With five-year lapses between albums and tours, Beastie Boys [ tickets ] seem to be guiding their career with a philosophy of leaving the fans always wanting more. For better or worse, fans most certainly wanted more on Saturday night (9/11) at San Diego's Cox Arena.

As the house lights dropped, massive video screens came alive with current Beastie Boy DJ Mixmaster Mike walking through the parking lot, the backstage area, and even through a game of basketball being played by the boys themselves, on his way to the stage. "Are you ready for the B-boys San Diego?" he asked an extraordinarily responsive crowd. Mike took to his DJ booth, also adorned with video screens, and began dropping beats--including some Jimi Hendrix--got the crowd moving, and ultimately segued into "Root Down," from Beastie Boys 1994 album, "Ill Communication."

Wearing green and yellow jumpsuits, the B-boys hit the stage and the energy level of the arena hit the roof. The familiar refrain of "you can't, you won't, and you don't stop" got the audience singing as the boys broke into "Sure Shot." Some in the crowd danced, some jumped, but not one person felt compelled to sit. Unfortunately, the sentiment of those lyrics would not be lived out, as something was clearly wrong with the sound. There was simply no low end, which ultimately affected all of the backing music and left the audience hearing nothing but vocals.

Luckily for the crowd, the boys brought their A game, and were sounding fresher than ever. After a muted video of Will Ferrell as President Bush was cut short, a stagehand entered the stage to inform the boys of the technical problems. In a truly professional move, Ad-Rock addressed the crowd about the problem and announced that the band would exit for five minutes, commenting, "We can either play the show you guys deserve or just have everything sound terrible all night."

After a brief intermission the B-boys returned to the stage. While better, the sound still suffered. The diminished energy level was slowly rising again as the boys performed their most recent single, "Triple Trouble," followed by "Super Disco Breakin'" from 1998's "Hello Nasty."

The saving grace of the show was the chameleon-like nature that has kept Beastie Boys in the spotlight for so many years. As Mixmaster Mike scratched, the B-boys made yet another exit, this time to return looking like a band hired for a wedding reception, wearing vintage grey tuxedos, on a stage covered with outdoor lights. Flanked by a percussionist and keyboard player, the boys showed their versatility and skill, running through the instrumentals "Sabrosa" and "In 3's" before finishing up by dedicating "Something's Gotta Give," from 1992's "Check Your Head," to President Bush.

The poor sound quality returned once the boys headed back to the DJ format, but at this point it seemed the audience no longer cared. The classics "Paul Revere" and "Brass Monkey" had the crowd again singing along in force.

Being that the show took place on the anniversary of 9/11 and the boys were out supporting an album lined with anti-Bush sentiment, it was no surprise that the show-closing "Ch-Check it Out" was preceded by a few comments about the current U.S. president. The comments were kept to a minimum, though, and there were still surprises in store for the crowd.

For the first encore, the boys appeared in the middle of the arena for an energetic performance of the hit single "Intergalactic." The house lights then went up, and many fans made for the door, missing out on the boys' returning to the stage with their instruments to finish the night with the harder-edged tunes "Gratitude" and "Sabotage."