Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man mounted a stack of speakers. All photos by Ben Hopfer.
By Ben Hopfer
What do you do when the cold weather kicks in and all your friends are out of town? If you’re like me you go see the Wu-Tang Clan. Braving the cold and rain, I arrived at Ruby Skye on Dec. 27 to check out the Wu, out on their "8 Diagrams" tour. I find it kind of funny that they named the tour after their latest album, one that multiple members have publicly stated that they are unhappy with. Yet my curiosity drew me in to see the group for the umpteenth time.
The opening act, a local artist Benflows, got off to a slow start. While it wasn’t a terrible performance, he should have known that openers shouldn’t try to pull a call-and-response session with a crowd that wasn’t warmed up at all. He called, but no one responded. Bay Area crew Rec League was up next. Now I may come off as a hater, but member Richie Cunning is far and above the best member of the group. While the rest went through the rap-show paces, Cunning actually put on a respectable performance and stood out individually due to his efforts. If only it was a solo act. The Bayonics closed out the opening set and brought live hip-hop to the stage the way it’s supposed to be done.
The uncanny Richie Cunning of Rec League.
I’ve been bumping the Wu since Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (Loud) dropped in high school. I've had the privilege of seeing them multiple times, but I have to say that Ruby Skye was not the venue for them. The ridiculous ticket prices coupled with expensive drinks, the security that seemed to be everywhere, and the small stage that barely contained the group definitely left a chip on my shoulder. With seven of the nine remaining members of the group showing up - RZA and Ghostface Killah were absent - at least we had a quorum. From what I hear, RZA wasn’t wanted on the tour after members felt their input was ignored on 8 Diagrams (Street/Universal Motown), and Ghostface missed the date because of a court appearance back home.
Back and forth: Method Man, from left, and Inspectah Deck.
The show sported the archetypal Wu-Tang sound - loud and dirty - as the clan shared the stage and took turns spitting verses. At one point Method Man climbed the speaker stacks and jumped into the crowd, like he always does. And not a single song off the new album was performed. But after a few classics I just felt that I had seen it all before and decided to take my ass home to my warm bed.
In the end, my biggest gripe was the time it took for them to actually get on stage. At least an hour passed from the end of the Bayonics set before Wu-Tang graced the stage at 12:30 a.m. Maybe I’m getting old, but if I wanted to stand in a crowd at midnight, I’m sure I could find a place to do so that didn’t cost $70.
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Comments (1)
the rec league kills it, each member is fresh.
Posted by Loq1 | January 16, 2008 12:43 PM