Beastie Boy Delivers BS in Tour Opener
April 4 -- MINNEAPOLIS — Every time you ask, Beastie Boy Adam (Ad-Rock) Horovitz has a different, and silly, explanation for what the letters BS in his side project, BS 2000, stand for. "Bowling shoes … bittersweet … butterscotch … banana split," he said in a matter of seconds the other day in an interview. However, on opening night of BS 2000's first-ever U.S. tour Monday, it obviously stood for a Bit Short.
Eighteen songs in 47 minutes — give or take 30 seconds.
Not that any of the b-boys and go-go girls at the Quest were complaining afterward. They knew what to expect from BS — irresistibly kitschy dance music, full of cheesy vintage keyboards and mock-pop concepts.
On record, BS 2000 is Ad-Rock and Amery "Awol" Smith, the Beasties' tour drummer and Horovitz's former punk bandmate in teenage band Young and the Useless. BS 2000 recorded a self-titled vinyl disc in 1997, and this spring they've returned with Simply Mortified, a 20-song helping of danceable cheese.
In concert, the band included three keyboardists and a drummer. Ad-Rock was the animated and talkative frontman, dancing with his left hand or his eyebrows during the music and, between songs, explaining each song's meaning — which was often slimmer than the music itself.
For instance, he pointed out that "Sick for a Reason" is about police brutality, that "The Scrappy" is about asserting your individuality in the way you dress, and that "Buddy" is about "friends being friends and friendship being friendly." Much of the time, Ad-Rock's tongue was thrust into his cheek — literally and figuratively.
BS 2000 covered the T-Bones' 1965 Alka-Seltzer jingle-turned-instrumental hit "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach Is In," which is on Simply Mortififed, and Blondie's "I Know But I Don't Know," which is not on a BS album but was a crowd favorite, complete with a Clem Burke-like drum solo. BS 2000 did a couple of tunes from its debut disc, which were more techno-like, though very low-tech. The loud and screechy "Nobody Beats BS 2000" drew big cheers.
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