On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

Beastie Boys
August 1, 1998
Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, B.C.

"Anyone got a water bottle? 'Cause Mix Master Mike is sick!, screamed Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz (aka Ad Rock) to 10,000 Vancouver fans, each with ants in their pants.

After rocket-blasting themselves on to their television-ridden, rotating stage (which Mike Diamond confessed earlier that day at a press conference made him feel "very vulnerable") in matching one-piece red suits, the set began with the boogie-anthem 'Body Movin' from their new album Hello Nasty. Show-opener Money Mark hopped on and off stage, during the short acoustic moments to play gorgeous organ givings. These moments turned the energy down for just enough time so fans could catch their breath before they were thrown back into booty-shakin numbers like 'Shake Your Rump'.

The set was evenly culled from Nasty and previous albums License to Ill and Paul's Boutique. Their old beats churned up, re-heated and reserved by DJ Hurricane replacement, Mix Master Mike. The beat-recycling was obviously all in an off-paced attempt, for the Beasties, after 15 years of playing the same songs, to keep their sets interesting to themselves. However, the new remixes were ill-rehearsed and off-tempo.

The encore of 'Sabotage' and 'Intergalactic' was predictably fabulous, the steam from the floor's dance pit at its thickest all evening. What is amazing about the Beastie Boys' new material is that the songs still, despite Buddhism, Tibet, marriage, divorce and gray hair, have hung on to their limb-flailing, bratty roots. Another thing - their show was not slickly showbiz (Mix Master Mike false-started twice on 'So Whatcha Want?' while Adam Yauch joked about it) and still refuse to grow-up gracefully.

Although the sound was worse than bad and the set considerably less hyperactive and more, dare we say, mature than the Beasties shows of old, it was only the second tour stop on a global trek. Despite the lack of old mega-attitude and edge, the Beastie Boys proved to still have two generations of hip-hop fans in the palms of their hands.