Ongoing History Daily: The Beastie Boys and Madonna

True or false: the Beastie Boys once toured with Madonna. Absolutely 100% true.

Back in the spring of 1984, they got a call from Madonna’s manager who asked if the Beasties would be interested in opening her Like A Virgin tour. This was not necessarily a wise move. At the time, Madonna’s audience was similar to what we see with the Backstreet Boys and all those other boy bands. Imagine the reaction Korn or Limp Bizkit or Kid Rock might get if they were to play a gig in front of all those screaming 12 year-olds.

That’s exactly the audience the Beastie Boys faced during that Madonna tour. One particular show at Madison Square Garden was particularly memorable. More than 15,000 people were in the building and they booed the Beastie Boys for their entire set.

Yesterday’s post was about instant concert CDs.