Wu-Tang is an environment. It is a conceptual space, a raw, unmediated surge of many sentiments. Hundreds of people, maybe more, driven to the edge of adrenal elation, reigned in by the weight of beats that coalesce into music, smoke and one single swell of W's. Over and over, Wu-Tang reminds you what it is you've waited so long to see: Shaolin masters at their very best -- vehement, riled, yet tinged with nostalgia.
This story begins in the blackened firmament of the Electric Factory. The allegorical 36th chamber, a dark, barren space, guarded reverently by gruff teamsters: you've never had a frisk like this before, even as a lady. Out from the blizzard and into the warehouse, it takes but a second to comprehend the semi-fantastic reality. But let not whimsy set the tone of this recreation: the surreal element of the Saturday night crowd exists in the tension of time. The excitement at this reunion is ravenous as it cannibalizes the melancholy of Ol' Dirty's absence.
Last night, the eight remaining clan members paid tribute to the fallen founder. While Russell Tyrone Jones' toothless absence was painfully apparent, RZA, Method, GZA, Masta Killah, Ghostface, Raekwon, U-God and Inspectah Deck virulently recalled the spastic, spitting mania of O.D.B, whose death on November 13th of 2004 left the artists reeling. Ol' Dirty's untimely overdose inspired the surviving collective to lay low for 14 months. But, as of February 8th, Wu-Tang's definitive ideology of independence from the industry remains intact even without its most colorful member.
It's been a long time since all of the remaining masters were together on stage, RZA reminds us. But the force behind their sword-style has hardly waned: no artist I've ever seen has managed to create and sustain the kind of energy Wu-Tang generated during the show. The powerful beginning beats of each rhyme distended brutally into a rolling thrill, tight, fluid and savage: each song seemed better than the last. From favorites like "C.R.E.A.M." to "Triumph," Wu-Tang reunited as masterful poetic samurai.
