The Wu-Tang Clan is one of most influential rap groups in history. They came onto the scene with Enter the 36 Chambers and made an immediate impact. Their sound is instantly recognizable to rap fans, loud and dissonant but somehow minimal at the same time with a lot of group vocals and martial arts references.
I have been a fan ever since I first heard Enter the 36 Chambers in college. I have liked the majority of their subsequent albums and various solo projects but there has been so many it is hard to keep up. I really enjoyed their last album 8 Diagrams; I thought it stayed true to the Wu-Tang sound but expanded on it at the same time. I have never been to a rap concert, so I was excited to see Wu-Tang as my first one.
The show was at the 9:30 Club, one of the landmark clubs in D.C. The doors opened at 7, we were in and on the floor by 7:30. There was also balcony seating but I wanted to be close to the stage. Though the doors opened at 7 the show did not start until 9:30.
Two hours of standing was not fun, but when the show did start, the crowd still had plenty of energy. The opening band was Brooklyn Zu, a Wu-affiliated rap crew. They are an Ol’ Dirty Bastard tribute band in some ways; many of the MCs are relatives of ODB. A DJ with two turntables provided the instrumentation. Their sound was very similar to Wu-Tang but their lyrics put more emphasis on the violent part of rap.
They got the crowd going well; people were jumping around to the music. All of their MCs had some good skills. One of the main MCs, Raison the Zookeeper, had a sore throat but it did not seem to affect his rapping much. One of their last songs was a tribute to ODB, and quoted a few his famous lyrics.
After Brooklyn Zu, another rap crew came on, Ice Water. They also had a very similar sound to the Wu-Tang Clan. Their lyrics were more boastful and they had a few battle style raps. They tried to get the crowd involved with call and responses and asking each side of the club to make more noise than the other. But their songs went on too long and they were not as good MCs as the Brooklyn Zu. They also tried to have one member sing a while the others rapped over him. The sound mix did not complement that very well. Many of their members were smoking when they were not rapping or talking to the DJ. They did not seem as into to it, and neither was the crowd.
Right after Ice Water finished, a solo artist came on. I think he was Suga Bang Bang, but he introduced himself as Simpson and later said a completely different name, so I am not sure what his real MC handle is. His sound was more abstract and less melodic. He was not as popular with the crowd, by now everyone was ready for Wu-Tang. After only a few songs he left the stage as well as the DJ who had backed all the rappers up to that point.
When then opening acts were done it was about 10:15. It was 15 minutes more until Wu-Tang took the stage. Right before they came on the crowd began chanting “Wuuu Tang”. When they took the stage the crowd went wild. Almost everyone in the crowd put up their hands in a Wu-Tang symbol. Wu-Tang’s entire current roster was there, sans Method Man. Capadonna filled in for Method Man as another MC. DJ Mathematics took over on turntables and added a MacBook to the sound equipment. The RZA was there, but sadly did not do any DJing at the show.
They started out with two songs from Enter the 36 Chambers, performing “Clan in the Front” and “Bring Da Ruckus”. Throughout the concert they would do a few songs from later albums but go back to Enter the 36 Chambers often. They performed nearly every song off of it.
Raekwon was the headlining member of the Clan because he is releasing a new album in March, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2. He was one of the most active MCs along with the GZA and Inspectah Deck. But they only did one song from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, “Ice Cream”.
I cannot single out a single MC in the Clan. Each performed admirably on both their solo verses and group verses. The RZA did not rap much since he usually produces. He had only one short solo verse and a few group verses. But even when he did not have the microphone he was bobbing his head and mouthing the words, still into it. He was not distracting like some of the members of Ice Water were during their set.
The sound mix was good. The instrumentation was a good volume that did not drown out the rappers or deafen you. But the rappers’ microphones were turned up so high, that they distorted the vocals. I know that is the style right now, but I am not a huge fan of it.
The crowd loved nearly everything. People were singing or rapping along, jumping up and down, and a few girls were even dancing. A couple of guys tried crowd surfing but that did not seem to catch on much.
Towards the end, the Wu did their own Ol’ Dirty Bastard tribute. They did a medley of some of his most infamous rhymes. It was a cool moment. Brooklyn Zu came onstage to join Wu-Tang and did another medley tribute to ODB. Their second tribute was based on ODB’s slower songs. It was still good, but the show was obviously winding down. Wu-Tang closed with “Take it Back” one of the best tracks on 8 Diagrams. They closed the show with just as much energy as they started it, but everything in the mix seemed too loud on that song, distorting the music and vocals.
The Wu-Tang ended the show by wishing everyone a happy new year and thanking their fans for supporting them for all the years. When they left the MCs from Brooklyn Zu and Ice Water came back onstage and started freestlying. The freestyling was hit and miss. Some of the MCs were decent but none of them were incredible. A few were unimpressive because they delayed their rhymes too much. We left at this point, as it did not seem anyone from the Wu-Tang Clan was going to come freestyle.
All in all it was an extremely enjoyable show. The Wu-Tang Clan kept the crowd pumped and delivered their greatest hits. If you are a Wu-Tang fan, I would definitely recommend trying to catch this tour.
