By many accounts, Washington, D.C. has been a very welcoming place for rap artists. Recent concerts featuring Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony, Mos Def, Immortal Technique and even the Roots here at AU were well attended, and artists like Beanie Sigel have talked the city up in the press. So the fuse was lit when Wu-Tang Clan announced their intentions to play two shows in one night this Monday at the 9:30 club, one at 7:30 and one at 10.
Wu-Tang was a dominant force in the '90s rap game, establishing themselves with unique rhyme content and thunderous beats from the RZA. Arguably the biggest name in the industry aside from the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, the Clan gradually fell off the map a bit, even after their first two smash albums, "The 36 Chambers" and "Forever," went platinum and spawned Wu-phenomena not only in the music industry but in the fashion world, too. Nonetheless, the fact that the club was packed and the 7:30 show had sold out quickly was a good indicator of the Clan's lasting popularity.
Almost inexplicably, however, the Wu-Tang Clan's presence was not in full effect at the 10pm set. The show got off to a great start, with each MC spitting one of his unique verses off certain tracks. At this point, the crowd was on fire. The Clan had not toured together in a few years and each audience member was excited to be seeing the RZA, GZA, Capadonna, U-God, Masta Killah, Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Inspectah Deck back in action after a lengthy hiatus.
But after the initial barrage and a series of Wu-hits like "Cream," "Reunited" and "It's Yourz," the crowd practically fell asleep in front of the Wu-Tang Clan. This was not the Clan's fault, however. The majority of the crowd was unfamiliar with the less popular songs in the Wu-Tang's catalogue and solo tracks off certain members' respective albums ("Run" and "Winter Warz" by Ghostface Killah were nice touches).
As the evening wore on and the hits ran out, the crowd became more and more comatose until finally the Wu-Tang Clan stopped their show - twice - and called out the audience for not bowing down to history and paying homage to the group that redefined the rap scene. Even antics like Method Man diving into the crowd couldn't resuscitate the audience and the show groaned to a somewhat lackluster close. There was a time when the Wu-Tang Clan burnt down any club and the Clan seemed eager to relive those days. But an ignorant fan base entirely disrespected them. They played a series of cuts for die-hard, old school fans but managed to get little response. Perhaps it was because only people with $50 to spare and little concern for getting to bed at a reasonable hour (i.e. white college students) made up the majority of the audience - definitely not Wu-Tang's core fan base.
One other aspect that drained the crowd's energy was the absence of Ol' Dirty Bastard, the Wu-Tang MC who died in 2004. Known for his bipolar rhyming style and wild offstage antics, ODB brought a special schizophrenic flavor to the Clan and his energy was missed during the performance. While it was thrilling to see Wu-Tang live, no one would have known it based on the crowd's lack of enthusiasm.
