Daily Archives: July 21, 2009

The crowd at the 2008 All Points West festival.

If you have tickets to next weekend’s All Points West music festival on Liberty Island in Jersey City N.J., it’s disappointing news that the Beastie Boys have canceled their appearance in the wake of Adam “MCA” Yauch‘s announcement yesterday that he has cancer — described as a “very treatable” tumor in his salivary gland.

In addition to canceling shows, the venerable rap group has delayed the release of its new album, Hot Sauce Committee Part 1 to give Adam, who is 44 years old, time to recover from the surgery he needs.

To tide you over, here’s a taste of Too Many Rappers, a track from the now-delayed album:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

With opening night just 10 days away, the pressing question is who’s available to replace the Beasties as headliner for the huge festival? Can the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the night’s second-biggest act, step up to the top spot? It seems unlikely that Karen O and her quirky mates have broad enough appeal — especially with the Beasties’ older demographic — to satisfy the crowd.

Click through to the jump for a list of possible replacements at APW and to see MCA’s video announcement. Continue reading →