wait the only sis.......ya i forgot sorry

[Candy gUrL]

I love the beastie boys and would have done so much to have been there!

[Manda Manda]

OMG! I so felt like I was there rocking out with my fellow NY natives. I was loving the pics

[Marc]

The Beastie Boys used to tour with greats like Run DMC, LL Cool J and the Fresh Prince back in the 80's. It's great to see that 20 years later they can still put on a great show.

[taragirl]

All I can say is I WISH I WAS THERE !!!
Thanks for the vivid recap - sweet :)