@@toomuchsumo Watched them at Coachella ages ago and it was so windy a couple times his records flew off his board mid-scratching and he deftly flipped new vinyl on and Mike D jumped on the beat on point. Mix Master Mike was incredible with his instincts in the moment,
From reddit... "I worked on this crew, and I was right behind the steadicam op, one of several utilities pulling cable. Actually, this was live-to-tape like every Letterman show. We rehearsed it several times, and pulled it off in one shot for the taping. At the time, this bit got serious accolades from the steadicam and tv tech community, given the technical challenges that we faced. The most widely overlooked aspect of the Letterman version of the Late Show is the fact that we did this kind of stuff on a regular basis. This segment was not nearly the most challenging thing we did that year, but it looks and sounds so good that it gets much more attention."
"There were permanent RF antennas outside because of all of the outside shoots we did. It’s likely even more were added for this and run up from engineering to the street. I maybe misremembering, but I believe their hand mics were going to RF receivers on the steadicam, and then hitting production audio through the camera cable,...at least until they got inside and hooked into the RF system. Outside shoots on 53rd street were common practice, so technically, we could always follow a semi-regular template of how the cams and audio were configured and passed through the control room. In essence, we were always ready to shoot anywhere at any time, based on the whim of the producers, writers, or Dave himself. If Dave mentioned a play on Broadway, or a manhole cover on 53rd st, we would be moving to get camera 4 or 5 out the door right away. If Dave decides he wanted to have an unscheduled chat with Rupert, it would be lit and covered on cam in minutes. So when the Beastie Boys wanted to perform in the subway, we were already partly prepared for it."
"The DJ is part of the production mix, house mix, monitor mix, and music room mix. Any of those sources can go into any in ear monitor in the house. It’s how the band can hear themselves and the host mic in the same mix. The DJ could have been on the roof, the 11th-14th floors, the green rooms, or the basement boiler room where we keep George Clark, and it would have worked out the same. As long as you can get the signal to the control room, it can get into the mix. So program audio is always going to match all other audio mixes, in terms of sync. During the shoot, I had program audio in my headset, hearing their performance in real time. Their performance was synced with what I was hearing also. My audio source was the control room, theirs was the monitor mix. It’s all synced. I have limited audio knowledge, so I think that’s a reliable answer. There’s at least 50 feet from the elephant doors to the first spot exposed to the audience. Plenty of time to remove sunglasses. Also, we only did this once for an audience. It’s very very unlikely they’d use footage from rehearsal in the show. In fact, I’m not sure that we actually ran through the whole outside-to-inside walk at full speed with the actual band during rehearsal. There may have been stand ins to block shots, and then a low key walkthrough to show the band how it’s going to go. I believe the actual sound check happened on stage without the walk. "
thanks for sharing. I was wondering about this considering when it took place. I was thinking how fast they are going and then the cable to the right and it was good work or a miracle no one tripped or got in their way.
I came into the comments to say something like "shout out to the crew that must have had to run hundreds of feet of cable and then walk behind the camera operator pulling it all up again" and was so pleasantly surprised to find this bit of behind the scenes info. Thanks for posting.
I was 8 when Licensed To Ill was released and it was the soundtrack to my youth. I was blessed to see the Hello Nasty tour and they didn’t disappoint. RIP MCA.
These guys helped me thru the 80’s and some rough times growing up. I felt like they were never appreciated in real time like they should have been. Super talented guys. Good times. 🌳 🌲.
I grew up in Ireland and saved my confirmation to spend on this. I wasn’t allowed to have it though. But I snuck out of the house and made it to Dolphin Discs to get it. So iconic
I love and miss these guys so much, they were truly great. I saw them at the Wembley arena in London with my man Andy “Gandi” Clayton, one of the best nights of my life. God bless MCA
I remember way back when the Beasties first came to Britain. The press reporting it like it was the end of civilization 😅 Looking back, they seem kinda quaint and reassuring 😅
Best guys that paid it back to the old school. Weird to say after “License to Ill” but totally humble. So happy I saw them in their heyday. I just wish I saw them at A7 and CBGB’s. Love their hardcore jams too.
