Resurrection day: the Wu-Tang Clan at Oxegen

After all the stories, the solo albums and the business projects, it’s hard to remember that the Wu-Tang Clan actually exist as a band. Yet here they are, eight of them, with only Method Man and ODB missing the flight – although you might want to argue that that’s their two most charismatic characters gone right there. The remaining members’ delayed arrival on stage is scrappy but undoubtedly thrilling, the street gang mentality that always characterised their style obviously undimmed. It becomes immediately clear that, despite the fact that with RZA at the helm these men have been responsible for some of the most sonically adventurous records of recent years, today will be about hip-hop in its most simple form – a load of MCs shouting over a series of booming beats. For a while it works but once you get past the fact that that really is Ghostface Killah and Redman up there the sad reality that there isn’t that much else to get excited about kicks in. It might appear churlish but it’s even a slight disappointment that a band who once seemed to be the most dangerous in the world are reduced to playing to what amounts to a wet car park on a Sunday evening. Others have taken their mantle now so maybe it would be time to let it go and let us remember them the way they were.