Members of the Wu-Tang Clan, one of the most historically influential crews in hip-hop history, came to LivingSocial’s 918 F St. to perform to a small die-hard audience on Sept. 28.
This performance followed the cancellation of the highly-anticipated hip-hop festival Rock the Bells on Sept. 26, two days before the festival was set to begin.
Unfortunately, for those loyal fans who chose to purchase expensive tickets to see the select members of the Wu-Tang clan perform, the experience was less than satisfactory.
The meet & greet was scheduled for 10 p.m., with the performance beginning at 11 p.m. The LivingSocial staff was pleasant and helpful to the guests, and the space itself was clean, welcoming and intimate.
Members of the crew — including Redman, Method Man, and Inspectah Deck — arrived around 11:45 p.m. for the meet and greet, exciting the fans who had been waiting for nearly two hours at that point to shake hands and take photos. The session lasted about 30 minutes before the crowd was ushered down to the performance space.
The crowd waited even longer for the crew to make their way down from the meet and greet space (just an elevator ride down one floor). The men finally made their way to the performance area, but simply lingered in the designated VIP area, listening to the (sub-par) DJ spin and hanging out with scantily-clad females.
Quite honestly, I was so disappointed that I left the show before the show even started. I later found out that Wu-Tang did end up performing for about 30 minutes, which surprised me. The crew was intoxicated and they seemed incredibly unprepared to perform. Paying fans, many of them intoxicated themselves, were likely enthralled to simply be in the same room as the Wu-Tang Clan. Yet when a performance is promised, a half hour is barely worth the money.
While the opportunity to meet members of the Wu-Tang clan drew more people than one would likely imagine, being nearly three hours behind (collectively) is unprofessional and dissatisfying. The LivingSocial team did a wonderful job accommodating the audience, but that was truly the most positive aspect of the event.
jmorice@theeagleonline.com
