What can be said about one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time, right along with Run DMC, LL Cool J and a very select few fall into this category of “The Originals” and Wu-Tang Clan is heads above the rest.

On August 27^th Wu-Tang tour buses rolled into Darien Center to kick off The Final Chamber, Wu-Tang’s final tour, with one major difference to past performances over the recent years, this was the entire Wu-Tang Clan, The RZA, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, GZA, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna, Master Killa, U-God and filling the shoes of the late, great Ol’ Dirty Bastard, is his son, the Young Dirty Bastard (YDB). If you ever listened to Wu-Tang, you probably are familiar with Bone Thugz N’ Harmony, who was selected to open up the stage for this incredible tour that is well deserved by the fans of both groups.

When the gates opened, there was a sparse amount of people in attendance, shockingly, the crowd would come slowly but would eventually fill all the empty space with few seats left at the Darien Lake Amphitheater by the time the show was starting. The feeling in the air was palpable, Bone Thugz and Wu-Tang were going to demolish any expectations people had effortlessly, and in historic style. With the sun setting in the background of the stage Bone Thugz were ready to go, with the stage on a slight incline to allow all the fans a picture-perfect view, this became the foreshadowing of what would be a very unique concert. The seats under the cover started to fill, the lawn showed crowded people side to side, and the stage lights turned on showing the Bone Thugz logo projected on the lower screens behind the DJ, we had liftoff.

Bone Thugz N’ Harmony, made up of its original members, Krayzie-Bone, Layzie-Bone, Wish-Bone, Flesh-N-Bone and missing that evening was Bizzy Bone. Bone took the stage and kicked off the concert breaking off hit after hit from songs like ‘Resurrection” and “1^st of the Month” got the crowd into the music. A set that was phenomenal on its own, but the night hadn’t even begun yet, as the set finished up with a tribute to the rappers who held that significant influence and have passed away, including Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G., and others that have shared song with Bone Thugz. The stage cleared in what seemed like the longest set break ever, the entire crowd on the edge of their seats for the concert they came to see.

The lights went black and on the stage screen bees started swarming around finally settling and forming the infamous “W” representing the Wu-Tang Clan and as the stage lights came up, out walked RZA in his yellow Carhartt outfit with “Ain’t nothing to fuck with” stitched on the pockets. The entire crowd jumped to their feet like the seats burst into flames at the same moment, as the rest of the clan took the stage with a huge outcry for every member. The introduction of the group lead right into the song, ”Sunshine” and immediately followed by “Bring Da Ruckus,” such a powerful start to what would be an epic set.

The set was broken into 4 acts and not leaving any song out, this was truly the concert that every Wu-Tang fan has ached for with a stage presence that took over the entire venue. Wu-Tang also took a few songs to recognize the fallen rappers as well including Nipsy Hustle and DMX, even using their song “Tearz” to immortalize the people that have formed modern day hip-hop as we know it today.

The final set break hit but there were still surprises up the sleeves of the Wu-Tang, as the final act was underway, suddenly, the face of the Ol’ Dirty Bastard was on the back screen floating around as his first born son, Young Dirty, took on the song “Shimmy” originally performed by his father, which lead to an amphitheater wide sing-a-long. Getting lost in the music, the time ticked by way too fast for the buildup everyone had waited, there aren’t enough songs they could have performed to a crowd wanting to hear every lyric.