Beasties’ message to Youngstown and the nation: Get out and vote

By John Benson

Wednesday’s concert at Chevrolet Centre won’t be an Obama rally, said Adam Horovitz of the trio.

Fighting for your right to vote is the unofficial theme behind the Beastie Boys’ “Get Out and Vote 08” tour, which finds the alt rock/hip-hop act joined by such big names as Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper and Norah Jones. The star-studded affair comes to Youngstown’s Chevrolet Centre on Wednesday.

“This all started basically because I’m sure like most Americans, we’re kind of stressed about this election coming up,” said Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, calling from his band’s New York City studio. “I think we all wanted to do something for whichever candidate we’re excited about. So it was just thinking about wanting to do something, doing more research and finding out how many registered voters don’t vote.

“Like, I kind of knew it, but I didn’t actually realize it was 70 million people. So we just wanted to get people to vote, basically. And we’re sick of having these things come down to one broken polling booth in Florida. We don’t want it to be 2,000 votes decide this thing. It’s ridiculous.”

Horovitz said the plan didn’t get into motion until last month when the Beastie Boys sent feelers out to a slew of artists about joining the tour. Aside from the aforementioned bands coming to the Chevy, other acts scheduled to make appearances on the seven-date tour through swing states include Jack Johnson, Crosby & Nash, Santogold and Tenacious D. Those bands that expressed interest but were unable to commit due to touring conflicts include De La Soul, Nas, Nine Inch Nails and Moby.

It’s been 22 years since the snotty nosed and raunchy Beastie Boys emerged on the pop music scene with their ’80s anthem “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” from the group’s 1986 debut, “Licensed to Ill.” At the time, critics didn’t expect much longevity from Horovitz, Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “MCA” Yauch.

However, the trio decided to take themselves a little more seriously, creating what is widely considered to be one of the best hip-hop album’s to date, 1989’s “Paul’s Boutique.” All told, the rap act’s seven studio albums have sold more than 20 million copies combined. Over the years as the band’s music has become more complex, the outfit also became more politically active, which explains it’s involvement with the “Get Out and Vote 08.”

“Politically speaking, a lot of Americans want to be active,” Horovitz said. “A lot of people are really upset with the way that the country has been handled the past few years. I don’t think it’s a weird or out of nowhere thing that we want to try to do something to make change in this country. I think a lot of people are not happy with their health care, their family’s health care. They’re not happy with where their taxes are going, two wars, their kids going off to Iraq and these mortgages that have been handed out.

“They’re not happy about a long list of things. And I guess we all kind of complain about government but it seems like right now the Bush administration has really managed to (expletive) things up.”

Though Horovitz promises the show won’t become a rally for his presidential choice, Barack Obama, he admitted many folks may see it that way. Still, there’s a sense that fans of the politically outspoken lineup — Beastie Boys, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper and Norah Jones — will turn it into a pro-Obama rally, which means the performers will be preaching to the choir.

“Maybe, but literally that many people didn’t vote,” Horovitz said. “It’s got to do something. These are registered voters, it’s not like, ‘Hey, you have to go down and register.’ It’s like, literally, vote. Do it.”