“We got a lot on our minds tonight,” RZA told the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Friday night (July 18), before the rest of Wu-Tang Clan joined him onstage to close out the final scheduled date of their farewell tour.
Since kicking off last month and running through a slew of arenas in North America, Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber has been a smashing success, and the Philly performance demonstrated why: for as many personalities roamed the stage and as sprawling of a catalog they possessed individually and collectively, this iteration of the Wu-Tang experience has been focused, cohesive and celebratory, a group of otherworldly talents locking in for one last ride.
With nary a floor seat unfilled and a stage setup that included a giant tilted screen that appeared to loom over the crowd, Wu-Tang Clan was larger than life in front of an adoring audience. The setlist was a nearly immaculate mix of solo hits and posse cuts (the word “nearly” necessary for the lack of a Ghostface Killah showcase — my kingdom for “Mighty Healthy”!), the guests were world-class (more on them later), and, perhaps most importantly, the crowd embraced every high-energy moment.
Part of the fun of a Wu-Tang Clan show, in any era or setting, is hearing their rhymes rattled back at them; witnessing an arena audience know every word to “Duel of the Iron Mic” or “Clan in Da Front” or “Ice Cream,” roughly 30 years after they were first released, spoke to the power of their catalog, and made for a thrilling evening.
We’ll see how many of them we have left. Although Friday’s show was full of special moments and outpourings of emotion, Wu-Tang Clan did not treat it as their final show ever — and why should they? With a show that mixes iconic songs and modern hip-hop urgency, and every MC in the W sounding sharper than they have in a long time, Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber could, and should, keep rolling for a while. Some farewell tours have a funny way of overstaying their welcome, but Wu-Tang Clan has earned a long goodbye.
Here were the best moments from Wu-Tang Clan’s Philadelphia performance on Friday night:
The Opening Barrage of Hits
After RZA’s solo declarations to kick off the show, we got a slew of 36 Chambers all-timers, including “Bring Da Ruckus,” “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit,” “Method Man,” “Shame on a N—a” and “Protect Ya Neck” — an unstoppable opening run, all as the W’s flew high in the crowd.The Opening Style Choices
While the members rotated outfits throughout the evening, watching Raekwon stroll onstage in a jewel-encrusted bucket hat and Inspectah Deck rock a custom Philadelphia Flyers jersey (which the entire Wu received from the venue) made for the perfect reintroduction to their respective personalities.Guest No. 1: Ms. Lauryn Hill
After appearing at the group’s Newark show the previous night, the R&B legend pulled double duty with a guest spot on Friday night: “Wu-Tang and Fugees came out around the same time,” Hill said, declaring the ‘90s a “beautiful time for music.” She warbled “Killing Me Softly,” brought out her son Zion for “To Zion,” and led a sing-along of “Ex Factor,” which naturally segued into “Can It All Be So Simple.”
Guest No. 2: Freeway
Philly Freezer played the role of hometown hero on Friday night: even if “Flipside” and “What We Do” don’t share a ton of connective tissue with Wu-Tang’s oeuvre, they will forever bang heads in South Philadelphia, and Freeway sounded particularly spry tossing them out to the rapturous crowd.
Guest No. 3: LL Cool J
The biggest surprise on Friday night came when LL sprang onstage to join his “4,3,2,1” collaborator Method Man, with the pair turning back time and trading bars like they did in their heyday. With a hood pulled over his head and his flow sounding bulletproof, the rap veteran stole the moment “without a gun,” Method quipped when he left the stage.Method Man’s Visible Emotion
Following “Bring the Pain” — and before quickly lifting his shirt to show off his six-pack — Method Man took a moment to stare out into the arena crowd and appeared to get choked up as the thousands in attendance went berserk. The gravity of the moment seemed to hit home for the hip-hop hero, who then snapped back to attention with a “Can I get a sooooo?”The Tribute to Fallen Brothers
A Wu-Tang Clan show would be incomplete without some proselytizing from RZA, who was met with cheers upon telling the crowd, “Our government be trying to regulate women, but not regulate guns!” That led into an extended salute to rap icons who had passed away, many from gun violence — The Notorious B.I.G., Nipsey Hussle, 2pac — as well as Biz Markie, DMX and of course, Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
The Extended Farewell
The closing one-two wallop of “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Triumph” is always a crowd-pleaser, but the best moments were tucked in between the rhymes — like a bottle of champagne being popped onstage, and Raekwon turning to the rest of the Wu and declaring, “I wanna tell my brothers onstage, I love y’all, man. Y’all saved my life.” We’ll see if and when they return, but for now, the Wu closed out this farewell tour in smashing fashion. “We came in peace,” RZA concluded. “We gon’ leave in peace.”
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