Mike D review โ ex-Beastie Boyโs first UK gig in two decades, in a Tyneside bingo hall, is uproarious fun
King Street Social Club, North Shields Teeing up a forthcoming solo album, the rapper doesnโt reheat his old Beastie Boys sound, instead throwing down everything from ballads to Kraftwerk references Adam Yauch AKA MCAโs death in 2012 from cancer aged 47 effectively ended the stellar recording and performing career of hip-hop trio Beastie Boys. Since then, bandmates Adam โAd-Rockโ Horovitz and Michael โMike Dโ Diamond have made few public appearances but the latter is now back in the fray. His first appearance on a British stage in almost 20 years is in, of all places, a bingo hall in the north east, where he surely becomes the first legendary rapper to yell: โWassup, North Shields?!โ With turntables on stage, hip-hop clobber in the audience, a six-piece band in matching outfits and bingo tables at the back, this unlikely show feels simultaneously low-key and an event. Mike D is backed by 5D โ who include his sons and are more than half his 60 years โ whose slamming grooves and crunching guitars arenโt Beastie Boys reheated, but certainly have the same inimitable joie de vivre. Continue reading...