Santa Barbara is know for many things but Hip Hop shows aren't one of them. On the off nights when this does happen, it usually ends up being a shit show of opening acts who have zero talent, followed by the main act who will come on way to late and cut out early so you can understand the skepticism of me going out on a Wednesday night to see a hip hop show, but its the GZA and as a loyal Wu fan I must show my support. (plus it doesn't hurt getting a text message from the owner of the club wishing you a happy early birthday and comping tickets, you the man Craig)
I took the trip down to the Velvet Jones (a primer spot in downtown SB to see awesome artists at a tiny 300 max venue) and got in around 10:30. GZA didn't go on until 11:35ish. It was during this period where I wondering if I had made the right decision. The show was all ages plus it was on a Wednesday night and to be perfectly honest I expected the club to be semi full at best. I was WRONG. Velvet was packed, in fact they sold out. There were kids running around in the club bobbing their heads to some seriously horrible music, if you can call that garbage sound music. I figured GZA was going to come out for 30 minutes tops and then call it a night. WRONG AGAIN.
GZA comes out and starts to tear through liquids swords doing all of his verses, then he got to Shadowboxin' where he started to spit Method Man's into verse, I lost my shit when that happened. Since he was only doing his verses in the traditional MC format of himself, his hypman and dj, they were able to play alot more content. I can not recite his set list by heart, but I can tell you what songs he did preform (in no particular order):
Duel of the Iron Mic
Labels
Cold World
4th Chamber
Liquid Swords
Rough Cut
Animal Planet <---first time I heard him do this live, it was a personal highlight
Fame
Knock Knock
Beneath the Surface
Crash Your Crew
All In 2gether
Breaker Breaker
Reunited
Triumph
Brooklyn Zoo (ODB cover)
Clan in da Front
7th Chamber
Protect Ya Neck
and more! I just cant remember. So yes I was relived that I stayed for the whole thing, if I hadn't I would have missed a killer GZA show.
He was having fun on stage, during his set he would grab peoples cell phones as they were recording right out their hands, flip the camera towards himself, get real personal and give it right back to the now super stoked Wu fan. He was also taking pulls of the local flavors in the crowd and hitting on a all the ladies. At one point he thew a girl a piece of paper, she got a pen and handed it right back to him after jotting something down. Like Raekwon said, "Damn right we fuck fans". One of my favorite moments was towards the end of his late night set, GZA got his comedy style on. At one point some kid jumps on stage and GZA lets him do a freestyle, watch what happens, its pretty embarrassing:
GZA ended up staying on stage until the club shut him down. He preformed literally until they turned on the lights and shut off his mic. I for one am glad that my almost 32 year old ass got up and went to this show, I would have been pissed if I was reading this and not have gone.
WU TANG
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