Surely, if there was any occasion that required all nine core members of the Wu-Tang Clan to be present, it’d be the iconic hip hop collective’s final tour.
But that’s not the case as the seminal rap group take Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena for what will allegedly be the last time, bringing with them a bottomless pit of heady rap hits like “Protect Ya Neck” and “Shame On A Ni**a” with verses delivered with surgical precision over RZA’s airy, soul-stuffed productions.
While the Wu-Tang Clan’s umpteenth time performing in Sydney goes off without a hitch, sonically, it’s hard to ignore the fact that a notable number of the group’s members have failed to show up. This isn’t new, of course. I’ve seen Wu-Tang tours with a missing Ghostface, or a missing Method Man, or a missing U-God. I’ve even seen one with the entire group show up as advertised (Sydney Opera House, it seems, is a much more important occasion than your local swan song).
This one feels like a slap in the face, however. Wu-Tang Clan have been taking their The Final Chamber tour across North America and Europe over the past year. Run the Jewels filled support on some dates, Nas came through on a few others. Better yet, Havoc (of Mobb Deep) joined for a bit of the tour, splicing Mobb Deep’s snub-nosed raps with Wu-Tang’s precision strikes.
Australia’s three shows were unique for this end-stage tour in that only a fraction of the group actually made it down. Days before their first show, in Brisbane, the group revealed via social media that Method Man didn’t make it down under. They neglected to mention that Raekwon, Cappadonna and Young Dirty Bastard didn’t make the trip either, and so the tour was being handled by de facto leader RZA as well as GZA, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Killa.
That left things rather light when the group, powered by a full band, attempted to scroll through classics from Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and Wu-Tang Forever, the two showpiece albums from which most of the set list was written. I’ve seen songs like “Bring Da Ruckus” and “Protect Ya Neck” performed by a rotating roster of Wu members before, but here it felt messy and chaotic as members tripped over themselves trying to fill in for others.
This was particularly jarring over live music. Hip hop shows from legendary artists are always better when there’s a band. But mistakes are harder to mask. You don’t have the beat to paper over your mistakes, instead having more organic instrumentals for a tight, controlled impact.
This would have been incredible with all members present, but the textural voids were more obvious. Method Man’s slick verse on “Wu‐Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit”, as just one example, had a different body with RZA’s admirable attempt to flow through his colleague’s rhymes.
That was no problem, of course. Decades of performing together have given each Wu member an uncanny on-stage chemistry that’s greater than the sum of its parts on stage. RZA blasted through Meth’s verse without missing a single step. But the texture was undeniably different; Bobby Digital has a gruffer, more unsteady delivery, whereas Meth gives the exact opposite on the mic.
Some members doing the heavy lifting for all wasn’t the only issue. Raekwon’s verses on “Criminology” were deftly handled by GZA, for example, but Ghostface fumbled his own words and struggled to stick into the band’s harder, more rock-inflected pocket.
Still, hearing some of these legendary beats fully fleshed out by a live band brought a dimension to a Wu-Tang show that I’ve never heard before. It’s just a shame that potential was squandered by not one, but four no-shows. And that’s a real shame, because all things considered, this could have been one hell of a way to see out the most impactful rap group of all time.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The reviewer attended this show at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday 28th March, 2026.
