SEATTLE -- Against all odds, Ol' Dirty Bastard took the stage Thursday night.

Neither bullet wounds, nor robbery, nor an arrest for shoplifting, nor the recent theft of his

four-wheeler, nor the court dates that conflicted with his schedule could keep the

Wu-Tang Clan rapper from getting his tour off the ground.

"I'm gonna do what I gotta do," the 29-year-old rapper said that afternoon, standing

outside the Fenix club on Occidental Avenue, where he would soon open his

first-ever solo tour -- the first by a Wu member. "And just do what I gotta do to keep it

moving."

Despite everything that has gotten in his way since announcing the much-anticipated

tour -- namely a robbery that left the rapper hospitalized with gunshot wounds, his arrest

for allegedly stealing a pair of Nike sneakers and the reported theft of his automobile, not

to mention the court date involving child-support payments -- ODB, in fact, took the stage

and proved that, despite everything that has befallen him in the past few weeks, his

music shall prevail.

The jam-packed, yet disappointingly short set, which included the tune "All My Crazy

Girlfriends," put to rest any speculation that the often unpredictable ODB would be a

no-show on this tour. Still, it was difficult to say what his crew was thinking as it took the

stage to only a quarter-packed, half-enthused house.

Earlier that evening, ODB (born Russell Jones, but who also goes by

Osirus and Big Baby Jesus) and his entourage of friends, partners, crew members and

associates -- having just arrived in town -- took over the corner of Jackson Street and

Occidental Avenue where the Fenix sits in the heart of historic Pioneer Square. It wasn't

hard to spot about 20 or so New York rappers in downtown Seattle.

From out of the shadows of the club, ODB emerged and, though a bit disoriented,

seemed ready to go.

"What town is this? Where the fuck am I?" he asked, as an attractive, young woman

walked by. ODB ran after her, escorting her back with him. A public bus roared past and

soon she was gone.

"Seattle??" he said, in a delayed response to his own question. "All I can do is send love

to Seattle. Pack this mother-fuckin' house tonight. Niggaz wanna hump in the back, I

don't give a fuck. There ain't gonna be no crazy shit this tour -- what else? I'm gonna get

intoxicated."

Asked about his impending court date Tuesday to answer charges of shoplifting a pair of

$50 Nikes from a store in Virginia several weeks back, ODB said, "Nothing I can't handle,

you know? Who gives a fuck about it? I don't deal with anything." His lawyer, Peter

Frankel, plans to postpone the hearing so his client can continue the tour as scheduled.

In order to begin his tour, ODB postponed a Brooklyn, N.Y., court date set for Friday (July

24), in which he was expected to demonstrate compliance with an agreement that he

pay $35,000 in child-support arrears to his estranged wife, Icelene Jones, as well as

secure health insurance for the three children he fathered with her.

To his critics, and disbelievers, he added, "A lot of mother fuckers be lyin'. I'm here. A lot

of people said I wouldn't be here. Nigga, pleaze ... "

When asked about how he handled the reported theft of his Range Rover, the rapper

added, "My company, Elektra [Records], is buying me a new one." He seemed excited,

but worn out and angry. He jumped from topic to topic without any sense of continuity. "I

just want to say fuck you to the niggaz that's against me. When I'm not really against

you."

New Jersey rapper ODB and his entourage of New York hip-hoppers took the

stage just after 12:30 a.m. to an anxiously bored, small and disparate

crowd of semi-excited fans, many of whom were astounded that the show

even took place. Still, ticket sales were slow, as only 250 fans showed up at the Fenix

Club.

By the time ODB hit the stage, there were large gaps in the crowd.

Still, fans weren't complaining, as the small turnout offered space for the faithful to romp

during shows by the three opening acts, which included The Sharpshooters with DJ

Kutfather, X-Kids and Turntable Bay, as well as the guest of honor.

With a sudden rush of the stage, ODB and his crew took over the stage for the early part

of the morning Friday (July 24). The ODB experience began as four different rappers

grabbed microphones and kicked into a short drum jam that had all of them shouting on

top of each other and spraying water into the crowd from water bottles. The small crowd

scattered around the floor, grooving to the jam and bobbing to the beat.

The ODB crew -- which included Papa Chief, 12 O' Clock and Masta

Fuol, collectively known as the Brooklyn Zoo -- overflowed onto the stage as rappers and

dancers and idle crew members took their positions. Finally, ODB, dressed in low-cut

jean shorts with a fluorescent-orange soccer jersey, appeared as the band kicked into a

jam, sending the sparse but enthusiastic crowd into a heavy dance cycle.

The noticeably worn out but golden-voiced ODB kicked off with a few old ones, including

"All My Crazy Girlfriends," and soon worked the crowd into a frenzy with raps such as

"Raw Hide." For those who had stuck it out, the waiting seemed to have paid off.

"We came right after work," said local Wu-Tang fan Matt Fisher, who works nearby at IEG

(Internet Entertainment Group). "We weren't sure if this show was really going to happen

or not."

John Horn, who plays double-duty as bassist for local hip-hop phenom group the Hi-Fi

Killers and one of the night's three opening acts, The Sharpshooters, remarked during

the night, "It out-prices every other hip-hop show in town tonight. It's only old-school

Seattle hip-hop in the house tonight." Tickets for the quadruple bill were $25.

By the end of the show, ODB looked like he might just pass out from exhaustion. A

member of his crew would come out onstage and towel him down after every song, a

la Elvis in his Vegas days.

And even as ODB wound down the show, the beats were still rippling through the joint

and the walls seemed to be swaying.

The group drifted offstage unceremoniously by 1:30 a.m., and the houselights went up.

There was no encore or onstage banter. The crew got on the bus, and they left, more

than ready, it seemed, to take the show south to Portland, Ore., and on to California.

"If they'd landed in L.A. with all of this -- it would have been a good time, some

heavy-duty thumpin' and bumpin'," said Kevin McCullough, a fan. "They should have

started this tour on a Friday night in Oakland [Calif.]. I'm embarrassed at the turnout.

These guys are the shit."