Concert Review
September 19th - Beastie Boys "The Pageant Tour" w/Talib Kweli
This was one of the most anticipated concerts of my life for me. I've been a Beastie Boys fans since "Licensed to Ill" dropped when I was nine years-old. I had tickets to see their 2000 "Rhyme & Reason Tour" with Rage Against the Machine in Chicago, which in my eyes would have been the equivalent of Kurt Cobain coming back from the dead to do a reunion tour with Nirvana, but alas Mike D hurt his shoulder and Rage broke up ruining my dream line-up.
So, after eighteen years of waiting, I finally got to see the Beastie Boys live. I have to say that I came in not really expecting much. The Beastie Boys aren't exactly "boys" anymore (the oldest, MCA, just turned 40 this year), and I had read some say that they didn't delve much into their older material when they played live. So I was stunned when the first song they come out to is "Egg Man" off of their 1989 album "Paul's Boutique" (which lead to the added promise that they weren't just going to stick to their radio hits). Some other great moments include: A standard wardrobe change that revealed a full-band as the Beasties launched into some of their instrumental material, starting off with a personal fave of mine "Sabrosa" (which when I get my own late-night talk show, that will totally be the opening music); a sing-along version of my favorite Beasties song "Paul Revere"; performing "Intergalactic" from the arena's club section; and then the grand finale of the full band being teamed up with Beasties DJ Mix Master Mike for "Sabotage" which was dedicated to the Bush administration.
Opening act Talib Kweli did a decent job of warming up the crowd. However, the sound quality of his set wasn't as good as that of the Beasties, leading my friend to make the comment that it sounded like he was making announcements at a train station. "Put your hands up, put 'em up, put 'em up, the 12:15 train from Wilkes-Barre is running 45 minutes late." The show was kicked off by a Vegas dog show act to the amusement of the audience. Pretty cute way to start a show off.
The Beasties' "The Pageant Tour" has just nine more stops in North America before heading for a brief December tour of Europe. I can't encourage a Beasties fan or just a fan of old school hip-hop to check out this show.
The Death of Journalism - Sinclair Style
Well, after pressure, mostly from Sinclair Broadcasting shareholders, they have backed off their attempt to air the anti-Kerry documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal". Instead, tonight they will be airing a different special called "POW Story: Politics, Pressure, and the Media". The special says they will air just portions of the "Stolen Honor" film with clips of other political documentaries (which they haven't revealed, so once again, we can't tell how "objective" Sinclair's going to choose to be) and discuss... Well I don't know what exactly. To me, it sounds like they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. They're still going to air probably the most damning portions of the documentary, and then they're going to talk about how they're being cast as a pariah for being the only media outlet to discuss this issue (a load of shit according to St. Petersburg Times columnist Eric Deggans who stated that MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews did an entire segment on the film back in September, and several other media outlets including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Boston Herald, had run articles on the claims made in the film long before Sinclair announced they were going to broadcast it).
For those of you in the Tampa Bay area still interested in this "news" story, local Sinclair station WTTA - Channel 38 will be airing the special tonight at 8pm. Unfortunately, I'll be in Sinclair-less Orlando tonight, and this crap really isn't worth the space on my Tivo to watch when I come back Sunday (I had actually planned on watching the special when it was set to air last night).
Random Thoughts
- Tuesday's Beastie Boys concert was a new experience for me, as for the first time I viewed a show from the elite club level of the St. Pete Times Forum. Nothing like watching a group that professes their hatred of evil corporations from seats owned by a large accounting firm. It was a motley group of young professionals, older Beasties fans, and kids who must of had their parents by their tickets. Yet everyone seemed to mix well and party together. The couple sitting to my right, though, seemed like they didn't belong as they just sat there stone-faced like they were waiting for Cher to come out. To our left though was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-30s who seemed to be having the time of her life. In front of us was a group of college kids, reeking of weed, and you know the lone guy you normally see at a club dancing by themself... Well imagine like eight of them strung together and you have this group.
- I'm torn on whom I'm going to cheer for in the World Series starting this weekend. To the Cardinals, I'm pretty impartial. I remember cheering for them in '85 against the Royals. But it's the Red Sox, I just can't stand the whining of their fans! But, as a guy who grew up watching the Cubs on WGN, it would be nice to see one team to break their curse. Gives a little hope to the Cubbies after having a disappointing season this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment