One Golden Ticket to the Beastie Boys at the Croc

Wednesday morning I woke up knowing I would get a Beastie Boys ticket to the Crocodile for Friday nite. Was it intuition or just determination? Not sure but I could just feel it in my gut. When 4 o’clock turned up — the time the tickets went on sale at ticketmaster.com, I did what thousands of other Seattleites did, kept clicking “refresh” until the screen popped up to buy a ticket in hopes of getting one of the less than 500 tickets available for a rare Beastie Boys appearance at a tiny local venue, The Crocodile Cafe. And then bingo, I got thru! However to my dismay — when I entered in my 2 tickets I wanted to buy — it told me none were available. What? I kept trying and trying but got the same message. I then walked over to my friend’s desk and told him how sad I was that I missed out and he said to keep trying — so I ran back to my desk and did just that. After about 10 more tries, I got my ticket — I felt like Charlie when he found that golden ticket in the chocolate bar. I knew my gut feeling from that morning wouldn’t let me down. I scored one of the hottest tickets in town since I don’t know when…

Friday arrived and I was standing in line at the Crocodile with a co-worker and her husband, who were 2 more of the lucky ones, promptly at 7. We stood there for over an hour before the doors finally opened. When I got in, it was such a relief b/c I had in the back of my mind that maybe my name wouldn’t be on the list, but it was! We quickly bought a couple of t-shirts and bypassed the super long line for a drink at the bar to get our places near the stage. Right around 9:10, the Beastie Boys made their way onto the stage to play for an energized and excited crowd. All in their tailored three piece suits, Ad Rock, on guitar, led the group sporting a smart fedora and sunglasses. Also there, were MCA on bass and Mike D on drums accompanied by Money Mark and Alfredo Ortiz. Mixmaster Mike didn’t make an appearance, as Ad Rock mentioned, he was feeling “under the weather”.

The B-Boys opened with a couple of funky/jazzy instrumentals and then led into Live at PJs and Do It. Immediately one could feel the energy, confidence and charisma exuded from these veterans which electrified the crowd. The set was super tight with The B Boys playing about 60% instrumental (from their new album & also The In Sound from the Way Out) and 40% old school classics. Peppered between each of the songs was Ad Rock’s playfulness and chatter with the crowd plus some fun witty banter exchanged by Ad Rock and Mike D including a little duet of Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” and a conversation on the Kinks. Along with the groovy instrumental jams, midway thru Money Mark jumped in on main vocals for Mark On the Bus and Mike D came out from behind the drum kit to end the set with several songs including Jimmy James and Sabotage. After an hour on stage, ending with Sabotage, the crowd wanted more and the Beastie Boys responded. They came back on stage with champagne in stemmed glasses in hand, definitely more relaxed and having fun, and pleased the crowd with more favorites including: Sure Shot, Heart Attack Man (took a couple starts to hit the mark but 3rd time was the charm) and The Maestro.

All in all it was a 90 minute set this Seattleite will not forget for a very long time. It’s great to see a band to last the test of time and evolve throughout their career. Rarely bands do. Their performance was tight and their energy was contagious. And best of all, it is apparent that they are still having a blast and love what they do.

Set List (as copied from the Seattle PI)

B For My Name
Sabarosa
Live at PJ’s
Do It
Electric Worm
Transitions
Son of Neckbone
Something’s Got To Give
Off the Grid
Root Down/Get It
Egg Raid On Mojo
Tough Guy
Remote Control
Mark On the Bus
Shambala
Ricky’s Theme
Pow!
Jimmy James/Happy Birthday
Sabotage
ENCORE
Sure Shot
Time For Living
Heart Attack Man
The Maestro