Live Review: Method Man & Redman

A heaving crowd of Wu-Tang devotees threw up W hand signs on the packed dancefloor and all over the upper balconies. People were here to see the enduring chemistry between Red and Meth but make no mistake, this was first and foremost a Wu-Tang crowd. Killer Bee onesies, ODB tank tops, "Wu-Tang Forever" tattoos and hundreds of trademark Ws adorned the heaving bodies of this hip hop crowd. There was a smattering of OG '80s kids with that been-around-the-block look, but the overwhelming numbers were made up from a new generation of fans showing respect to these architects of rap.

The DJ set warmed the crowd up before the New York natives came to the stage with a solid mix of classics that displayed the punters solid hip hop lexicon. A healthy chorus from the crowd melodically bounced to Biggie tunes and respectfully followed Tupac as he delivered his Hail Mary's. As the set neared its end and some 36 Chambers boomed from the speakers the crowd went postal, the Wu-Tang chants began. Plumes of questionable smelling smoke went up and hands all throughout the building held up Wu signs.

After letting the crowd boil with anticipation for a minute, Redman sauntered onto the stage to launch into Let's Get Retarded. The swaggering Method Man followed shortly after, cheekily smiling as the pair showed chemistry built out of years of performing and making music together. Among the classics delivered by the duo were Red Man's I'll Bee Dat, Cisco Kid, I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need and the favourite How High that had the crowd reciting the lyrics verbatim.

Now, don't get me wrong — there were a lot of positives to take away from the night but there were elements of the show that were, well, frankly odd. Firstly, Red and Meth almost seemed like caricatures of themselves, with choreographed boyband-ish dance routines and worn out cartoonish banter between songs. Somehow, it felt like they were two-dimensional characters pantomiming what Redman and Method Man once were.

Overall, this was an entertaining night with some solid jams that roused a familiar feeling between the heads in the crowd that yearn for that '90s east coast flavoured hip hop. Redman and Method Man get three and a half Killer Bee onesies.