I've seen Wu Tang Clan's legendary Ghostface Killah a few times in the past at big venues such as the Manchester Ritz and London's Roundhouse, but tonight was something even more special. Promoters Glasswerk have managed to get one of Hip Hop's greatest artists to perform at the tiny, intimate FAC251 nightclub!
The night began with various DJ's and local emcees, including Jamie Ernesto Groovement and Paris Harding spinning on the decks. playing a great mixture of Hip Hop classics (mostly from the 80s and 90s golden era), plus a few slightly more obscure classics, my pick of the bunch being the incredible "Time's Up" by O.C.
The first MC of the night was Red Venom, who brought back the golden sound of Boom Bap to the increasingly packed club. He gave it great gusto with his husky voice and raised the energy of the crowd, with his tight rhymes and interaction with the audience. This cemented the stage for the Manchester trio who were voted to be support act by popular demand, Illerstate. They had a larger than life attitude and energy, getting the crowd to scream WU TANG loud enough for Ghostface to hear in the back room. The trio all switched lead rapping roles in their songs and came together as one for the choruses. Their beats were hard hitting, promoting their new "Evilution" EP. They definitely went down well with the crowd which was now filled to the back of the room. They left the stage by throwing CDs of their album into the crowd!
After about a half hour delay, Ghostface Killah hit the stage at about 10:15 with his buddy and long time Wu-Tang affiliate Killah Priest by his side, whose rhymes were equally on point. The two blitzed through Wu Tang classics, not just from Ghostface's solo albums, but Wu-Tang joints and other Wu Tang solo classics such as GZA's "4th Chamber", Raekwon's "Ice Cream" and ODB's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya"! Ghost's vocals and energy were completely on point as usual, and being right at the front of the crowd, I was in awe to be within reaching distance of a legend. One of the best highlights for me was his cover of "Eye For An Eye" by Mobb Deep (which Ghost doesn't actually feature on, but his sparring partner Raekwon did).
There were a few shortcomings to the show. Many of the songs only featured a verse or two, before aprubtly cutting into the next one. This ensured that many great classics were covered, and the selection was great, but it would have been awesome to hear them in full. "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing to Fuck Wit" in particular is a song that should never be cut short! If Ghost had came on at the scheduled time, he would have been able to play the songs in full. Also Ghostface and Killah Priest were clearly frustrated about the frequent sound issues that plagued their set. It sounded like a dodgy connection was causing the DJ's turntables to cut in and out. Though because they kept asking the sound engineers to turn it up, it got to such silly loud levels that an equipment breakdown seemed inevitable! The biggest flaw in tonight's show though was that out of nowhere, Ghost invited an unannounced duo of rappers from London to take the stage for a couple of songs. They weren't even introduced, and nobody seemed to know who they were. After witnessing such an out of this world atmosphere in the intimate space, when the two unknown Londoner's came on, I've never seen the energy of a show die so quickly. The crowd were completely uninterested, and their music didn't at all match the sound and style of those Wu Tang bangers. Very bad move indeed! It would have been better if he had asked for them to take a support slot instead.
Luckily Ghostface Killah came back on stage for a few more, climaxing with his solo hit "Cherchez La Ghost". Though his performance was a little topsy turvy, with a couple of low points, and some massive highs, the overall experience was a positive one. The Factory nightclub had a booming atmosphere within. Booking Ghostface to play such a small venue was an inspired move. Even Killah Priest said on stage that it felt like going back to the early days, where Wu Tang would play small club shows with DJ's playing half broken decks!
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May 10th 2016 @ FAC251, Manchester
May 10th 2016 @ FAC251, Manchester
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