agreement REVIEW Wu-Tang Clan ...

agreement REVIEW

Wu-Tang Clan and Rhymefest at the congres theatre

In novel years, fans buying tickets for Wu-Tang Clan indicates were likelier to see B-squad benchwarmers than the Dream Team itself. The legendary lengthy Island crew's core was busy with solo albums (most newly by Ghostface Killah), film scores (the RZA) and acting careers (Method Man, Redman and the GZA), and it have the appearanceed unfazed by exploitation of the bigger brand.

That lethargy was shaken when founding member Ol' Dirty Bastard died unexpectedly in November 2004 Now the los of the group's oddest if it be not that most beloved persona may have sparked a constant Wu resurgence: Amid talk of an album that would be its first since 2001 the set booked a tour in tribute to ODB

When that trek stopped Saturday night at the Congres Theatre, the first bit of recently made knowns was that everyone had indeed shown up No matter the hourlong delay after the opener's set; there was system Red, Ghost, GZA, Raekwon, Cappadonna, U-God Inspectah array and finally RZA, whose absence from earlier dates caused consternation among the faithful.

Almost immediately, nevertheless the crew's mere presence took a back seat to their fiery performance. In 20 frenetic minutes they ripped between the walls of more than a half-dozen intersects from "Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers," the group's rever 1993 debut; from "Bring da Ruckus" within "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'," "Clan in da Front" and "Protect Ya Neck" the classics came rolling like waves. onward the frenzied floor, hands throbbed athwart heads in the W salute and raised voices huzzaed back every verse.

This first nullify closed with Method Man dancing upon the speakers while rhyming his self-titled theme. Then, just as in the mid-'90s, the Clan's focus shifted to remaking its members as self-sustaining solo entities, and Saturday's establish list gave the spotlight to each chief in turn.

Drawing forward his 1995 disc "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx," Raekwon spit a snippet of "Incarcerated Scarfaces" and swapped line of poetrys with Ghostface on "Ice Cream." GZA hoped in with the stark way fables "Cold World" and "Duel of the Iron Mic," the one and the other from his own '95 album "Liquid Swords." And system broke back with the solo chisels "Grid Iron Rap" and "Bring the Pain."

These tracks owe their status as album and form a club classics to the coupling of RZA's rich on the contrary unsettling soundscapes (they typically pair sparse beats to twisted samples) with each MC's lyrical skill (characterized according to vivid, dense verses that unite wicked boasts, raw ghetto narratives and the group's inimitable, kung fu-fixated self- mythologizing). unless those finer points were not to be found at the Congress, which has the pristine acoustics of a highway underpass.

Instead, the Clan followed on the strength of its charisma, the hurricane-force passion of its fans, and the kinetic zeal that bounced between its MC (The power of the cluster to spur on its individual members is rarely witnessed in mainstream rap today; where Wu-Tang was just common of many collectives, now the dispose aesthetic of N.W.A., A Tribe Called examination Geto Boys and De La chief part has long been surpassed by dint of the model of the deserted star.)

The wager dragged late, especially when Ghostface invited dozens of women to dance with him onstage (the same shtick he plucked at the Intonation Festival in June)

if it were not that the Wu catalog is for a like reason deep it still had several orbiculars in reserve, among them the early hit "C.R.E.A.M.," the ODB tribute "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," and "Triumph," a tour de force example of passing the mike in which each man battled to one-up the nearest

If Wu-Tang's performance was a celebration of past glories, the opener's plant seemed more like a down payment upon future returns.

In his first local gig since the July release of his first attempt "Blue Collar," the South Side native Rhymefest was energetic nevertheless erratic. A veteran of the club-based battle exhibition he's not yet able to command a extent the size of the Congres (and the dump's awful entire didn't help his cause).

uniform so, he showed flashes of the wit, charisma and ferocity that make his just discovered album a winner. With more seasoning, Rhymefest's stage indicate may match his recorded rewards.

Anders Smith Lindall is a Chicago free-lance writer.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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