MCA at the Beastie Boys’ January 2009 show at the 9:30 Club. (Photo by Peter Hutchins)

After the Beastie Boys, Adam Yauch was probably known best for his passionate advocacy for Tibetan freedom. Following 1994’s LP Ill Communication, which featured samples of Tibetan monks singing on the track “Bodhisattva Vow,” Yauch launched the Milarepa Foundation to help the monks obtain their share of the album’s royalties. In the late 1990s, the foundation held a series of Tibetan Freedom Concerts around the U.S., including one at RFK Stadium—the largest of all the shows—in 1998.

Yauch, better known as MCA, died today at age 47 from causes related to cancer.

The 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert, some will remember, was a bit of a disaster. Midway through Herbie Hancock’s set, a thunderstorm formed over RFK and the ensuing lightning strikes sent twelve people to the hospital, including four who were injured critically. (The show was halted and completed the following day.)

But at that concert, held during the summer of Hello Nasty, the Beasties dropped mad beats for 60,000 fans. We found some video—the quality’s not great, it is from the 90s, after all—of MCA, Ad Rock and Mike D rocking it. Enjoy, and remember. And if you happened to attend that concert or any of the Beastie Boys’ other D.C. shows, please feel free to share your memories in the comments below.

“Root Down”

“Shake Your Rump”

“Gratitude”

“Shadrach”

“Sabotage”