|
MUSIC COLUMN BY RICHARD MARTIN
Aw yeah: The Beastie Boys sound like a sociology experiment gone amok. Products of an adolescence in the pan-cultural fishbowl that was New York in the mid-'80s, the savvy trio builds a sonic sandcastle from the dark grains of hip-hop, the lighter shades of funk, the deep shards of (frat) rock and stray specks of old-school hardcore punk. The latest batch of this peculiar concoction, served up in the form of the album Hello Nasty, must be especially potent: It sold nearly a million copies in its first few weeks out of the box and yielded a hit, "Intergalactic," that's the musical equivalent of a blockbuster summer movie. The Beasties machine rolled into town Sunday night for a stop at the Rose Garden Arena, where the band played in-the-round and on a revolving stage. Their appearance had marketing tie-ins, too, as sidemen DJ Mix Master Mike and keyboardist Money Mark also released albums in recent weeks. In tow as a support act was one of hip-hop's most enduring and innovative groups, whose 1991 album The Low End Theory combined Bop jazz with eloquent lyrical flow to become a true classic--ladies and gentlemen...A Tribe Called Quest. I attended the show with three friends of varied standing: Brandon Nicholson, who works in Nike's golf division; Jay Sanders, a graduate student at Portland State University; and H.V. Claytor Jr., WW's hip-hop critic. Après concert, we met at H.V.'s apartment, listened to the new album from street-smart rapper Noriega, and contemplated the evening's events in the following fashion: Who was better, the Beasties or Tribe? H.V.: The Beastie Boys got the crowd goin'. Consensus: The Beastie Boys Who ruled the turntables: The Beasties' Mix Master Mike or the Tribe's Ali Shaheed Muhammad? Split decision. H.V. and Brandon think Shaheed, whose beats were tighter than the turning radius on a Yugo, had the edge, while Jay and I give the nod to Mix Master Mike, who scratched and beat-juggled as if his fingertips were record needles. Notes from the post-concert critique session: * H.V. thinks the appearance of original Tribe member Jarobi, who's been missing in action since the band's 1990 debut album, was the night's notable moment. * Brandon feels the sound was too muddled during both bands' sets and made it impossible to discern what the MCs were saying, and Jay agrees. * I'm impressed with the Tribe's new material, which none of us had heard before since the new album won't be out until Sept. 29. My colleagues contend that it's too soon to tell. * H.V. says of the Beastie Boys' occasional forays into picking up instruments and thrashing through punk songs: "Some of that rock shit I could've done without." We all agree. * We also agree that 1) the in-the-round stage, situated in the middle of the Rose Garden's floor, provided better sight lines for the audience than any arena concert we've seen; 2) the sound was surprisingly poor in what's usually an acoustic paradise; and 3) the young, clean-cut crowd included some annoying freaks who took the opportunity to strip half-naked and treat the circular, seatless floor area like a jogging track that allows the use of Ecstasy. Or, as H.V. says: "That dude with the long hair and glasses who was running around? I wanted to trip his ass." Upcoming Show of the Week: Sunset Valley returns from a nationwide tour, some of which was spent opening for either Possum Dixon or Sixteen Deluxe, with a show at EJ's Saturday. The quintet plays on a bill with the Bay Area's wittiest and best power-pop band, Actionslacks, which tours in support of its fine second album, One Word (released, fittingly enough for this column's purposes, on a label called The Arena Rock Recording Company). Grandaddy Pedro the Lion
originally published August 5, 1998 |
