It’s always a pleasure to see live performers. Whether star-status and grand or obscure and humble, a live show is always a treat for the senses. On Monday night, I had a chance to see a personal favourite at the Air Canada Centre-the Beastie Boys, a perfect blend of grand and humble. Known by many names, MCA (Adam Yauch), Mike D (Michael Diamond) and AdRock (Adam Horowitz) are the constituents of this band, who have been performing in ever-evolving form since the early ’80s.
Their Toronto show this week was a perfect example of their bill-paying skills, their seriously silly roots and their love for music as well as good times. After an impressive opening set by grassroots MC Talib Kweli, the boys took to the stage in style. Opening with “The Move,” the ACC erupted in a frenzy of true elation. After hyping up the crowd, they politely stopped to say hello. They greeted everyone with class, then dove right down into their roots to get the lyrical ball rolling.
Along with fine rhymes, brilliantly delivered instrumentals (“Sabrosa,” “Ricky’s Lament” and more!) and the man known only as “Mixmaster Mike,” the Beastie Boys brought a message of right action and spiritual satisfaction. Make no mistake, these men are rappers, but their flawlessly fluid lyrics spill out far more good than ill.
The B.E.A.S.T.I.E., (Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence) Boys have been helping spread the movement of love and understanding for years, and they show no signs of stopping any time soon. Right from their early days through to MCA’s “Bodhisattva Vow, “the Beastie Boys have been dropping hints of the eightfold path through their rhymes for over a decade.
With North America’s recent emphasis on the encouragement of younger voters, the Beastie Boys have their work cut out for them. It can be easily argued that, with today’s (for lack of a more formal term) media-parenting, the Beasties have been influencing positive decision-making more effectively than any hip-hop performer on the scene today (though that’s not to say that they are alone in this).
During small breaks in the show, on screens behind their set, a man who bore a striking resemblance to Will Farrell was dressed remarkably like George Bush-these amusing short scenes weren’t just political parody but also smacked of the Beasties’ love for silliness, as when Farrell/Bush played a rake like a guitar. On “It Takes Time To Build,” MCA spit, “By the time Bush is done, what will be left?”, adding, “Selling votes like E-pills at the discotheque/Environmental destruction and the national debt/But plenty of dollars left in the fat war chest.”
In another great tune off their new album To The Five Boroughs (a love letter of sorts to their hometown of NYC), they rap: “Trajectories from the past are taking their toll/And what we do now is future molding.” It’s performers like these who are rarely credited, but often responsible for educating-if even subliminally-today’s media-saturated generation. Given that they probably do more to bring new ideas to commercially-bombarded and politically-bereft young music fans, it’s a shame to think “Parental Advisory” stickers are usually slapped onto the covers of their CDs.
It’s also a shame that it has been six long years since they have been in this neck of the woods. Their display this week was not only one of the best concerts I’ve ever had the pleasure of attending, but it was an enlightening experience for the many demographics that decorated the Air Canada Centre that night. Not to mention that it was an incredibly musical experience-something that the hip-hop scene should be more well-known for.
I think I speak for all fans when I say that the Beasties are like fine wine-only getting better with time. One just sincerely hopes it doesn’t take another six years for their next return.
