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Fan Review by Big Fat Love (Mike): My wife woke me up one morning and said "do you know the Beastie Boys's lyrics"? Freshly awakened, I responded "of course, why"? She responded "rap Paul Revere". I obliged, and she told me that there was a contest on a local radio station where listeners were competing for 50 sets of tickets for two to a private Beastie showing, and that they were asking the listeners to quote lyrics from Beastie songs. I jumped out of bed, ran to my collection, and grabbed lyrics from every studio album. I called the radio station, and the phone screener told me they were looking for "serious" Beastie fans only. I told her that she had "absolutely no idea" how big a Beastie fan I was. She put me on hold for the contest, and I got to listen to my opponent (who went first) recite zero words from "It's Time To Get Ill". The DJs put me on the air and told me that essentially all I had to do was get one word right, I recited the first verse, and won tickets to the show. The show took place on 10/15/2004 at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, for 50 winners and their guests. I did not have any hardcore Beastie fans that were friends, so I emailed fellow collectors to see if they could make the show. Sadly, no one could. All winners were told prior to entering that no autographs would not be signed. Just in case, I brought along my Polly Wog Stew US 7", Country Mike's Greatest Hits (black vinyl) 12", and every studio release on US vinyl. I had a mini poster with "Please sign my vinyl" on it. I was in the front row, and actually put my records on the stage. I really do not know what to say about the show except that it was a privilege to be 2 feet away from my favorite band. I have seen the Beasties about 14 times in various venues, and it was much like all of the other concerts I have attended (except the stage was only about 2 feet high, and you could get close enough to high five all of them). The thing that impressed me the most was Mix Master Mike. Mike, Mike, and Adam were all relatively low key during the performance. They opened with a straight album version of Right Right Now Now, but seemed to loosen up during Ch-Check It Out. MMM started dropping in beats like he does during concerts, and it seemed that the Beasties were energized by each new beat. So What'cha Want was the third and final song of the set, and MMM was un-fucking-believable. After the show the Beasties did a 17-minute interview where they addressed varying issues. After the interview, MCA pointed in my direction and asked "can we sign this guy's vinyl?" I did not hear what the handler said, but the answer was obviously "no." The Beasties left the stage, and I left the site to find the back door. I was waiting for the Beasties as they left the back of the venue with a sign that said "Please Sign My Vinyl". There was only 3 persons there waiting (myself, the guy that came with me, and another fan). Adrock saw the sign and said "Sorry, (pointing to his handler) he says 'no'". Honestly, it took some time to get over the fact that they would not take the time to sign a record that I had paid over $500.00 for, especially considering that I have devoted so much personal time to collecting their music. I really got my feelings hurt. I was so pissed because I knew that this was the best opportunity I was ever going to have, and I got blown off. In retrospect, they had no way of knowing how long I have been utterly devoted to the music, (or for that matter whether or not I was some type of psycho), and I got over being upset about not getting my vinyl signed. Each of the 50 contest winners received an lanyard with a pseudo-pass (I say that because there was no backstage access, and the passes were more of a sort of memorabilia), as well as an empty cd case with a note inside stating "Don't look so sad. Your very own Beastie Boys Live X CD will be ready in approximately Four (4) weeks". Being a huge fan, I called the number on the insert to ask what was taking so long with the release, and I was told that since portions of the show were to be used on a future commercial release, that the Beasties had insisted that they were able to review and "clean up the recording". To my knowledge the only portion of the show that was ever released commercially was on on a VA compilation released by WNNX (the radio station who sponsored the private show) titled Live X 10. |
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