Chicago Secret Show Setlist/Review

[Pootytang]

Ok, here is the scoop. I wasn't there but Laver1969 and Miramanee went and Laver called me to give us an update. He said they were front and center for the private show and it was great. I will let him elaborate on the details.

Here is the setlist:

SureShot
Right Right Now Now
Ch Check It Out

They also did a Q&A.

[paulb]

sounds damn tight!

[Laver1969]

Hey everyone. Miramanee and I attended this incredible event. I know she is going to give a great report but I'll start it off.

I had been trying to be caller #11 to win tix to the Q101 Secret Session. 101 fans and the Beasties doing a short performance and Q&A session. I decided to pull an all-nighter this past sunday night/monday morning...and it paid off at 4:00am.

The secret session was at The Metro (very small venue) in Chicago...but it was not in the main area..it was on the 4th floor is a private little stage/room area.

Miramanee and I got there very early and were #3 and 4 in line. We were literally inches (not feet) from the stage.

They started off with Sure Shot...Adrock stood about 12 inches from me for most of the performance. I got a nice hand-slap at the end from him. The Beasties were very mellow...but in a good way. It was a relaxed room...very intimate. It's the way I would imagine them practicing or doing a soundcheck.

Then they went into RRNN. And finished up with Ch-Check it Out. Everyone was standing. I saw some dancing going on...but I was inches from them and wasn't really looking around.

After the three songs some local radio guys said a few words and opened it up for Q&A. We had written questions on index cards while we were in line and their manager was going to select a handful.

Miramanee and I did a pretty good job trying to remember all of the questions and answers and I know she'll go into detail....Just keep an eye out for Mouse Pee Burgers.

We got nice Q101 Secret Session Laminates that has the TT5B cover on it too.

This is THE most incredible Beastie Experience I have ever had!!!

[paulb]

wow, what an experience!!! thanks for the dope review Miramanee!!! you guys are very lucky!!!

[plutomama]

sounds like you guys had an awesome time! hugs from me to you!

[Happyrunr]

Laver1969 and I were very privileged to attend Q101's Secret Session with the Beastie Boys in Chicago yesterday (Nov 4). As he explained, Laver won passes to the event by going sleepless for three days and listening to Q101 (http://www.q101.com) non-stop. Quite the dedicated Beastie Boys fan, he is. :)

When he contacted me to say he had won the contest, I initially thought he was pulling my leg. Only 50 people in the Chicago area could win passes to the event. Laver generously offered me his guest pass, which I, of course, accepted ecstatically.

I believe that he and I were the only people from the board who made it into the event. We'd like to share how unique an experience it was. I hope no one perceives what we post here as bragging. If he and I wanted to brag, Laver would go on about his two beautiful sons and I would talk endlessly and proudly of my sock monkey collection.

The secret session consisted of performances of several songs and a Q & A session with the Beastie Boys. It was held at The Metro (http://www.metrochicago.com), a club located near Wrigley Field. Before the event, the radio station provided strict instructions: no cameras, no cell phones, no recording equipment, no smoking, no food or drink, blah-blah-blah. The instructions also specified not to bring stuff for autographs. "They will not sign stuff or talk to people individually...blah-blah-blah." The instructions were unnecessarily nazi-like IMO.

So Laver and I showed up to the venue as instructed and queued in the cold wind with the other winners. It seemed like we were outside forever. Eventually we were wristbanded and given free tickets for the show at the United Center that night. We also were provided index cards to write questions for the Q & A session.

More time went by with no Beastie Boys sighted. Recognizing how frickin' cold it was, the staff running the event allowed us into the foyer of the building so we wouldn't freeze any more than we already had. Laver and I were at the front of the queue and saw the Beastie Boys arrive and enter the building from a side entrance. Again, we had to wait while they soundchecked.

Finally, we were allowed into the theatre. It was on the fourth floor of the building in a space that is normally used for rehearsals and private events -- not the theatre in the club normally used for shows. Laver and I were the first up the stairs and predictably picked front and center seats. When we walked in Diamond, Horovitz, and Yauch were talking with the radio people on a platform stage that had a DJ booth set up for MMM.

Alfredo recognized Laver and came over and said hello to us before the secret session began. He signed a picture of Pootytang (http://www.beastieboys.com/bbs/member.php?u=4533) and him that was taken in Austin and also a funny photo for Laver (one in which he's bald). Cey also came over and chatted with us for a bit. (See Beastiemania.com if you don't know Cey.) Lurv-e-ly man, I must say.

The session began with an introduction by one of the Q101 staff and Horovitz welcoming everyone for coming. Then the Beastie Boys simply started the performance portion of the secret session with "Sure Shot." The audience stood up from their seats for all the song performances. Like Laver said, he and I were standing inches away from the guys while they performed. It was inexplicably cool. Laver held out his hand during "Sure Shot" and Horovitz gave him some strong skin. After "Sure Shot," they performed "Right Right Now Now" and "Ch-Check It Out" without any banter in between.

Although the song performances were outstanding, the real treat was the Q & A session. I asked the Q101 people in advance who was going to pick the questions: the Beastie Boys or the radio station. I was told that the questions would be chosen by the Beastie Boys' tour manager. I don't know if that happened or not.

The following is what Laver and I could recall being asked and answered. Give us more time and sleep, and we might remember more.

The Q101 DJ (I think his on-air name is Sludge) had the cards with the chosen questions written on them. He called out the name of the person who had written the question and handed them a microphone so they could ask the Beastie Boys the question themselves.

One question was "What were the influences for the current album?" Mike replied, "Sandwiches and cheese." The woman who posed the question followed up with "What? No White Castle?" to which Horovitz responded, "No, that's not good for you." And Yauch said there's no White Castle near where they work.

Another Q101 DJ (Fook) jumped in with a question about whether they would have their own brand of Beastie Boys food. Mike said he was working on developing a carb-free mouse pee burger. Everyone's reaction was "Huh? What?!" Horovitz was shaking his head at Mike, like "You're crazy, man." He asked Mike, "How do you make a burger out of pee?" to which Mike replied, "I have scientists working on that right now."

Another question was "If you could perform for anyone living or dead, who would it be?" but it was phrased rather awkwardly and the guys didn't understand if they were being asked for whom they would perform or whom they'd like to see perform. Upon clarification and the example of them performing for Abraham Lincoln, Horovitz replied they would like to perform at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Mike added "with George Washington and Abe Lincoln!" Yauch quipped in with "How about just performing for George Washington's wooden teeth?" Someone mumbled that performing for Washington's teeth could probably be arranged if they really wanted to do it.

Fook asked if they would ever do a collaboration with Public Enemy and a Monsters of Rap tour with them. It seemed to me that the Beastie Boys found the question to be odd. Rightly so, IMO. How can anyone know what they'll do in the future? Mike responded smartly with "We are big fans of Public Enemy. Who knows what we might do?"

Fook then asked about the pageant tour, to which Mike responded, "It's not the pageant tour. It's a pageant. The tour is about pageantry." He explained about pageant garb and then provided an example. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt which was zipped at the neck. The zipper, however, extended to the top of the hood. Mike proceeded to zip it fully, enclosing his face in the hood and exposing a design of a shark's head. Yauch called it a tiger design. I don't know where he got that. Both Laver and I thought it was a shark. I wish I had a camera for the moment because it was super funny. D has the wardrobe!

There was a question about who they liked in hip hop today, but I don't recall them answering the question properly. They went off on a tangent. I think the discussion returned to the mouse pee burgers again.

They were asked who they cannot turn off on the radio and if they listen to their own songs when they hear themselves on the radio. Mike answered that he cannot get enough of "The Gambler" and Gordon Lightfoot -- although he couldn't at first remember Lightfoot's name and said "Edmund Fitzgerald" instead, which Horovitz ridiculed as an answer because it's the partial name of a Lightfoot song and not the artist's name. Mike ended that he sometimes listens to the radio when a Beastie Boys song is played.

Horovitz said that if he's in his car and a Beastie Boys' song comes on the radio, he will lip sync to it and look over to the person driving the car next to him and yell, "That's me! That's me!" and point at the radio -- which got a really big laugh from the audience.

Another question was "Who of the three has the most pimped out car?" There was a long pause with the three of them looking at each other, and then Yauch replied it was Horovitz who owned the most pimped out automobile. Yauch said that Horovitz drives a pickup truck with monster wheels with wooden rims and 40-inch spinners. Horovitz just nodded his head in agreement.

One of my questions was selected too. I had prepared a bunch of them on the index card, so when Sludge came to me, I asked which one I should ask. The question I was directed to ask was "What exactly is doo-doo style?" Horovitz replied that it was just something funny they say when they can't think of something better to say.

A woman in the audience said, "You guys have been around for a long time. How do you stay current?" Yauch said something like, "You calling us old?" And she tried to save herself and the question by saying "no offense." Again, I don't remember them answering the question properly.

Some of the people who asked questions stated where they were from before going into the question. One guy said he was from Lincolnshire, Illinois, but Mike thought the guy said "Chesthairshire," which is a gag of theirs. (If you want to understand the gag, you can read about it in the interview posted in this thread (http://www.beastieboys.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=22867).)

Someone -- it might have been the Lincolnshire guy -- asked what live recordings they would recommend. I don't remember who answered the question, but the answer provided was "Cheap Trick at Budokan."

Fook eventually walked to the stage and said, "It's time to wrap this up..." and Yauch interrupted him with "You're cutting us off?" They weren't ready to call it a wrap, but the DJ said that he got the signal that it needed to end so they could go to the United Center for their soundcheck. So everyone applauded, they said goodbye, and filed out of the room. And that was it.

It was a lot of fun. Imagine having the Beastie Boys perform in your living room and then chat with you for an hour and you might come close to comprehending what went down at the secret session.

As special as it was, I was more impressed and touched by the fact that another fan -- someone whom I met here on this board -- would invite me to share the experience. A mighty big public thank you to Laver for being so generous and kind.
You guys experience the opportunity of a lifetime- I am very jealous! My daughter was just DYING to meet the BB's at Madison, but it wasnt meant to be. She'd be in high heaven if she was in your shoes. ANd Laver1969- you are great.

[cj hood]

i had no clue about this secret show........apparently, either did beastieboys.com.........

[tpk]

i had no clue about this secret show........apparently, either did beastieboys.com.........what's the meaning of secret?

[minton]

what's the meaning of secret?

Hohoho!

[Laver1969]

Hohoho!

It did feel like a great Christmas present. ;)

[wavin_goodbye]

what's the meaning of secret?

zzzzing

[JasonP]

what's the meaning of secret?

It wasnt that big of a secret as it was mentioned on Q101 multiple times days before. I was in Chicago last week for business. I kept calling my cousin to check for info on BeastieBoys.com. We got zilch.

[Ask For Janice]

were standing inches away from the guys while they performed. It was inexplicably cool.

I was able to attend a similar performance by Elliott Smith and also sat inches in front of him. At the time it was amazing and, for obvious reasons, is a very special memory for me.

As far as these types of secret things. . .local promo events are sometimes really known only by the tour manager or whoever's job it is to keep up with them. Bit too much to expect the band or the website to track everything that's going on.

M & L, you both sound like awesome folx and fans!

[Laver1969]

It wasnt that big of a secret as it was mentioned on Q101 multiple times days before. I was in Chicago last week for business. I kept calling my cousin to check for info on BeastieBoys.com. We got zilch.

The fact that there was a Secret Session was heavily advertised and promoted on Q101. The secret part was they wouldn't tell you where it was...you had to win the tickets.

Thanks for the compliment Ask for Janice. I feel very lucky to have been a part of that.

[b-grrrlie]

Laver1969 and Miramanee, you are some lucky b******s! Me jealous? No-hooo!
Good thing your patience calling the radiostation paid off, Laver, and Miramanee, you're such a lucky lady he wanted you to come along. You definitively deserved it, after all you've done on the press section!
That was a might special occation that only comes once in a lifetime! Thanks for telling us all about it. Hopefully get a chance to hear it sometime too.....




and about the secret, I think it was mentioned somewhere here as well that the station was doing that, otherwise I wouldn't have known about it :rolleyes:

[cj hood]

what's the meaning of secret?


there should be no meaning if your a fan that visits this website frequently......

[Laver1969]

I just checked Q101's website and I couldn't find anything about the United Center show or the Secret Session.

They do have an "Interview" page but no Beasties listed.

Also...I wanted to acknowledge Miramanee's thank you. You are very welcome!!!

It was a great two days seeing the Beasties perform three times. How many people can say that? We were, as someone said, "lucky bastards". :)

[cubsfirstplace]

Laver1969 and I were very privileged to attend Q101's Secret Session with the Beastie Boys in Chicago yesterday (Nov 4). As he explained, Laver won passes to the event by going sleepless for three days and listening to Q101 (http://www.q101.com) non-stop. Quite the dedicated Beastie Boys fan, he is. :)

When he contacted me to say he had won the contest, I initially thought he was pulling my leg. Only 50 people in the Chicago area could win passes to the event. Laver generously offered me his guest pass, which I, of course, accepted ecstatically.

I believe that he and I were the only people from the board who made it into the event. We'd like to share how unique an experience it was. I hope no one perceives what we post here as bragging. If he and I wanted to brag, Laver would go on about his two beautiful sons and I would talk endlessly and proudly of my sock monkey collection.

The secret session consisted of performances of several songs and a Q & A session with the Beastie Boys. It was held at The Metro (http://www.metrochicago.com), a club located near Wrigley Field. Before the event, the radio station provided strict instructions: no cameras, no cell phones, no recording equipment, no smoking, no food or drink, blah-blah-blah. The instructions also specified not to bring stuff for autographs. "They will not sign stuff or talk to people individually...blah-blah-blah." The instructions were unnecessarily nazi-like IMO.

So Laver and I showed up to the venue as instructed and queued in the cold wind with the other winners. It seemed like we were outside forever. Eventually we were wristbanded and given free tickets for the show at the United Center that night. We also were provided index cards to write questions for the Q & A session.

More time went by with no Beastie Boys sighted. Recognizing how frickin' cold it was, the staff running the event allowed us into the foyer of the building so we wouldn't freeze any more than we already had. Laver and I were at the front of the queue and saw the Beastie Boys arrive and enter the building from a side entrance. Again, we had to wait while they soundchecked.

Finally, we were allowed into the theatre. It was on the fourth floor of the building in a space that is normally used for rehearsals and private events -- not the theatre in the club normally used for shows. Laver and I were the first up the stairs and predictably picked front and center seats. When we walked in Diamond, Horovitz, and Yauch were talking with the radio people on a platform stage that had a DJ booth set up for MMM.

Alfredo recognized Laver and came over and said hello to us before the secret session began. He signed a picture of Pootytang (http://www.beastieboys.com/bbs/member.php?u=4533) and him that was taken in Austin and also a funny photo for Laver (one in which he's bald). Cey also came over and chatted with us for a bit. (See Beastiemania.com if you don't know Cey.) Lurv-e-ly man, I must say.

The session began with an introduction by one of the Q101 staff and Horovitz welcoming everyone for coming. Then the Beastie Boys simply started the performance portion of the secret session with "Sure Shot." The audience stood up from their seats for all the song performances. Like Laver said, he and I were standing inches away from the guys while they performed. It was inexplicably cool. Laver held out his hand during "Sure Shot" and Horovitz gave him some strong skin. After "Sure Shot," they performed "Right Right Now Now" and "Ch-Check It Out" without any banter in between.

Although the song performances were outstanding, the real treat was the Q & A session. I asked the Q101 people in advance who was going to pick the questions: the Beastie Boys or the radio station. I was told that the questions would be chosen by the Beastie Boys' tour manager. I don't know if that happened or not.

The following is what Laver and I could recall being asked and answered. Give us more time and sleep, and we might remember more.

The Q101 DJ (I think his on-air name is Sludge) had the cards with the chosen questions written on them. He called out the name of the person who had written the question and handed them a microphone so they could ask the Beastie Boys the question themselves.

One question was "What were the influences for the current album?" Mike replied, "Sandwiches and cheese." The woman who posed the question followed up with "What? No White Castle?" to which Horovitz responded, "No, that's not good for you." And Yauch said there's no White Castle near where they work.

Another Q101 DJ (Fook) jumped in with a question about whether they would have their own brand of Beastie Boys food. Mike said he was working on developing a carb-free mouse pee burger. Everyone's reaction was "Huh? What?!" Horovitz was shaking his head at Mike, like "You're crazy, man." He asked Mike, "How do you make a burger out of pee?" to which Mike replied, "I have scientists working on that right now."

Another question was "If you could perform for anyone living or dead, who would it be?" but it was phrased rather awkwardly and the guys didn't understand if they were being asked for whom they would perform or whom they'd like to see perform. Upon clarification and the example of them performing for Abraham Lincoln, Horovitz replied they would like to perform at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Mike added "with George Washington and Abe Lincoln!" Yauch quipped in with "How about just performing for George Washington's wooden teeth?" Someone mumbled that performing for Washington's teeth could probably be arranged if they really wanted to do it.

Fook asked if they would ever do a collaboration with Public Enemy and a Monsters of Rap tour with them. It seemed to me that the Beastie Boys found the question to be odd. Rightly so, IMO. How can anyone know what they'll do in the future? Mike responded smartly with "We are big fans of Public Enemy. Who knows what we might do?"

Fook then asked about the pageant tour, to which Mike responded, "It's not the pageant tour. It's a pageant. The tour is about pageantry." He explained about pageant garb and then provided an example. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt which was zipped at the neck. The zipper, however, extended to the top of the hood. Mike proceeded to zip it fully, enclosing his face in the hood and exposing a design of a shark's head. Yauch called it a tiger design. I don't know where he got that. Both Laver and I thought it was a shark. I wish I had a camera for the moment because it was super funny. D has the wardrobe!

There was a question about who they liked in hip hop today, but I don't recall them answering the question properly. They went off on a tangent. I think the discussion returned to the mouse pee burgers again.

They were asked who they cannot turn off on the radio and if they listen to their own songs when they hear themselves on the radio. Mike answered that he cannot get enough of "The Gambler" and Gordon Lightfoot -- although he couldn't at first remember Lightfoot's name and said "Edmund Fitzgerald" instead, which Horovitz ridiculed as an answer because it's the partial name of a Lightfoot song and not the artist's name. Mike ended that he sometimes listens to the radio when a Beastie Boys song is played.

Horovitz said that if he's in his car and a Beastie Boys' song comes on the radio, he will lip sync to it and look over to the person driving the car next to him and yell, "That's me! That's me!" and point at the radio -- which got a really big laugh from the audience.

Another question was "Who of the three has the most pimped out car?" There was a long pause with the three of them looking at each other, and then Yauch replied it was Horovitz who owned the most pimped out automobile. Yauch said that Horovitz drives a pickup truck with monster wheels with wooden rims and 40-inch spinners. Horovitz just nodded his head in agreement.

One of my questions was selected too. I had prepared a bunch of them on the index card, so when Sludge came to me, I asked which one I should ask. The question I was directed to ask was "What exactly is doo-doo style?" Horovitz replied that it was just something funny they say when they can't think of something better to say.

A woman in the audience said, "You guys have been around for a long time. How do you stay current?" Yauch said something like, "You calling us old?" And she tried to save herself and the question by saying "no offense." Again, I don't remember them answering the question properly.

Some of the people who asked questions stated where they were from before going into the question. One guy said he was from Lincolnshire, Illinois, but Mike thought the guy said "Chesthairshire," which is a gag of theirs. (If you want to understand the gag, you can read about it in the interview posted in this thread (http://www.beastieboys.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=22867).)

Someone -- it might have been the Lincolnshire guy -- asked what live recordings they would recommend. I don't remember who answered the question, but the answer provided was "Cheap Trick at Budokan."

Fook eventually walked to the stage and said, "It's time to wrap this up..." and Yauch interrupted him with "You're cutting us off?" They weren't ready to call it a wrap, but the DJ said that he got the signal that it needed to end so they could go to the United Center for their soundcheck. So everyone applauded, they said goodbye, and filed out of the room. And that was it.

It was a lot of fun. Imagine having the Beastie Boys perform in your living room and then chat with you for an hour and you might come close to comprehending what went down at the secret session.

As special as it was, I was more impressed and touched by the fact that another fan -- someone whom I met here on this board -- would invite me to share the experience. A mighty big public thank you to Laver for being so generous and kind.

wow thats long

[skinnybutphat]

Wow, that sounds like an amazing experience. I'm glad you won Laver, I think you are the best BBoy fan in the Chicago area. I should have gotten some passes as well since I'm # 2.

[beastiegirrl101]

the Metro is on of Chicago's oldest venues. Tons of great bands have played here....glad to hear the Beastie's are added to the list. ;)

[Laver1969]

Thanks Skinny. I didn't even get through once when Q101 did they 2$bill promotion. :(

And beastiegirrl101...The Metro does have some unofficial Beastie history. They hosted the a listening party for Hello Nasty back in 1998. And BS2000 played there in 2001. We were not in the main area...but on the fourth floor is some private stage area that is used for rehearsals and private events.

[Laver1969]

Decided to dig this thread up for some of newer folks that joined the board.

And I found these pics of the event. (http://www.rocknroll.net/gallery/beastieboys/index.html)

That was a good day!

[wrongwayandugg]

i had no clue about this secret show........apparently, either did beastieboys.com.........

:( that gets me sad. we should always be able to hear about this. we spend our moments here.

[wrongwayandugg]

Decided to dig this thread up for some of newer folks that joined the board.

And I found these pics of the event. (http://www.rocknroll.net/gallery/beastieboys/index.html)

That was a good day!

cool pics. i like the the one with mike and mike. (y)

[DirtyPete]

sounds great, congrats on makin it there