It has been an amazing twelve months for Wu fans. First off the starter block was Ghostface. The Ironman was closely followed by the GZA, who sadly skipped out on Adelaide. Nonetheless, a trend had begun.

Despite being billed as Wu-Tang Clan, only four clansmen – RZA, GZA, Inspectah Deck and Raekwon – made it out last October for the highly-anticipated, highly-contested headline tour. Mr. Meth then swooped in during the summer festival season with partner-in-rhyme Redman, while RZA returned just last month to rock it solo. Also jumping on the solo bandwagon, Raekwon decided to followed suit, proving just how spoiled we are for live hip hop south of down under. Who would have thought that six clansmen would grace our shores in almost as many months?

After scoring an honorary opening set by way of an online mix competition, local bedroom deejay Lotek set things off. HQ usually boasts a superior in-house sound system to any other in the state, however, something wasn’t quite right on this particular Thursday evening. But the show went on.

Mandle and Planz took to the tough task of preceding the always-energetic Headstrong Company. Killing it as usual, Headstrong delivered the heat before Staen 1, another ever-reliable Adelaide-grown party-starter, slaughtered the 1s and 2s.

Sporting a chocolate-brown towel draped around his shoulders, Rae emerged centre-stage. Despite this interesting choice of dress, live and in the flesh, the Iron Chef was a formidable figure. Joined by two unidentified hype men and a white guy jacked up on Ritalin, Rae territorially lumbered across the stage like a lion on the prowl. Swaggering from left to right, he belted out all the Wu classics as well as his own solo material.

Neck-snappers Incarcerated Scarfaces, Ice Cream and House of the Flying Daggers pleased the crowd while reflective joint New Wu cooed the clout of the Wu’s legacy on hip hop music throughout the testosterone-charged venue. The Dilla-produced Ason Jones was the perfect tribute to fallen Wu soldier, Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Black Mozart’s bass bellowed, 10 Bricks tweaked the speakers and Wu ballad Criminology strained the system.

After having our Wus in the air for over an hour, Rae’s man behind the decks DJ Symphony dropped some surefire dancefloor tunes before the customary “1..2…3…peace!” crowd participation finale sealed the set. Despite the increasingly irritating medley sequence – intro, verse, hook, explosion…intro, verse, hook, explosion… – it was an awe-inspiring set; dare I say, the best Wu solo show yet.