The Beastie Boys have licensed a song for the first time as part of a Biden campaign ad that centres around the survival of live music venues in the time of COVID-19, criticising the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic.
The band’s iconic Ill Communication cut ‘Sabotage’ plays in the ad, in which the owner of Michigan venue the Blind Pig talks about the impact coronavirus has had on his venue – and many others.
“For 50 years, the Blind Pig has been open and crowded. But right now, it’s an empty room. This is the reality of Trump’s COVID response. We don’t know how much longer we can survive not having any revenue,” explains Blind Pig owner Joe Malcoun in the ad.
“A lot of restaurants and bars that have been mainstays for years will not make it through this. This is Donald Trump’s economy. There’s no plan, and you don’t know how to go forward. It makes me so angry. My only hope for my family, and for this business and my community, is that Joe Biden wins this election.”
A Biden campaign spokesperson said the Beastie Boys, who had prior to now “never licensed music for an ad”, agreed to the se of ‘Sabotage’ in the video “because of the importance of the election”.
In addition to ‘Sabotage’, the clip was also soundtracked by Pixies, the Stooges and the Breeders. Watch it below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW86jyTsYe4&feature=emb_logo
