All images by Patrick Gray/Kabik Photo Group

The Wu-Tang Clan is not so much a musical group as it is a familial collective of talented emcees, rappers, and producers who while excellent in their solo endeavors, are rarely more eloquent, emphatic, or exciting, than when they perform together.  The Wu’s effect on the culture has been massive, not just as musicians, but also as multi-genre/multi-media icons.  Even those not familiar with the hip-hop oeuvre may know them from multiple appearances by RZA and GZA in sketches on Chappelle’s Show (who wouldn’t seek the services of Wu-Tang Financial?); or from the three seasons of the Hulu series, Wu-Tang: An American Saga; or as the producers behind the single-pressing album that disgraced “PharmaBro” Martin Shkreli purchased for $2 million; Ol' Dirty Bastard appearing with Tiggers on Mark Ronson's brilliantly funkified cover of Britney Spears's "Toxic;" not to mention Method Man’s roles on such notable series as Oz, The Wire, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Law & Order: SVU, Burn Notice, The Deuce, and Ghost (Power: Book II).

On Friday, February 09 (“Big Game Weekend” here, in Las Vegas), the gentlemen of the Wu-Tang Clan—RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, Cappadonna, and, appearing in place of the late, great Ol’ Dirty Bastard, his son, Young Dirty Bastard—took to the stage of The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, making history with Las Vegas’s first hip-hop residency, Wu Tang Clan: The Saga Continues… The Las Vegas Residency; brought to us by the friendly folks at AEG Presents Las Vegas.  And it was pretty damn sublime.

The audience was living for everything the Wu served, that night.  A palpable energy filled the room, flavored with an almost giddy joyousness.  It was fantastic!  And while it’s been three decades since the release of both their self-produced debut single, “Protect Ya Neck,” as well as their debut studio album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Loud Records in 1993, these nine emcees are having a blast and sound great doing so.  Even the evening’s In Memorium interlude—which paid tribute to such seminal rap artists as Biz Markie,  2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., DMX, and their co-founder, the incomparable Ol’ Dirty Bastard—couldn’t damper the mood, though the room did get appropriately pensive, before segueing out of the interlude via a rousing performance led by YDB to his late father’s RZA-produced 1995 hit, “Shimmy Shimmy Ya!”

Some memorable highlights include a samurai twirling on the stage with a ninjato; the RZA waxing poetic; Method Man stripping off the jacket of his Louis Vuitton ensemble (from the debut collection by Pharell Williams), and delivering a riotous version of his 1995 hit, “All I Need,” before ‘making it rain’ during “C.R.E.A.M.” [a backronym for ‘Cash Rules Everything Around Me’];” and Ghostface Killah closing things out by hyping an afterparty.

Now, the Wu is returning for the second—and one can only hope not the final—edition of their residency—Friday, March 22, and Saturday, March 23—which, if you’re able to attend, I highly recommend.

As Cher so eloquently posits in a track from Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, “Wu-Tang, baby; they rock the world.”

The setlist from the opening night of Wu-Tang Clan: The Saga Continues… The Las Vegas Residency, in The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas (February 09, 2023), was as follows:

Intro:
The Next Episode [Dr. Dre song feat. Snoop Dogg, Korupt, and Nate Dogg; sample]

1. RZA Slam Poetry (RZA accompanied by a full band and DJs)
2. Bring da Ruckus
3. Da Mystery of Chessboxin’
4. Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin ta F’ Wit
5. Shame on a Nigga
6. Protect Ya Neck 

Interlude: 
Wu-Tang Sword (A performer uses a samurai sword on stage, while RZA narrates)
Killer Tape Skit (Intro to 7th Chamber)
The Way We Were [Gladys Knight & the Pips cover; Partial: 1st and 3rd stanzas]

7. Can It Be All So Simple
8. We Made It [Ghostface Killah song]
9. Run [Cappadonna song]
10. Black Jesus [Ghostface Killah song feat. Raekwon and U-God]
11. Duel of the Iron Mic [GZA song]
12. Severe Punishment
13. Incarcerated Scarfaces [Raekwon song feat. Ghostface Killah]
14. Ice Cream [Raekwon song feat. Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Cappadonna]
15. M.E.T.H.O.D. Man
16. All I Need [Method Man song]
17. C.R.E.A.M.
18. Torture Skit
19. Tearz / Can I Kick It [A Tribe Called Quest cover; Chorus only] / Gangsta’s Paradise [Coolio Cover; Chorus only]

Interlude: Tribute
Just a Friend [Biz Markie song]
California Love [2Pac song feat. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman]
Juicy [The Notorious B.I.G. song]
Party Up (Up In Here) [DMX song]

20. Shimmy Shimmy Ya [Ol’ Dirty Bastard song] with Young Dirty Bastard
21. Got Your Money [OI’ Dirty Bastard song feat. Kelis] with Young Dirty Bastard
22. Cherchez LaGhost [Ghostface Killah song feat. U-God]
23. Triumph

Outro:
Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now [McFadden & Whitehead song]

Wu-Tang Clan: The Saga Continues…  The Las Vegas Residency
The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23
Click HERE for tickets and info

Get into it!
#WuTang