LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: Mike D in Boston, MA (08.30.26)
There was no shortage of Beastie Boys fans packed into Royale in Boston on Sunday night, as Mike D and his band 5D took the stage for a sold-out show that had the place packed to the brim. It had been quite some time since Mike D had toured or made new music, so getting to see him back on stage again was something that felt pretty special, particularly for anyone who grew up with the Beastie Boys as a soundtrack to their lives.
Mike D was joined by a remarkably young band, including his two sons, one on bass and the other on guitar, along with another member handling the turntables and a drummer. There was something pretty cool about watching Mike D, a guy who has been doing this for decades, surrounded by a younger generation of musicians while still commanding the stage with the same energy that made the Beastie Boys so much fun to watch.
My own history with the Beastie Boys goes back to when my friend Mike Pollack gave me a copy of Hello Nasty when it first came out. I’ve been a huge fan ever since. I only had the opportunity to see them live once, back in 2007 at Virgin Mega Fest in Baltimore. Damn, that was a stacked festival. Honestly, it might have had the best lineup of any festival ever, at least in my opinion. That show they played a full 24-song set that day, which is pretty wild for a festival performance.
After Adam Yauch passed away in 2012, I figured I would never get the chance to hear that music performed live again. The Beastie Boys would subsequently dissolve, making this new chapter for Mike D particularly significant. His new album, Thank You, was released on August 28, just two days before this Boston show, making it the first solo studio album released by a Beastie Boys member since Yauch’s death and the group’s subsequent dissolution.
So there was something particularly satisfying about being in a packed Boston club all these years later, watching Mike pick up the mic and bring some of those songs back to life while also introducing an entirely new batch of material. And I thought he sounded great.
There was no sense that Mike D was rusty or trying to find his footing after the long absence from touring. He sounded completely on point, delivering his rhymes with the confidence and timing you’d expect from someone who has spent decades doing it. He still had that unmistakable Beastie Boys swagger, but the night wasn’t simply a nostalgia trip.
The set leaned heavily on material from Thank You, which had literally just been released two days earlier, with about four Beastie Boys songs worked into the performance. Interestingly, several of the new tracks seemed to take on an entirely different life in a live setting. The album has its own sound, but the songs felt much more elastic and explosive from the stage.
Take the album’s opening track, “Switch Up.” I wasn’t entirely sure what I thought about it on first listen, but hearing it live completely changed my perspective. In the club, surrounded by a room full of people bouncing around to it, the song was incredibly fun and packed with energy.
Then came the moment that seemed to catch everyone off guard.
“Remote Control” exploded out of the set, and judging by the reaction around me, nobody was expecting it. That particular song hadn’t been appearing on the tour setlists, so its appearance in Boston was a pretty fantastic surprise. It’s one of my favorite tracks from Hello Nasty, and it was one of those songs that immediately had me banging my head and throwing my hands in the air.
What’s funny is that even when I saw the Beastie Boys back in 2007, when they played that ridiculous 24-song festival set, they didn’t play “Remote Control.” It took seeing Mike D solo all these years later to finally hear that song live.
At one point during the show, it was also revealed that the mayor of Boston had approached the band earlier in the day with what appeared to be a very official proclamation declaring it “Mike D Day.” He even brought a binder onto the stage containing what looked like an actual government order, which he held up for the crowd. Whether Boston’s government paperwork has ever looked quite so hip-hop-ready is another question, but the crowd certainly enjoyed the moment.
After “Remote Control,” Mike thanked everyone and walked off stage, seemingly bringing the show to a close. But the crowd wasn’t having it. A short time later, he returned to the stage for a very joyful “Whatcha Want,” sending the entire room into one final round of hopping, rapping and general chaos.
The whole show was relatively short, running a little over an hour, but it didn’t really need to be much longer. For a longtime Beastie Boys fan, it was a chance to revisit some classic songs, hear some new material in a setting where it really came alive, and, perhaps most importantly, see Mike D back on stage doing what he clearly loves. And as they say, never miss a Sunday show!
Photos – Mike D at Royale in Boston, MA on August 30th:
