Well, it's all over. Four nights with the B-Boys. They really are b-boys too. The way they were dressed on stage reminded me of Double Trouble from The Wildstyle, only they didn't have the Uzi's.
DAY 1
I was originally supposed to only do 2 nights in LA, but after I did those, they asked me to do two more Bay Area dates, so I got to double my fun. It was cool because I wasn’t sure if there were other groups that went on between me and the Beasts, but it ended up just being me and them at all four shows. Each night had it's own memory. The first night was probably the hardest because I had no idea what to expect as far as the crowd goes. I went through records all day long and decided at the last minute to do all 45's. I got together a set I was happy with that was mostly soul, funk, and hip hop. I rolled to the spot with my girl Violet and her brother Gabriel and we got there just in time for me to test the needles. Money Mark was on the stage with his kids and he asked me to pose for a couple pics with them. Thinking back, I should've had the youngsters introduce me to the crowd later. Mark filmed a little of my sound check on his camcorder, which consisted of my needles skipping on the 7” singles and I decided at that point that I wasn’t gonna try and do much “back to back” juggling like I planned at home. Egon met us at the spot after doors opened and he came equipped with a camera. He’s so good at documenting all of our shows. I didn’t bring a camera any of the four nights. He asked me to stand in front of the marquee for a picture cuz my name was on it. Normally I wouldn’t wanna do that with the crowd already there, but I was with it even though it was causing people to stare at me. This whole string of dates had me more in geek mode than usual (as if you can’t tell). When it came to show time, there was a bright flood light on me that I found strange and awkward. I couldn’t find the person in charge of lights, so I had to make due. Also, the sound level was really low. I found out later that since it was outdoors, they had to keep my sound quieter than usual. Needless to say, it was hard to relax or concentrate. I didn't mess up, but then again, I didn't get the crowd reaction I’m used to. I asked Egon ahead of time to back me up on the mic but with the sound so quiet, I really didn't need anyone on the mic and he caught on right away. He said a few things as did I, but it was definitely more of a mellow opener type vibe. I purposely didn't bring many hits because I wanted to expose people to music they didn’t know, so it kinda worked out anyway. I started with some Indian stuff and from there, did mostly soulful disco and funk from the 60’s and 70’s. I did some classic hip hop and towards the end played some uptempo electro & bass which probably got the biggest reaction. Mix Master Mike commented on it a few days later as well. It was the first time I'd been to the Greek in LA and it was a really cool space. Definitely the biggest crowd I'd played for in LA so far. I felt OK about the night overall, but looked forward to even doing better on Tuesday cuz now I knew the deal. I didn't get to meet any of the "Boys" that night, but I knew I’d get a chance to at my next gig.
DAY 2
My second night in LA was at the Wiltern, which I've co-headlined with Madlib at before, so I felt much more comfortable playing there. I couldn’t decide whether to play a mellow, more iazz based set since The Beasties were doing all instrumentals that night, or doing more of a party set. I also couldn’t decide whether to do Serato or vinyl. I came to the spot with a combination of all of the above. I brought 45s, 12”s, albums, AND my computer. I also brought Rhettmatic with me to handle mic duty. He was on the mic for all 7 days of my "LA tour" a couple months ago and we made a good team then so I thought it would be great to have him around. I also brought Madlib as well as Violet and her friend Crystal. It was really good having Madlib’s support. We’ve both been really busy lately, so I hadn’t seen him in a minute. This night, I did get to meet two of the guys (Ad Rock and Mike D) and they were both really cool. One of them told me he read my blog which kinda embarrassed me. I guess I forgot that it was a click away from them reading it. I had a box of Stones Throw CDs that I was gonna throw into the crowd and they asked if they could go grab some. They saw my “Yo! hip hop 45's” CD and we started talking about hip hop on 7". Mike D said he collected them as well and that he had "Gangsta Bitch" on 45. My girl was standing around, so I told him, "Speaking of, here's my gangsta bitch, Violet." Violet said, "did you just call me a bitch?" Her sense of humor's just like mine. At this point, I had 5 minutes ‘til doors opened, so I busted a QUICK sound check. The left turntable kept skipping, but I ran out of time and doors opened. I was told earlier that my set time 45 minutes long like the first night, but the set list next to the stage said my set time was an hour and 15 minutes. When I found out, I thought, "Great, I get to stretch out a bit." Wrong. This was definitely the worst of the four shows, mainly because I was up there for too long, but still a good time overall. One thing I forgot about with sold out shows is that the people really aren’t really going to get drinks cuz they don’t wanna lose the spot where they’re standing. A lot different than a nightclub that centers around drinking, dancing, and getting crazy. It’s not that the people aren’t enjoying themselves. They’re just not as hyphy* about it. Rhett laid low on the mic most of my set which was good because it would've been over the top to have him trying to hype the crowd up. I actually had warned him beforehand to just get on the mic sporadically and he did perfectly. If anything, I ended up on the mic too much. I was having fun with the crowd, but maybe too much fun. At one point, I told them that since I was using Serato, I was taking requests. I joked that I did weddings, funerals, reunions, and divorces. Everyone started yelling their requests at the same time and I couldn't make out a word of anything. I told people to raise their hand and I'd call on them. Still too much chaos. I remember someone said to play Justice (like almost every night) and someone else said James Brown. I was getting the crowd riled up by the end of my set and I even jumped on the Beasties drum set and hit a cymbal with my bare hand and tried to talk to the crowd through a drum mic. This was really dumb and I got screamed at (justifiably) by a Beastie sound guy. I thought for sure that it would be my last gig with them, but the next day I got the call to play two more shows in the Bay. * hyphy: Pronunciation: "HIGH-fee" Function: adjective Etymology: San Francisco Bay Area, shortened perhaps from English dialect "hyperactive". 1 : dangerous and irrational: CRAZY; 2 : amusingly eccentric; without inhibition
DAY 3
I thought it would be good to go back to my stomping grounds and play for some of my family and friends who originally came to the Beastie shows with me 20 years ago. Friday night, I did SF at a smaller spot (The Warfield) and Saturday was Berkeley at a huge one (also called The Greek). The Warfield is a little over 2000 capacity and The Greek is just under 9,000. I brought my sis, her husband Carlos, and my friends Victor and Paul to the first show at The Warfield. They actually picked me up at the airport and took me straight to my hotel. I had time to drop my clothes off and eat, then it was time for sound check. While we waited in front of the hotel for a cab, two guys in bikes with carraiges pulled up, so we had them "bike ride" us to the venue. It took a little longer to get there, but made for a grand entrance. While I was doing my sound check, my sister told Mike D about how my mom used to get mad at me for listening to them back then. Surprisingly, the SF show went better than the first two in LA. I think it was because I introduced myself at the beginning and told the crowd how I “wanted to DJ with them since I was a kid and here I am 20 years later on stage with them”. From then on, the crowd was on my side. I even brought copies of a drawing my friend did of The Boys back when we were in high school and handed them out to the people in the front row. I was nervous about the equipment again because during sound check, the left turntable was still skipping and I never got it worked out. Worked out fine overall. The crowd was really vocal in terms of cheering on cue at the times I was hoping they would. I was relieved cuz at most of these shows, the crowd had no idea I was even the opener. I had literally just been added to the bill at all four shows. In fact, it almost felt like I bum rushed the bill, like I did back in ‘94 when I went to see BDP and the show was sold out. I couldn't get a ticket so I brought a bag full of records and told the security that I was the opening DJ and they let me in the venue. That night, I jumped on the turntables thinking I could play a few songs before getting kicked off, but actually played a whole set with nobody realizing that I was an imposter. DJ Shadow told me he liked what I was playing. But back to this show though, MCA came up to me before I went on and introduced himself to me and told me he missed me at the first two shows, but was looking forward to checking out my set this time around. Sure enough, he stood off to the side of the stage during my performance. My bro-in-law Carlos was next to him and said he liked when I played "Lady Killer" by The Vandals. That was what was best about doing these shows. I got to integrate punk, funk, and everything in between. I did stuff from the '50's ‘til present day. My kinda gigs. Usually I play a mixture of soulful and funky stuff, but never really get to break into the rock as much as I did on this quick run.
DAY 4
Day 4 was at the Berkeley Greek and was for the biggest crowd of the four shows. It was also the last day of the US tour in general for the Beasties. These two factors made it seem like it was gonna be a good night. I got to the venue by myself and all three Beasts were hanging out behind the stage. One of them told me he heard I wasn’t having a good time on the tour. I told him that although I was having sound problems, I was having a good time overall. I even showed them the picture my friend drew of them and they all took turns making fun of it. Ad Rock said he wanted to make a t-shirt out of it and wanted to get the guys permission. He asked me who did the drawing, but I had no idea who did it. The only two I could think of was Jeff Jank but I asked him earlier and he said it wasn’t him. My boy Sweet Steve and his wife Lisa soon showed up (they got the 2 golden backstage passes this night) and I showed the picture to Steve and he couldn’t remember who did it either. I later found out it from John Castro that my homey Dave Gatt drew it. When I got to sound check, the sound guy warned me that my sound would be quiet like the first show since it was outdoors. I was so bummed. Ironically, when it came to show time, my sound level was fine. I got some food and few beers backstage and chopped it up with Steve and Lisa. I ran into Mixmaster Mike and he told me how his family was in the audience so he had to step it up tonight. Ad Rock’s sister was backstage as well and he introduced me to her and tried to explain my blog to her. It was funny hearing his version of it. I walked down the hallway backstage and MCA threw a pillow at me. I felt like I was in the “Fight For Your Right” video. I ran after him and he asked me when I was going on. I told him in a half hour and asked him to introduce me. He agreed and I knew the crowd would eat it up. I didn’t get my own dressing room this time around, so they put me in the same dressing room as the Beasts. Ad Rock told me about a show tunes compilation he wanted to do and asked if I wanted to run it through my label. Sounded good to me. I told him to hit me up after the tour, so who knows what’ll come of it. Soon, 8PM hit and it was time for me to hit the stage. MCA kept his promise and introduced me. I didn’t even hear what he said cuz it all happened so fast and I was trying to plug all my equipment in, but I noticed he raised my hand at the end of his intro and the crowd cheered. Asking him to bring me out was the smartest thing I could’ve done. It made it so much more official to get the stamp of approval from the headliner. I played a mixture of everything, but it worked out really well. A lot of people hit me up on “the space” the next day telling me they’d never heard of me before that night, but liked my set. One guy even said the guy behind him was booing me and yelling that he wanted to hear “Fergilicious”. That’s when you know you’re on the right track. After my set, I went downstairs to the dressing room with Steve to take a break from the noise. There was a Beastie Boys set list in my room which I pulled off the wall so that I could know when the second to last song during their set was. That way, I could leave before the rest of the crowd and avoid the traffic. This pissed off a security lady back there and she kicked me out of the backstage area. I told her that they’re on stage now and don’t need it anymore, but she was determined. There were so many more set lists backstage. It was really stupid. She told another security guy to remember what I looked like and to not let me back there. First I was kicked out of school for wearing their shirt, and now I’m kicked out of the backstage area because I “stole” their set list. It made me feel good that 20 years later, I’m still getting into Beastie Boy related trouble.
Posted by Hot Sauce on September 06, 2007 11:01 PM
That was my goofy friend Paul who kept asking for Justice. You should have played it the first night in L.A. Busy P attended the show.
I was at all the shows at which you opened. Your best night was at Berkeley because you creatively DJed instead of simply spinning records like at the other shows. You did, however, leave everyone confused when you said you were going to play a final song and then walked off without doing so.
Thank you for playing Country Mike. It pleased my friends and me.
Congrats on your Beastie dream coming true! I can tell that you're a huge Beastie geek. I giggled at your wearing a Chinatown Ice Cream Factory t-shirt.
You wouldn't happen to own a copy of the Mad Professor vs. the Beastie Boys dub album, would you?
I usually hate blogs but this one made sense---I got to live vicarioiusly through the words of the excitements involved at opening an idol's show, made more impressive by being kicked out! Thanks
Nice blog pbw... interesting to read what its like on the inside. Great story about that BDP set! I want to hear some of these mixes you talked about... vandals mixed into a hip hop, funk, soul set?! Wild man. Up some tracks! :)
