SXSW: Money Mark (Live)

Friday, March 14, 2008 | 1:48 AM

I have seen Money Mark perform 20-plus times with the Beastie Boys, but I have never caught one of his solo gigs. So tonight, I thought I owed it to myself and the Beastie-family tree to take in Money Mark's set. I'm also a fan of his work, so I was long overdue for a live show. Early in the set Mark was having technical difficulties. His echo-box (for his guitar) wouldn't work and a friend who came on stage to play theremin couldn't figure out how to position it in the microphone. After the glitches were ironed out, Mark leisurely went through his freeform set. His performance was so laid back, at one point he looked over to the side of the stage and said, "Just tap me on the shoulder when you want the next band to come on." Money Mark mostly played guitar, but slipped behind his bread-and-butter instrument, the keyboard, for a couple of tunes. One of the highlights of Mark's set was a song he did for the film Beautiful Losers that ended up not making the cut. Mark prefaced it by saying, "This song didn't make the soundtrack. It was very controversial. It's called, 'When Beautiful Losers Get Mad.'" Upon finishing his set, Mark looked out to the audience and said, "My echo went out, my shit failed, but I still kicked it old-school for y'all."