"One Two (tickets) Oh My God!" We got in to see the Beastie Boys.

How ridiculously lucky can you get? This show was at a club that only holds a little over 900 people. It was announced only a day before tickets went on sale, and week before the show. I started loading the ticket page on a couple different computers right before 4 PM, along with a lot of other people. For the most part the site would not load at all after 4. Then, when it did I would get an error when I tried to buy tickets. About 10 minutes later it started saying “SOLD OUT.” I could not believe it. Took a minute to complain/tweet about it. Then, went back at it. Finally, I got through! And it was NOT sold out. Yes!

I wanted to go pretty bad, and my son Mars even more so. Mary said he got so nervous when I was trying to score tickets he couldn’t watch. He went to play his drums for a bit. That didn’t help my concentration.

I got the tickets. You want a shirt, bring money.

We got there over an hour in advance, and the line was already long. The cool thing is it appears the promoters and club did everything they could to keep it fair, and minimize ticket scalping. You could only buy two. Everybody’s tickets were “will call,” even if you got the few they had at the box office. You had to bring the card you used for the purchase and another picture ID. Once you got your tickets you had to go straight into the club. Despite all that I heard people in line with an extra ticket were getting offered crazy money.

I had no idea Biz Markie was going to be there. He DJ’d for about 20 minutes and it was awesome! He totally owned the crowd. His set went through a ton of old school hip hop from the ’80s and ’90s. And somewhat to my surprise the crowd was extra hip hop literate. The Biz kept fading the mix to let the crowd a capella through lines of Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J, even some Bob Marley, and bunch of other stuff I can’t remember. Massively entertaining. “If you remember that one, I know you’ll remember this…”

Of course, he couldn’t finish without giving us a little from “Just a Friend.” Make SURE to watch this video again.

When the Beastie Boys finally came out it was to Biz Markie doing “The Biz vs. The Nuge” (Check Your Head). Perfect.

And I couldn’t believe they had Money Mark with them. Money Mark’s records get played as much as anything in my collection. He’s been a hero of mine for years. Later in the set Mike D asked Mark to come out from behind the keyboards to play “Mark on the Bus.” Brilliant. (Clip from a different show.)

And what about the Beastie Boys? Well, I don’t how it could have been any better. They were fun, funny and funky. They played everything from their earliest punk stuff to a couple brand new songs with something from just about every record, save for License to Ill. I loved every bit of it, but I was especially glad they did a bunch of their instrumentals like “Pow” and “Ricky’s Theme.”

Mix Master Mike put on an impressive show and really turned it out with a scratching solo to open the encore. They finished strong with “Sabotage” and it was time to go home.

A couple other highlights include AdRock giving the crowd dance lessons for the “Jerry Lewis” and the “Funky Penguin.” He’s got skills. And I’ll never forget Biz Markie joining the band to sing Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets.” The Biz took his shirt off and every person in the house pulled out their camera phone to capture the big man going natural.

But wait! There’s more. Thank you Flip owners.

“Sure Shot”

The latest Plastilina Mosh record came out just in time for my birthday a few weeks ago. After the first full listen of All U Need is Mosh I was stunned that is wasn’t the greatest record ever made, because I’m huge, huge fan. I guess it’s bound to happen, but it’s always a downer when a band seems to take a step backward. I know, it’s all in my head. After several more complete listens I do love more than at first. There are a large number of great tunes and the whole world should buy it. My favorites in general are the more electronic stuff, but the punk-pop single “Let U Know” is totally fun. Other standouts include the slow electro-funk “Paso Fino” and the pretty “Pervert Pop Song.”

77Klash update. Thanks to Isla for the info. The Code for the Streets EP is available now. Download the single “Mad Again” for free from RCRD LBL. Buy the EP at iTunes or Turntable Lab.

This is really a still, but I wanted you to hear “Mad Again” by 77klash. It’s a weird mix of hip hop, heaviness and reggae. Check out more of their music at their MySpace page.

G. Love and Special Sauce have put out a bunch of records since this 1994 debut. Even though I love this album I never bought any of their other stuff. I don’t know why, and I’m not very familiar with their later work. This self-titled debut is a classic in my opinion. I love the combination of blues, beats and hip hop. The musicianship is crazy good, and so are G. Love’s singing and lyrics. The big hit was “Cold Beverage” but my favorite is “Garbage Man.”

I never beg ba-by
I never get down, on my knees
I’m gonna get you just the same
I’ll get you just the same

“Garbage Man” — G. Love and Special Sauce

G. Love and Special Sauce Wikipedia article
G. Love and Special Sauce at MySpace
“Cold Beverage” video