Awesome! I Fucking Shot That
(dir. Nathanial Hornblower)
The masters of re-invention, re-invent the concert movie. For anyone who's avoided pre-release hype and marketing, here's the deal: October 2004, the Beastie Boys are up to play Madison Sq Garden for the first time, so to mark this event they arm 50 fans with Hi-8 cameras and one proviso: just keep rolling. The result? True to Beastie Boy form down the years, what starts off as a crazy idea ends up (with the occasional patchy moment) a triumph and leaves you thinking 'Why did no-one do that earlier?' The filming takes some getting used to. It is a load of shaky hand-held cameras after all, so the first five or ten minutes are spent getting your Sea-legs so to speak. But it soon settles down and hits its stride, editor MCA weaving in more and more visual effects as the show progresses (witness an edited Mike D slow-dancing with a fan on a tropical beach) and after a while you know you're witnessing the next best thing to getting a ticket to the Beasties show. Not just the performance, but all the sights and sounds associated with any gig; the demented fans who know every line, the guy queuing to get a beer, the blaggers trying to get backstage, Ben Stiller with a cap on backwards.
The show itself absolutely rocks. You definitely get the feeling they put in the extra few miles for both the film recording and finally playing 'The Garden'. The set-list comprises a pretty definitive 'best-of...' from a career into its third decade. Highlights? Time To Get Ill with with human beatboxing from Doug E. Fresh and entire the audience participating got the goose bumps pumping. I forgot how good Gratitude was and it's great to see Keyboard Money Mark back doing handstands on his organ for finale Sabotage. Overall, Mixmaster Mike's beats are immense and varied enough to give old favourites a remix feel, it's worth getting to the cinema and its more capable sound system for the tunes alone.
Basically, the 10,000 strong crowd (and Ben Stiller) can't be wrong. Highly recommended for fans of both live shows and innovation. Essential viewing for Beasties fans.
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7th Jul 2006 - Tumblr
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