We’d be remiss if we didn’t take a moment out to give thanks to Adam Yauch for all he’s given us over the years. There are few bands who I defend as strongly as the Beastie Boys — a group who has not one or two but three albums in the Madman’s Best 100 Albums Of All Time list. License To Ill, Paul’s Boutique and Check Your Head are not only peerless, but transformative. Each album a huge evolution for the band internally, and each takes the world grudgingly along with it… usually a couple years later, of course, when everyone slowly realized how genius it was (of course Rick Rubin & Dust Brothers deserve ample credit for this, too). They are legend. I am sad that I now have seen the last Beastie Boys show I will ever see, and that I had no idea what I was witnessing when I saw it (Sundance, 2007). First time? 1991, with an early Cypress Hill and Henry Rollins Band opening. Something like 50 seats were ripped off their hinges during that havoc. Best? With Bad Brains in ’93 or ’94, when they opened with “Slow N Low”, and the Irvine Velodrome exploded. Coincidentally, the Beasties had been on my mind a lot lately, thanks to finally having a chance to Interview Mike D, and even seeing him last night at the Transmission LA: AV CLUB. Even while people were jamming away happily to James Murphy on the turntables, Mike looked out of sorts, distracted — I wonder if he already knew…? RIP Adam Yauch. Not only did we lose an essential piece of one of the great bands from our youth, but we also lost a pretty rad humanitarian and activist, too. I’m gonna buy a 40 of Mickey’s today and pour some out to you, while shaking my rump to “Shake Your Rump”. Many blessings, my man…