As reviewed by Jesse Hughey at the Dallas Observer. photo courtesy of Kevin Todora
(Friday, December 10th) The night started with Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) interspersed with Raekwon and GZA solo material, but frequently returned to the obvious crowd favorite 36 Chambers material. They even did "Method Man" in Method's absence, and the crowd didn't seem fazed.
Another highlight was a cameo by Erykah Badu, who stepped on stage long enough to soak in the roar of approval from the crowd but sadly didn't touch the mic. Still, the moment was enough to add to the love-fest, family reunion vibe. As did the appearance from Young Dirty Bastard, son of the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, who led the group through verses of "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and "Baby I Got Your Money" in tribute to his father. Which might be why the group's sorta-sincere cover of the O'Jays "Family Reunion" went over so well.
Closing the set with 36 Chambers classics "C.R.E.A.M." and "Protect Ya Neck," the Wu departed in a swarm, leaving some random MCs on the stage to lead the crowd through chants of "Wu! Tang!" until the shouts gradually and awkwardly died down as the realization set in that yup, that was it.
Mike Norris at Break Your Neck Urban Customs shop on Melrose has out done himself this time, with a one of a kind Wu Massacre Custom Blazers promotional (as in not for sale, sorry folks) sneaker. Utilizing the illustrious artwork from Meth, Ghost & Rae's Wu Massacre release on Island/Def Jam which is in-stores now!
Wu-Massacre, the album that Method Man, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah are dropping March 30, whittles down the Wu-Tang Clan to three of its finest. Last night, that line-up was pared further to just Raekwon and Ghostface, for what was billed as an early Wu-Massacre release celebration at the Nokia Theater in NYC’s Times Square (Friday, March 5). There was some sense in making the trio a duo. Rae and Ghost, in particular, have often felt like a group within a group on the Clan’s releases. These guys go together like peanut butter and jelly, or pasta and tomato sauce — speaking of which, they collaborate often enough to have come up with the acronym R.A.G.U. (for “Rae and GhostUnited”) to identify their joint efforts.
The concert began with a string of unimpeachable cuts from 1995’s classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… — technically Raekwon’s solo debut, but one to which Ghostface contributed heavily, earning prominent billing on the album’s cover. Their undiminished chemistry was evident in the show-opening string of “Criminology,” “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” “Ice Cream,” and “Verbal Intercourse.” Both rappers are essentially storytellers, Ghostface narrating crime sagas with a jumpy urgency, Raekwon doing the same in gravelly and matter-of-fact tones. Together they strode the stage like giants, joining in on one another’s lyrics at key points for emphasis.
After a few more tunes from their catalog (notably Ghostface’s “Mighty Healthy”), the pair retreated to the back of the stage while random New York mixtape rappers like Grafh and Red Cafe appeared to perform unannounced mini-sets. I’ve got nothing against those dudes, but as far as surprise guests go, I was hoping more for, well, Method Man, or at least Masta Killa. No such luck. At least we got to see Smif-n-Wessun do 1994’s “Bucktown,” whose rough NY sound isn’t so far removed from Rae and Ghost’s territory.
Thankfully, Rae and Ghost took center stage again before long. The crowd of die-hard Wu fans flipped out when they ran through several necessary selections from the Clan’s epochal 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), including “Bring da Ruckus,” “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F— Wit,” “Shame on a N—-,” “C.R.E.A.M.” (You can see Raekwon do the latter song’s opening verse last night below, thanks to the magic of YouTube; some NSFW language, obviously.) It is never less than thrilling to hear these songs in any context, even when only two members of the nine-man group are present. Rae and Ghost paid tribute to their late friend Ol’ Dirty Bastard by performing his solo single “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” before returning to a few more of their own solo tunes (Raekwon’s “Canal Street,” Ghostface’s “Holla”).
Then came another series of guests, for some reason. A rapper identified only as “Ghost’s son” sounded like a much less experienced version of his dad (only fair, I suppose). Jim Jones walked on for “We Fly High” to much applause. It was interesting to see Rae and Ghost as the kind of elder statesmen who would cede so much of their own concert for the benefit of competitors like Jones — not something either of them have necessarily been best known for in the past. That generous spirit still wasn’t enough to make these interludes feel like smart uses of the audience’s time.
All was more or less forgiven by the crowd when the beat for the Clan’s 1997 single “Triumph” kicked in. No further members made last-minute appearances as Rae and Ghost closed out the show, sadly. Still, my only real complaint last night was that the two main performers didn’t go even deeper into their shared catalog. Concerts can have far worse problems than that. Were any of you at the Nokia Theater last night? Are you looking forward to Wu-Massacre?
Check out our exclusive footage from the set of the "Our Dreams" video shoot in Brooklyn from the upcoming 'Wu Massacre' Album. the.LIFE Files catches up to Method Man who tells us what's going on with the 'How High 2' movie and about his eclectic music tastes and then we ran into Raekwon who tells us everything he's been up to in the past year. We JUST missed Ghostface who shot his scenes earlier in the day...
Meth, Ghost & Rae - 'Wu Massacre' on Island/Def Jam arrives March 30.
01. Criminology 2.5 02. Meth vs Chef 03. Ya Moms Skit 04. Smooth Sailing Remix ft. Solomon Childs 05. Our Dreams 06. Gunshowers ft. Inspectah Deck & Cappadonna 07. Dangerous 08. Pimpin’ Chipp 09. How To Pay Rent Skit ft. Tracy Morgan 10. Miranda 11. Youngtown Heist 12. Breaka Breaka 13. Made Men
Ghostface Killah at the Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel Wednesday September 30. U-God, Redman, Jadakiss, Large Professor, Kid Cudi, Raheem Devaughn and Papa Wu all were present.
Ghostface Killah "Ghostdini The Wizard of Poetry" tracklist:
01. Not Your Average Girl featuring Shareefa 02. Do Over featuring Raheem “Radio” DeVaughn 03. Baby featuring Raheem “Radio” DeVaughn 04. Lonely featuring Jack Knight 05. Stapleton 06. Sex Stay 07. Paragraphs Of Love featuring Vaughn Anthony & Estelle 08. Guest House featuring Fabolous and Shareefa 09. Let’s Stop Playin’ featuring John Legend 10. Forever 11. I’ll Be That featuring Adrienne Bailon 12. Goner featuring Lloyd
**Bonus Tracks**
13. She’s A Killah featuring Ron Browz 14. Back Like That featuring Ne-Yo & Kanye West
Ghostface Killah on tour:
10/2 Albany, NY- Northern Lights 10/3 Philly, PA- Trocadero 10/4 Carrboro, NY- Cats Cradle 10/5 Charleston, SC- Music Farm 10/7 Ft. Lauderdale, FL- Revolution 10/9 Oxford, MS- Lyric 10/10 Baton Rouge, LA- Spanish Moon 10/11 Austin, TX- Emos 10/13 Tucson, AZ- The Rock 10/14 Tempe, AZ- The Clubhouse 10/15 San Diego, CA- Canes 10/16 Los Angeles, CA Key Club 10/17 Santa Barbara, CA- Velvet Jones 10/19 Reno, NV- Club Underground 10/20 San Fran, CA- Slims 10/21 Arcata, CA- Arcata Theatre 10/22 Portland, OR- Berbati’s Pan 10/23 Eugene, OR- WOW Hall 10/24 Seattle, WA- Showbox 10/25 Bellingham, WA- Nightlight 10/28 Salt Lake City, UT- Urban Lounge 10/29 Aspen, CO- Belly Up 10/30 Denver, CO- Bluebird 10/31 Boulder, CO- Fox
On the heels of the new Ghostface Killah release "The Wizard of Poetry" out on Island/Def Jam September 29, 2009, Hooked On That is giving away a FREE CD Ghostface album sampler while supplies last.
All you have to do to get your FREE CD Ghostface album sampler is:
1) Become a member of Hooked On That by signing up as a follower.
2) Send an email with your name and street address (P.O. Box is ok) to:
Hookedonpromo@gmail.com
Current followers are eligible for a FREE CD Ghostface album sampler too, just email your name and address.
3) Hooked On That will send out as soon as possible to have in your hands.
Sorry in advance to our international readers, but this promotion is for US residents only.
I don't have to say that any Wu-Tang Clan member like a Ghostface Killah item has an esteemed value as a collectible and makes a nice edition to any collection.
As Ghostface Killah made his way across the European Continent, he performed his first time in Moscow Thursday June 11. Judging by the receptive Russian audience, I think the Wu-Tang Clan will come back very soon.
With Ghostface hitting the Russian shores (is there such a thing?) on his current tour, Pretty Toney opens up about the Wu-Tang family, MF Doom, record company politics and more in this fascinating interview.
Wu-tang member Ghostface Killah and Theodore Unit shows the Czech Republic just how to move the crowd in this live performance shot on Thursday June 4 at the Lucerna Music Bar in Prague. Ghost's next stop is Saint Petersburg, Russia Federation on June 10.
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