NEW YORK — The Wu-Tang Clan returned to the scene of the crime Wednesday night to celebrate the release of their latest album, Iron Flag, at the Hammerstein Ballroom. A little over a year since their last such shindig, where then- fugitive Ol' Dirty Bastard surprised all by showing up and performing, the Clan's spirits were somewhat dampened by a faulty sound system, but they persevered and hit the crowd with a seemingly never-ending flurry of Wu-bangers.
"These mics is corny," Raekwon said to the audience midway through the show. "Regardless of what takes place onstage, you know what's real in the heart." (Click here for photos from the event).
Wu wore their hearts on their sleeves from the top of the program. Each one of the eight present members walked onstage and lined up in formation before their DJ for the night/ sometime producer Mathematics dropped the beat for "Triumph."
"I bomb atomically," Inspectah Deck rhymed, setting things off. "Socrates' philosophies and hypothesis can't define how I be droppin' these/ Mockeries, lyrically perform armed robbery ... Chicks hit the floor, diehard fans demand more ..."
Like most of the songs during the night, they gave the fans a taste and stopped halfway through. "F--- the gold, platinum and the dress code," Ghostface Killah exclaimed to the crowd. "All we want y'all to do is feel our soul."
From there it was a review of Wu's 1993-97 golden era. Rae standing on the tip of the stage for "Incarcerated Scarfaces" and "Criminology," Method Man with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled almost over his eyes, bouncing around for "Bring the Pain," U-God doing his little shimmy for "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" and Ghostface doing his Elvis Presley pelvis swivels and dropping to his knees like Sam Cooke for "Nutmeg" and "4th Chamber."
They dedicated "Can It Be All So Simple" to all those who were lost in the September 11 catastrophes. "Show your love y'all, show your love," Ghost fervently pleaded repeatedly as the song's music faded.
"It's like we have a new baby with the Iron Flag," RZA told the crowd during a break which signaled that their new material was coming. First was "Back in the Game," which features Ron Isley. With the soulful legend absent, Ghost took up the slack, replacing Isley's smooth voice with his cacophonous crooning. After Meth's verse, the Ticallion Stallion passed the mic to GZA, but he immediately threw it down in disgust and the music stopped.
"I'm tired of rockin' to wack systems," GZA vented. "I'm getting muthaf---ing pages, 'Your mic is wack.' "
The mics were never fixed, and most of Wu's words continued to either sound muffled or too low to hear for the remainder of the show, but as long as the music could be heard, the energy and the fans rapping along were all they needed.
"We them soul babies," Ghostface said in one of his rants between songs. "We them babies that when you open the refrigerator, roaches be where the eggs is at. Where the pink medicine is at. That was just a warm-up. We just getting started."
At RZA's urging, what seemed to be at least 100 other people came from out the back and the side of the stage to sing "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," honoring the still-imprisoned ODB.
"The year 2002, the battle's filled with the Wu," RZA said before telling all the fake industry cats and thugs to "Suck a d--- and die."
The show was then left in the hands of Ghostface, and he closed things out with "The Watch," "Never Be the Same Again" and "Cherzchez LaGhost."
"Oh, oh, oh," half the crowd said, engaging in a battle with the other side to see who was the livest. "Ghostface, Ghostface," the rest of the people responded.
For a Method Man/Redman feature, check out "Method Man & Redman: High-larious."
