Beastie Boys still proven sellouts

Spencer Patterson

Friday, April 25, 2003 | 9:03 a.m.

First the good news: The Beastie Boys stop in Las Vegas tonight for their first West Coast concert in more than four years.

Now the bad news: Tickets for the show -- a benefit for the family of slain Run-DMC DJ Jam Master Jay -- sold out the day they went on sale, reportedly in less than a minute.

Tickets are still available on online auction site ebay. Originally priced at $75 and $150, they have been selling for as much as $220 apiece in recent weeks.

The Beastie Boys last played Las Vegas on July 7, 1994, the opening date for the "Lollapalooza '94" tour at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Since then the hip-hop trio have performed sporadically. Last weekend they headlined two Tibetan Freedom Concerts in Tokyo and Taipei, Taiwan -- just the group's third and fourth live sets since 1999.

DJ Hurricane, a former Beastie Boys turntable wizard, will open tonight's show. Run-DMC rapper Darryl "DMC" McDaniels is also rumored to be among the concert's likely surprise guests.

Proceeds from the benefit will go to Terri Corley Mizell, widow of Jam Master Jay (aka Jason Mizell). The 37-year-old DJ was murdered in Queens, N.Y., last October.

The Beastie Boys released their last album of new material, "Hello Nasty," in 1998. They are reportedly working on a new batch of songs, and recently released the protest track, "In a World Gone Mad," for free download on their official website, beastieboys.com.

The trio will also headline day one of this weekend's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., Saturday night. Tickets for that event are still available.

Who: The Beastie Boys.

Where: House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

When: 7 p.m. tonight.

Tickets: Sold out.

Opening act: DJ Hurricane.

Personnel: Mike D (Mike Diamond), MCA (Adam Yauch), Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz), DJ Mixmaster Mike (Michael Schwartz).

Latest release: "The Sounds of Science" (Grand Royal, 1999).

Album feedback: "It's more of an odds-and-ends compilation for committed fans than it is the definitive overview that the Beasties deserve ... it's clogged with esoterica: more than a dozen B sides, unreleased tracks and rarities." (Rolling Stone, 3 1/2 stars).

Essential releases: "Licensed to Ill" (1986), "Paul's Boutique" (1989), "Check Your Head" (1992), "Ill Communication" (1994).

What to expect: Given the Beasties' infrequent live schedule these days, it's impossible to predict what they might play. Benefit shows also tend to be less-than-formal affairs in general, so if you yell loud enough for your favorite song, you just might get it.

Says Yauch: "I don't quite know how bands put out a record every year. It takes a year to make the record, a year to tour and then a year of vacation. We just happen to stretch that vacation part to two or three years." (Rolling Stone, April).