Audience at "Licensed to Ill" tour, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1987: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of audience members at a Beastie Boys concert in Kalamazoo, Michigan during the Licensed to Ill tour.

The image depicts a crowd of people at the edge of a stage or barrier. Most are reaching their hands up or out. A crushed beer can is visible on the stage edge in front of them and another object, possibly a plastic bottle, is visible in the top foreground. Droplets of water splash across the image, reflected in the lights. Beneath the image at the bottom right is the photographer's signature [Ricky Powell / 2000].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1987; printed 2000
• Photograph by: Ricky Powell, American, 1961 - 2021
• Subject of: Beastie Boys, American, 1980 - 2012
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 10 × 14 in. (25.4 × 35.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 9 × 13 1/2 in. (22.9 × 34.3 cm)
• Cultural Place: Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.132.347
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Ricky Powell Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.