John Suder

The Beastie Boys seventh studio album The Mix-Up is due June 26. What makes this newest release different than past efforts is that the album is all new, instrumental material – no vocals, no scratching, no mixing. Mike “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “MCA” Yauch and Adam “Adrock” Horovitz are joined by Money Mark on keyboards and percussionist Alfredo Ortiz.
Their tour began on May 26, from what I’ve read they’re mixing up the dates with instrumental gigs and traditional hip-hops shows. The hip-hop portion of the tour will begin on August 1st, in Philadelphia at Festival Pier. Not my favorite place to see the show, and tickets are 50 bucks a pop (plus your usual “convenience fees”, whatever they are) and standing-room only.
I’ve been a fan of this band for longer than I care to disclose. What I admire about this group is how they were able to transition from a probable one-hit wonder to their later, more experimental efforts. This will mark my 3rd time seeing this band in 3 different decades. Wow, they’re old. (Not me, of course. I never get old.)