Beasties in the Pool

Pretty late with this review; oh well, gotta keep the blog alive. So this post is a little different from the rest - I figured since I was drunk at the show I might as well be drunk writing the review (excuses, excuses I know..) but I caught the BBoys earlier in the month at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn and it was straight on point. First off any show I can have easily accessible free parking, even according to NYCPD, is a fuckin’ hit in my books right off the bat. Got there with no problems and the park was set up right next to a couple bars and bodega’s all supporting Brooklyn Brewery which was served at the pool too.

Put back a few in the park across the street while one of the chicks from Luscious Jackson was DJ’ing then made my way into the show. Opened with Hello Brooklyn and closed with No Sleep ‘til Brooklyn and as I suspected on my ride to the show this was in fact the first Beastie Boys show in Brooklyn to date. The atmosphere was more or less a block party and the boys were playful with each other on stage and even brought out Rev Run at one point.

They mixed instrumental segments with DJ set and that kept everything moving nicely and apparently played a more varied set list than what was the norm for most of the tour. Everything was on point except having to wait 30+ min for a fuckin beer but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I think by now most of the show is all over YouTube but here’s a couple clips.

Hello Brooklyn/ Root Down

Open Letter to NYC/ Rev Run On Stage


No Sleep til Brooklyn

C Ray Z MoNsterS

Sharkey and C Rayz Walz just put out their latest collaboration Monster Maker and I don’t mean to jump on the hype-wagon but this is a good one. I honestly have never heard anything from Sharkey before but he brings in a very unique soulful style and group of beats that surprisingly work well with C Rayz’s flow. It’s hard to describe the sound of this album but it’s funky as hell, even bordering on dancehall at points, and the samples are very random with the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and even John Denver making it on different tracks. There’s some female singing on it too which fits in perfectly over the more song structured beats (I could look up her name but I’m too lazy). C Rayz keeps it interesting with amusing lines and tailored flows to compliment each track although I will say he sometimes blends in almost too well and gets lost in the beats and singing which often rocks hard enough on it’s own with out him. Check out these tracks, they’ll give you a better idea of what all the fuss is about better than I can.

Forgotten

This Ol' Twisted World

My Way

MM..Seconds??

So the re-release of MF DOOM’s last album came out last Tuesday and from what I understand the original, put out in 2004, was yanked for sample clearance issues that have since been fixed. It’s basically the same release except there’s a new beat for Kookies (apparently Sesame Street wasn’t down with DOOM using their shit). Special perk this time round is they’ve got a DVD showcasing footage from his stops from the MM..FOOD Drive Tour in 2004 when he originally released the album. That was my first time seeing DOOM and the NYC BBKings footage is the best on the DVD in my opinion. I remember wondering why there were crowds of cameras surrounding DOOM during the show but looking back I’m glad they were there now. Bumping ‘the Fine Print’ on my DVD player brings back some awesome memories from that night and for the hour long performance video alone this is worth copping – I’ve got it sitting next to the original release right now. Here’s a promo clip from Rhymesayers and DOOM performing Beef Rap from the DVD.

Promo


Beef Rap

Rocking Bells

Since Druglas got his shit together and posted his two cents on Rock the Bells, I figured I should do the same. First off, I have to ask, what is wrong with white people? I like to get into a performance, and maybe I don't get as physically into rock and roll as I used to, but in my mind it just seems unnecessary to mosh your face off to Cypress Hill. If it's during "Rock Superstar" that's one thing, but during "I wanna get high"? Could you pick a mellower song to start the moshing during? Never mind that the mooks behind me decided to start moshing after they ingested a fist sized bag of coke. Cuz that's not a recipe for disaster. Anyway, other than some inappropriate moshing, way too much rain, and the perils of mass transit, it was a good day. I got there a while before Druglas, so the Breetard and I were able to catch the Grouch and Eligh's set.

I had dismissed them in the past after a few listens, but they rocked the shit out of their set on Sunday. Eligh is definitely the shining star of the duo, but that's not to say the Grouch wasn't holding his own. Since the theme of the day seemed to be everyone getting backed out of their skulls, it was appropriate that "No More Greener Grass" was the highlight of their set. After that, MURS came out to rally the crowd for Mr. Lif, who was joined by Akrobatik for most of his set. I enjoyed their performance, but I was more excited to skeedaddle to the main stage and catch Blackstar.

Talib went through his solo material first and ripped it. I've missed out on seeing him live so many times that it was really great just to be finally seeing him and it helped that he fucking killed it. Mos Def's solo set was a little bit more lackluster, with too much meandering singing. It was really cool, however, when his DJ spun Aretha Franklin's "One Step Ahead" before dropping the beat for "Ms. Fat Booty", the crowd went ape, and rightly so. That moment aside, the high point in Mos's performance was when he went into "Definition" and was joined onstage by Talib. Then Rakim was up.

To me, it felt like he was standing in front of a largely unappreciative crowd. His set was fantastic, however, despite the tepid crowd response.

Cypress Hill was kind of ruined for me by the jackoffs sniffing blow and punching people right behind me. Before those guys really got into it though, the set was really enjoyable. Especially the gigantic inflatable Buddha onstage. Public Enemy was really good too, but I didn't stick around for a complete rocking, instead making my way over to catch Doom.

As Drug already informed you, Doom was sick, even if it was a much shorter set than it should've been. It was pretty cool that once most of the crowd ran away to catch the Wu, Talib came out to rock "Old School".

Maybe I'm a little spoiled when it comes to the Wu Tang. Around this time last year when I saw them, I met Ghostface, and I spent the show within arms reach of the stage. Needless to say, it was a little different watching them perform from about a football field's length away. I was a little disappointed with the absence of Ghostface, and the apparent substitution of a portly Ghost look a like. Either way though, it's the Wu Tang, and my ever-present hip hop chubb for them was in full effect.

Seeing Rage was like a flashback to '99, the last time I saw them. I was kind of surprised at de la Rocha's relative silence in between songs, until I heard there was some backlash over things he'd said the night before about assassinating George W. I kinda thought that things of that nature were standard fare for Rage - last time I saw them, they burned an American flag - but I guess he was asked to tone it down. To be honest, it was a little disappointing to see that he acquiesced and just did the show without the political ranting.

Rock Randalls in the Rain

Rock the Bells mo’fucker. Better late than never (seems to be the theme of all my posts) but last Sunday me and the Green Hornet were at Randalls Island getting soaked checkin’ out this festival. Speakin’ for myself I thought it was dope especially considering I got cheap tix and there were a lot of groups I’ve been listenin to for years that I finally got to see. When I first got in I was at the Paid Dues Stage and caught the tail end of Mr.Lif which wasn’t as dope as I would have imagined although he’s a really nice guy and I was lucky to meet him later in the day.

Next up was Cage and Yak Ballz two of my guilty pleasures in the underground hiphop scene. Along with Cage came the rain and everyone got drenched but luckily his performance was dope and they made up for it. I dunno if it woulda been as nice for someone who wasn’t as familiar with the songs but it hit the spot for me. Brother Ali was next and he’s always been impressive live. That albino gets the crowd goin' every time and his set showcased mostly his new album, a sick acapella and a couple older favorites . Felt was up next and Slug and Murs were in good spirits getting the crowd into it. Slug and Ant pulled out godlovesugly to please the Atmosphere fans but right bout then I left for the main stage.

Erikah Badu pulled a no show so Cypress Hill set got bumped up and I ran over there to join the crowd and pull a blunt break. Seemed like it was a greatest hits set for them and I was kinda out of it (go figure) but they played Hits from the Bong, Dr. Greenthumb and I wanna get High which sounded pretty tight. After that Public Enemy came on but I wandered back to catch Living Legends and get some grub ($8 Philly Cheese Steaks – fuck that). Living Legends were on for awhile and shit kinda lagged towards the end even being familiar with most of what they played. After they got off we waited again for DOOM to turn up and the DJ bullshit over the mic. I’ve seen DOOM a few times now and he always makes the crowd wait and this time was no different. When he came on he dropped a couple Dangerdoom tracks he’s never done live and Monkey Suite which was a treat but the rest was pretty standard and he only was on stage for 30 min even though he was scheduled for a full hour. My guess is he cut it short cause over half his crowd bounced when Wu Tang was came on stage in the middle of his set.

Wu was dope and Method Man took the front man roll and held the act together. I’m not a huge Wu fan so I’ll let Green Hornet chime in on this one for a better run down on their performance. Rage came after and it sounded liked 1996 all over again. Nice to finally see them live and they were tight as could be with a trimmed down set-list hittin all the favorites to fit their time slot. Great show overall and I’d do it again if I had the chance. Here’s a couple youtube clips from the show, enjoy.

DOOM Montage



Cypress Hill - How I Could Just Kill a Man


Rage - Know Your Enemy Clip


Hot 97 Interviews/ Run Down