After a quick Thanksgiving break, GZA/Genius, Raekwon the Chef, and Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan have returned to the road on their collaborative 3 Chambers Tour. The Friday following Thanksgiving, the trio headed to New Haven’s College Street Music Hall to kick out some jams from across each of their storied careers as legendary MCs. 

Emphasizing on the clout of the Wu-Tang members, the 3 Chambers Tour is dedicated to a victory lap for the 25th anniversary of three of their records in particular. These records include GZA’s Liquid Swords, Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and Ghostface Killah’s Ironman. Since the latter two albums feature collaborations between Rae and Ghostface Killah and vice-versa, the two performed as a unit while GZA operated primarily as a solo act. 

College Street opened its doors for the performance at 7pm followed by a couple of hours of DJ sets to get the crowd going and let the attendees gather. At one point, the DJ cut a song a few seconds through, after realizing the track featured guest verses from Ghostface and Raekwon. “These guys are on so many records,” he said of the performers, “that I gotta watch what I play so I don’t spin a joint they end up doing later!” 

Once the DJs got the crowd warmed up, The Genius took the stage. GZA walked out to “Duel of the Iron Mic”, and was immediately received by applause mixed with the sound audience members doing their best to emulate his immaculate rhyme schemes. He followed that track up with “Living in the World Today” and “Gold”, and continued on with some more tracks from the same record. Liquid Swords’s title track marked the end of GZA’s solo set as Ghostface Killah hopped on the mic to assist him in “4th Chamber.” 

Tagging in for GZA, Raekwon walked out to assist Ghostface in Ironman cut “Daytona 500”, before switching roles to perform “Incarcerated Scarfaces” off Only Built for Cuban Linx. One of the most remarkable facets of the evening was the MC interplay between Ghostface and Rae. Depending on what song they were playing, they would each take turns rapping their verse while the other acted the part of their hype-man. When thinking about the way that they both are featured heavily in each other’s solo albums, this back-and-forth made sense and felt like a completely natural component of the live show. 

During the last leg of the performance, GZA rejoined the dynamic duo onstage to regale the audience with some classic Wu-Tang cuts. This medley was expectedly all killer and no filler. Although New Haven is located over three hours away from the Wu’s native land of Staten Island, the trio seemed right at home in front of a room full of fans rapping word-for-word to songs like “Tearz”, “Protect Ya Neck”, and “C.R.E.A.M.” Overall, the energy far exceeded that of a rap group over 30 years removed from formation, and produced a concert most definitely worth attending in whatever form the next Wu-Tang tour takes.