I'm in the middle of a run of gigs throughout October and November. Mike D at Manchester's Albert Hall two days ago,Tuesday night, is going to stand out as a definite highlight, an hour long, life affirming blast of b- boy/ punk rock energy from Beastie Boy Michael Diamond and his young band The 5D. They appear on stage after a taped announcement about Mike D and his musical exploits and kick into Hello Brooklyn, the opener to a set peppered with songs from his solo album Thank You and some Beastie Boys classics. Mike and the band additionally make wearing pink sweat shirts and joggers look like a very good idea.
The songs from Thank You sound huge live, the six piece band hitting it with guitar, very loud bass, drums, samples, synths, keys and laptops, throwing themselves around and having the time of their lives. What We Want is loud and brash and is followed third song in by Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun, Beastie Boys own brand of punk rock from 1989's Paul's Boutique. Albert Hall erupts.
Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun
The Beastie Boys, three best friends from their teens, pulled off something really special. They could have been a brief controversy, a flash in the 80s pan. Instead they retreated and regrouped, resurrected themselves and became the best band in the world in the mid- 90s, a smart and savvy trio, tongue in cheek and taking the piss but also deadly serious- they knew that this stuff matters. They could switch effortlessly from punk to hip hop, from stoner rock to funk, the three way wordplay a kaleidoscope of references, and they made several albums that are head and shoulders above the rest of their 90s peers- after Paul's Boutique came Check Your Head, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty and then in 2004 To The 5 Boroughs. Mike D and Ad- Rock lost MCA/ Adam Yauch to cancer in 2012 and the band and the music went with him, until recently when Mike made Thank You.
Two of the most powerful moments on Thank You come at the end of either side of the record and both are played tonight. I Don't Care comes halfway through, an acoustic guitar and drums and Mike singing about pressure and responsibilities and trying to cope with people's expectations. The other is the album's title song, Thank You, which closes the set, an emotive look back at his band's early days- 'We were just kids/ Figuring it out'- recalling being in New York clubs aged 16 and beginning to make music and finishing the song saying thank you to his friends, 'Thank you for having me'. It's not nostalgic or mawkish, it feels real.
In between Mike and The 5D smash through the exuberant stuff- Crypto, Switch Up, Secrets Pt I and II- and some Beastie Boys songs- 3 Minute Rule, Body Movin' and a raucous Remote Control, a seven man ball of energy and fun. The solo songs and the Beastie Boys songs become one and we lap it up, dancing and arms in the air.
At one point Mike makes a brief speech about Manchester and it's musical lineage and starts listing bands in his nasally NY twang- 'The Hacienda, Factory Records, Joy Division, New Order... Quando Quango, Du- rooti Column...' And there you have the crate digging, music loving Beastie Boys, Quando Quango mentioned before many more famous sons and daughters of the city. Members of 5D start shouting suggestions, 'Happy Mondays... Stone Roses.... The Fall!'. About to start the next song, Mike stops the band- 'oh yeah... The Smiths!'
The encore is just two songs, a massive sounding cover of Delta 5's Mind Your Own Business and finally, from 1992's Check Your Head, So What'cha Want. It's been a lot of fun, it's been loud and alive and full of energy and feeling. Thank you Mike D.
