When I heard the Beastie Boys were going on tour I figured it would probably be one of the last chances to see them. They are pushing 40 and seeing as how it took them six years to put out To The 5 Boroughs, who knows what they will do in the future. So I made a five hour drive to see them in beautiful Detroit Rock City. And boy oh boy it was worth it. Let's take it from the top.
Detroit seems like an alright city. They were filming a movie about two blocks over from Cobo where the show was so I got to see some big shootout scene and explosions galore. I showed up to Cobo Hall around 7:15 after drinking extensively. The crowd was pretty mixed, with lots of older people in their 30's, lots of kids my age in their early 20's, and pretty much everything in between. When we first got there the place was about half full. Promptly at 7:30 the show got under way with Bob Moore and the Amazing Mongrels. What the fuck is that you ask? Well, it's a guy named Bob Moore (I assume) who has a ton of dogs and they just jump around and do tricks to circus music onstage. It was entertaining and a good opening act. The dogs jumped through hoops, off of ledges, and did flips and other goofy shit.
The music started with Talib Kweli who I had never heard before. It was just him and his DJ guy or whatever the shit they are called. He was enthusiastic and hyped up the Beasties but overall I wasn't that impressed. All his songs sounded pretty much the same and his whole 35-minute set kind of just blended together into one long rap song with him yelling real loud. Some people seemed to dig him and sing along but pretty much everyone was just waiting for the main attraction.
The place filled up and Mix Master Mike got all the shit set up and the Beastie Boys came on stage around 9:15 and proceeded to put on a damn good show. The setlist was...
MMM Intro
Egg Man
Root Down
Sure Shot
(played a clip of Will Ferrel doing George W. Bush which is also on the Rock Against Bush 2 DVD)
Triple Trouble
Time To Get Ill
Pass Tha Mic
Super Disco Breakin
Posse In Effect
Shake Your Rump
MMM Interlude
(Now they came back and played instruments)
Sabrosa
Lighten Up
Something's Gotta Give
(Now back to just rappin)
Open Letter to NYC
Right RIght Now Now
Paul Revere
Body Movin'
3 MC's and 1 DJ
Brass Monkey
Ch-Check It Out
So Whatcha Want
ENCORE
Intergalactic
(Back to Instruments)
Gratitude
Sabotage
All in all it was a killer show. They played for an hour and 45 minutes and played shit from all their different albums. It was a set that was big on hits but they threw in a few fan faves here and there. When they opened with "Egg Man" I just about shit my pants cause that song is so great. People were singing along to every song. Hell there was even a Kid Rock sighting. Awesome! (FYI-thats sarcasm).
It was awesome to see them play the instruments. They dressed up real nice in blue tuxes while playing them and had the stage set up somewhat like a high school dance. It was nice to slow things down in the middle. They didn't talk a whole lot except to say a few things about how disapointing the election was and some other goofy banter. All the songs sounded phenomenal and the crowd went nuts. When they played "Sabotage" as the last song the floor absolutely exploded and people were jumping up and down like crazy. MCA also constantly was going into the crowd and they played the whole song of "Intergalactic" while walking around the arena. "Brass Monkey" and "Paul Revere" were two old school treats that the crowd fucking loved. I didn't hear them fuck up any rhymes and they just put on a great show overall. I really cant stress how impressed I was. So if you get the chance, go check the Beastie Boys out on this tour. It's well worth it.