Beastie Boys Story

On the 4th of May 2012 music lost a hero. Adam Yauch (MCA) of Beastie Boys passed away after 3 years of living with cancer and the world became a poorer place as a result. The 2 remaining members of the band, Mike Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horowitz (Ad-Rock) decided to wrap things up instead of moving forward without their friend and it felt like the right move while still being an upsetting decision for them and fans alike. 8 years later we get this documentary and while it's far from perfect it's still a nice way to wrap up the story of one of the most interesting music groups ever.



Formed in Manhattan in 1981 Beastie Boys were always an oddity. A band that started as a four piece hardcore punk group before transitioning into a 3 piece hip hop group who then became a bastard amalgamation of both before spinning off the planet altogether. Even if the results weren't the best, they were never less than interesting and now with this documentary we get to find out about the lesser known sides of their story courtesy of Mike D and Ad-Rock who are telling their story to a live audience in Brooklyn's King Theatre. It's not a watch you'll get much from if you aren't a fan but it's something the die hards will love. It's funny and it's sad and it's ridiculous and it's poignant .



Poignant? Beastie Boys? The lads that sang about their mom throwing away their last porno mag?? The blokes that finished their shows by released a huge cock balloon onstage? Yup, no lie, it's actually upsetting in places. There's a small moment late in the doc where Ad-Rock is talking about his late friend and his voice cracks and he stops talking, mouthing the words "I can't" at Mike D. It really hits home the tragedy of MCA's loss. We lost an icon but the Boys lost their best friend and it makes you realise the whole documentary is a loving tribute to him. They place him front and centre as the creative force behind the band while barely giving themselves any credit at all. It's quitely affecting for us long term fans to see the Boys (50+ year olds in comfy slacks) like this.



(MCA on bass, the dictionary definition of cool)

As mentioned earlier it's far from perfect though. The Boys acknowledgement of the misogyny of their earlier music feels like lip service and poor aul DJ Hurricane, a frequent collaborator and familiar face in their music videos (he will always be Bunny Kelly from the Sabotage video to me) is barely acknowledged. That was surprising considering he turns up in numerous clips during the show. Also hugely disappointing is the way 14 years of band history are skipped over between the release of 1998's Hello Nasty and the death of MCA in 2012. Their 2004 album To The Five Boroughs was a love letter to NYC in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and its strange that it isn't mentioned at all. Thankfully MCA's work in the Free Tibet movement in those years is covered (fleetingly) but it feels odd to have such a large chunk of band history glossed over. Running time issues maybe but i really can't see any fans giving out about having to spend more time in their company.



If you've ever enjoyed their music or wanted more of an insight into what made one of the most eccentric bands ever to hit the mainstream tick you won't go wrong watching this. It's not as all encompassing as it could have been but it just feels good spending time with these guys again for a while. Available on Apple TV now.