10 September 2004 | 12:56 a.m.
Root Down
Beastie Boys
I saw the Beastie Boys play at Red Rocks tonight. Amazing.
They started with Root Down and finished with Sabotage.
I will have to write more later when I have time. I work at 7am. Feh.
The Daily Camera - Denver Show Review (09-09-04)Beastie Boys kick off tour in style
By Aimee Heckel, Camera Staff Writer
September 10, 2004MORRISON � Wine isn't the only thing that tastes better with age. So does Brass Monkey, as the good ol' Beastie Boys proved Thursday night at a sold-out Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Sure, MCA Adam Yauch's silver hair hovers above him like a gray cloud, conspicuously hidden under a white baseball cap. (And is it just me or did his voice get raspier with his recent 40th birthday?) And Mike Diamond (aka Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (Adrock) sounded a little less whiney � a little.
But the Beasties bounced across the stage in their dorkily cool green jumpsuits Thursday night with enough energy to ignite the crowd for an hour and 15 minutes. Their rhymes are timeless, period, especially the explosion of old-school they opened with � "Root Down" and "Sure Shot," both from 1994's Ill Communication album.
This was the Beasties' first Colorado concert in six years. Nothing personal. Nobody (except the Sasquatch they say kidnapped them during that time) saw much of the Beasties between 1999 and this summer. They haven't rocked Red Rocks in a decade.
Apparently Colorado had been waiting on them to return; their show sold out in less than an hour � one of the few instant sellouts of the slow summer season.
Red Rocks was the first stop on the Boys' (er, men's) month-and-a-half tour to promote their new album, To the 5 Boroughs, released in June. They rocked Thursday's show with a smooth "Triple Trouble" and an energetic "Ch-Check it Out," but didn't overdo the new stuff. As expected by the Boroughs' political and borderline preachy tone, the Beasties urged the crowd to "Please go out and vote against George Bush." Cheers erupted from the crowd, mostly white guys in their late 30s, like the three MCs.
Mix Master Mike (Michael Schwartz), perched on his elevated turntable, stole the show with a five-minute opening solo and another thirty minutes later. This led into a 15-minute jazzy instrumental that bored the younger crowd to mosh. The older fans seemed to enjoy the breather. The Beasties redeemed themselves with a "people-friendly" sing-along of "Paul Revere," from the 1986 Licensed to Ill release. Add that to a twist of "Brass Monkey," "Intergalactic" and, of course, "Sabotage," and it's hard to imagine the Beasties will ever grow too old to "parrr-ty."
Set List
Main Set
Root Down
Sure Shot
Right Right Now Now
Pass the Mic
Super Disco Breakin'
The New Style
Posse in Effect
Open Letter to NYC
Three MCs and One DJ
Instrument Set
Sabrosa
Son of Neckbone OR Ricky's Theme
Something's Got to Give
Second Set
Jimmy James
Triple Trouble
Paul Revere
Body Movin'
Brass Monkey
Shake Your Rump
So What'cha Want
First Encore
Intergalactic
Second Encore w/instruments
Gratitude
Sabotage