In June of 2009, the Beastie Boys performed what would become their final ever show as a trio, with a headline slot at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival just a month before the band revealed Adam “MCA” Yauch’s cancer diagnosis.
Last week, the epic set was broadcast in full as part of Bonnaroo’s Virtual ROO-ALITY streaming event, but it’s now been shared on the festival’s YouTube channel.
The performance captures the band as they were gearing up to drop the first half of their Hot Sauce Committee project (that album was shelved, but Hot Sauce Committee Part Two arrived in 2011, a year before Yauch passed away.)
The wide-ranging, 24-song set draws generously from Ill Communication, Check Your Head and Hello Nasty. There’s classics like ‘Pass the Mic’, ‘Intergalactic’ and Licensed to Ill‘s ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn’, they bring out Nas for Hot Sauce Commitee‘s ‘Too Many Rappers’, there’s material from 1982 EP Polly Wog Stew, and they close with an absolutely huge rendition of ‘Sabotage’. It’s a hell of a performance, and worth taking the time to watch if you’re a fan (even if you’re not, tbh.)
Stream the set below – seems like it might only be up for a limited time so check it out while you can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oNDwGtL3cQ&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=Bonnaroo
