The Wu-Tang Clan Entertainment Art House of Blues Chicago, Il December 14, 2008

Allow me to indulge you further with my “lessons on reviewing a Wu-Tang show,” which as evidenced by the following rant, were forgotten as quickly Sunday night as Soulja Boy has already been by any who actually appreciates music. [Editors Note: By mentioning Soulja Boy you are acknowledging you remember him, therefore insinuating you do not appreciate music] Ok, I used to like “Crank That,” so be it.

Lesson # 1: Cast your predisposed musical preferences aside in order to be fair and impartial to the ‘Tang.

Let me start out by stating that I have never been one to thoroughly enjoy rap and hip-hop shows. The beauty of hip-hop music, in my eyes, is a harmonious combination of lyrical flow intermixed with high production quality beats and rhythms. This combination makes for superb albums. Somehow, in the live setting, these elements have never translated to my liking. I think it’d be fair to say Sunday night was no exception.

Already having learned that Method Man, who is currently on his “Still High” tour with blunt-toking partner Redman, was not going to be gracing his fellow Clan members with his presence, I was skeptical as to what Wu Tang could bring to the table, especially considering the most unique member of the Clan in my estimation, ODB, had passed away a few years prior. Yet, despite all my inclinations to write them off before the DJ laid down their first beat of the night, I tried to focus in with undivided attention as to whether the iconic bad boys from Staten Island could still kick it with the best in the biz.

RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspectah Deck, and Masta Killa were all there. The rappers who laid the foundation for the modern-day concept of a rap “crew” were onstage with blunts blazing, and Hennessey bottles poppin’ Sunday at the House of Blues. The Clan fluttered around the stage circling the center-positioned DJ booth; each spouting off their respective verses to Wu Tang classics like C.R.E.A.M. off their breakout 1993 EP “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).” However, despite my strongest desire to vibe with the Clan, I could only focus in on the clearly evident backtracking of vocals. This, combined with the predominantly suburban white crowd throwing their bows in approving syncopation, could only make me laugh.

Lesson # 2: Try not to speak with someone who has had to deal with setting up a concert for Wu Tang, for it is likely they may have predisposed hatred towards the group that could sway your unbiased analysis.

This is where I should have known I might be swayed. Let me start out by stating the facts, as relayed to me by a friend who works at the Canopy Club in Champaign, IL. It just so happened that Wu-Tang’s previous tour stop was at the Canopy, and let me say my friend who works at the Canopy, who we will call Tom, was not pleased with the “Clan.”

First and foremost, Wu-Tang was supposed to show up at the Canopy at 3 p.m. on Saturday for their sound check. By Tom’s estimation, Wu-Tang arrived at 11 p.m., eight hours after their scheduled arrival. They were rushed onstage, already a half hour late. After performing, Wu-Tang scolded the sound personnel at Canopy for not “sounding good,” even though they were running just your standard eight hours behind for their own sound check. To Tom, this all translated to a lack of interest in their shows, and more generally their current tour.

With this in mind, I eagerly watched Sunday night in Chicago to gauge the motivation, or lack thereof from Wu-Tang. Now some audience members could potentially be wooed by the mere presence of a group like Wu-Tang who have the reputation as a gritty collection of hip-hop artists with passion and swagger. To me however, Tang looked like they were going through the motions Sunday night. As RZA stood at the center of the stage, sporting a Wu-Tang winter cap, black designer shades, and a obscenely long black shirt with a gold design of what looked like Mona Lisa on the front, it felt as if the de facto leader of the group was more concerned about his image then the less than impressive lyrical performance he was displaying. Let’s take Ghostface Killah as another example. The up-tempo MC would step to the front to spout off his stream-of consciousness style raps on tracks like “Reunited,” yet was more noticeable when he stepped back behind the DJ Booth and spent a good five minutes adjusting his backwards Cincinnati Reds hat (with New Era sticker on the bill of course.) What did I take away from the Clan’s onstage antics…if you're part of the Clan, you best be playing the part.

Lesson # 3: Don’t hate on Wu-Tang for their need to constantly chant.

This was perhaps the most difficult of my self-imposed rules and is certainly not unique to Wu-Tang. At many hip-hop shows, artists will have the tendency to engage the crowd in a chant of anything ranging from “All the ladies in this muthafucka.. hell ya!!” to the vastly different “All the fellas in this muthafucka.. hell ya!!” You get the drift.

Wu-Tang seemed to forget what their name was on Sunday. Instead of spending the time dropping lyrical bombs on the crowd who had spent an obscene $40 a ticket to get in, the Clan, led by chant-leaders Raekwon and GZA, spent a good half hour’s time playing verbal tag with the audience in back and forth renditions of “ I say Wu, you say Tang!” After which, Wu-Tang broke into their classic chant of “Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nuttin’ to fuck with!” much to the crowd’s delight. I guess I will never understand the mob mentality.

[Newly added Lesson] Lesson # 4 – Disregard all previous rules and speak your mind!

As I walked out the House of Blues, I took the small note-taking sheet I had brought with and crumpled it up. I took one last glance at the words “Lessons on reviewing a Wu-Tang show” that had been scrawled on the top, and effortlessly tossed it in the direction of the trash receptacle. The paper missed its intended target and fell pitifully to the ground.

Better off in plain sight I thought, where perhaps another music critic could take my Wu-Tang based- advice, and subsequently disregard its every rule.

Comments

Spot on Written by Guest on 2009-01-13 01:46:01 This review is spot on. Wu Tang proved by this show that they are something to fuck with... they suck

idiotic Written by Guest on 2009-01-15 12:45:38 this review is full of garbage just like the content of the article. He focused on what the staff did to set up the WU than what they did on stage. There's 9 cats on stage, including Cappadonna (not a fan but he's up there) rhyming and doing there thing. You expect all of them to be doing what while others are rhyming, pop locking - puppet shows? Many of them are not even on the same tracks togethor. Yes they did seem to me a little disconnected but they bought the energy with them and I ahd a banging time along with my own crew. Your review is negative from the moment the link opens up on my screen. you're lame and a hater.

spot on Written by Guest on 2009-03-31 03:02:20 this sounds a lot like my experience when i seen them in London a few years back.    No Meth (working on the failed Meth and Red show) and no ODB (he had recently got out of jail too!)     just a lot of white people throwing W's in the air and chanting.     Ghostface was the only one that had any presence at all.    save some money and get the dvd documentary... which though it also gets bad reviews, will run about a third the price of a concert ticket.

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