Wu-Tang Clan at Qudos Bank Arena was still a solid reminder of just how deep their back discography runs.
Wu-Tang: Enter The Final Chamber, billed as their last world tour ever – and originally positioned as featuring all living members – felt a little misleading on the Australian leg.
Method Man, Raekwon and Cappadonna were all absent, and you did feel that. It’s a bit like showing up to an Avengers film and realising Iron Man and Hulk were nowhere to be seen.
The set made space for quiet tributes to Ol’ Dirty Bastard and other absent members, folded in without overstatement but landing with weight all the same.
Full renditions of ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ and ‘Got Your Money’ hit especially hard. Between verses and crowd call-and-response, it stayed locked into the music and the legacy already built. Sydney kept pace the whole way through.
Still, the show pushed on. The group ran through hits from Enter the 36 Chambers, Wu-Tang Forever, and a spread of solo material, keeping the energy up even with the gaps in the lineup.
When all available members were on stage together, the presence was undeniable. Backed by a full live band – and with no backing tracks to hide behind – they went word for word. It wasn’t polished, but it didn’t need to be. The rawness is the point, and it still lands.
That said, the flow wasn’t always consistent. Members rotated on and off stage throughout, sometimes leaving extended gaps for instrumentals or side moments – including a few plugs for RZA’s upcoming film.
You’d lock into a run of tracks, then have to reset, which broke momentum more than once.
Overall, Wu-Tang: The Final Chamber was a strong performance. Even with missing members and a slightly uneven flow, the core of it held up.
Thirty years on, the energy is still there – and a group with a catalogue this deep and a legacy this locked in doesn’t really miss.
