Beasties roar with bratty energy
BY MARK LEPAGE, GAZETTE
Beastie Boys, with Rollins Band and Da Lenchmob, at Metropolis last night.
Just about the time a U.S. governor was becoming a U.S. president, Mike D. cast his absentee ballot in a packed Metropolis. "America - who cares?" the rapper whined. "Without George Bush, there's one less pain in the ass for four years."
Duly noted. Also duly noted was the sea of 1,800-odd hands waving their frenzied approval of rapper-elect D. and his Beastie Boys ticket in a landslide victory for American trash-rock-punk-hip-hop youth culture.
The evening unravelled exactly as planned, with opener Henry Rollins aiming his human double-barrelled shotgun of rage at himself and the audience in the set that preceded the Beasties. The Beasties then neatly picked up Henry's piece and blew it up in their faces to the delight of the crowd, firing some much-needed bratty energy into the local live-music scene.
Respect to the New York boys turned L.A. junk-shop merchants. They hit the stage hopping and howling about their
"Skills to Pay the Bills," and put paid to the notion that this crew of white adenoidal rappers can't cut it in a largely Afro-American game. They cheated, of course. It wouldn't have been legit otherwise, but the slashes of punk and Sabbath-Zeppelin sample ruled when Rollins's ranting might have humbled them.
"Rhymin' and Stealin'" ignited pandemonium in the packed hall, with the crowd picking up the "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" chant. It just got better when MCA, the Beasties' best voice, took to playing some decent bass and King Ad-Rock (the Beasties' star) and Mike D. wheedled and screeched through
"The Maestro."
Rollins crucified himself on the altar of self-excoriation, railing against the kids for their self-satisfaction while his band uncoiled like a fat python through an undulating set of punk, metal and plain badness.
