Time for Living: The Beastie Boys Class Up the Greek Theater

The band was more than 25 years old. The sound was totally ass. The opening act sucked beyond expectations. So by what rights could the Beastie Boys put on such a fantastic performance at UC-Berkeley's Greek Theater last Saturday night?

Bravely standing under a Calderian LCD nightmare, the B-Boys tore through their most in-demand material over a quick two hours.

In spite of their releasing an instrumental LP in June, the Boys stuck to the hits and the more popular album tracks. And they gave their punk library a workout, opening with "Time for Living" and finding space for "Tough Guy," "Heart Attack Man" and "Gratitude."

"What's the time?"

Did I mention these guys are old?

"How old are they?"

The Beastie Boys in their current and enduring form released their first single in 1984. This means that the group is significantly older than any undergraduate student on the Berkeley campus. They had already released both a groundbreaking LP (Licensed to Ill) and a literally once-in-a-lifetime one (Paul's Boutique) before any of the incoming freshman class had even been born.

"Jebus. Were there any college kids at the show?"

Not that I could see, but I don't think school's fully in yet. But to put it in perspective, if you were like me and started attending university in the early '90s, the B-Boys are to today's college kids what Pink Floyd was to us. They may not see much difference between this B-Boys tour and, say, the Rolling Stones' endless death march.

But the Stones don't have Mix Master Mike, who still must be heard to be believed.

Peanut Butter Wolf opened and disappointed the crowd dramatically. For a man with a record collection as legendary as the label he runs, this obviously pod-person replacement of PBW crawled through an awfully conventional DJ set, focusing on top-40 classic rock and '80s pop. Fortunately, as I mentioned, the sound was ass.

More thrilling pics of the night are at Flickr, snitches.

Beastie Boys w/ Peanut Butter Wolf concert review
August 25, 2007
Greek Theater, Berkeley, California, USA

Comments

[Josh]

I saw the Beastie Boys in 1998 (Jesus, is that really almost ten years ago now?) at the Oakland Arena on their Hello Nasty tour. I hate arena shows, and the forgettable opening acts (there were two) were terrible, and by the time they finally came out I was really not in the mood to have fun and ... guess what? They were fucking fantastic, obviously. Still one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life.

Speaking of feeling old, that Pink Floyd comparison makes me feel old, even if the math checks out. But I seem to recall that when I started college in 1992, there were almost as many kids with Dark Side of the Moon posters as there were with Pearl Jam posters...

Josh

[seamus]

True dat, Josh. I was a huuuuge Pink Floyd fan myself, but that was mostly b/c mainstream rock had been so shitty during the '80s that we had no choice but to appreciate the prior generation's tunes. It was either that, or RATT.

By that measure, I hope today's kids who are burnt on T.I. and crunk look back a decade for some inspiration.

[SchlongJohnSilver]

I was there, but damnit if I cannot remember the song that went with the discoball drop.

Anyone? Bueller?

[seamus]

Schlong, it was the only track they played from the new instrumental CD.

[jjm]

Danceable Pink Floyd would be a more precise description, although we were usually sitting down for Something's Got to Give.

Shadrach Messap Abednago.

[other josh]

personally, i preferred the wilco show the night before.

[mp]

you folks are all forgetting that the beastie boys didn't stop being relevant after paul's boutique. i may be on the older end of the group you're talking about, having graduated this year, but ill communication (1994, but held extensive radio play well through the 90s) and hello nasty (1998) were seminal albums in the adolescent development of me and almost anyone i know in my generation. i wont claim to be an expert on pink floyd, but my guess is their albums from the 80s werent nearly as relevant. the beastie boys are as much a 90s band as an 80s one and i'll claim them as part of my generation as well.

[seamus]

I don't think anyone accused the BB's of irrelevance, mp. Hello Nasty was my second-favorite LP of theirs.

[Mags]

Hmm. Sad to hear that PBW sucked. But, I ask, what happened to Mixmaster Mike? Did he get the boot?

Am I going to have to Google this?

[seamus]

Mix Master Mike is still alive and still bitchen. See picture above.

[jjm]

i can't believe i haven't seen mention of Paul's Boutique in this thread.