Music review: Wu-Tang Clan & Nas, Hydro, Glasgow

At this career-spanning party, Nas brought the laser focus while Wu-Tang Clan brought the noise, writes Fiona Shepherd

Wu-Tang Clan & Nas, Hydro, Glasgow ****

This August, hip-hop marks a half century since its acknowledged birth at the Bronx house party where DJ Kool Herc first used two turntables to loop and scratch the rhythmic breaks on his favourite records. Fifty years on, fellow New Yorkers Wu-Tang Clan and Nas opened their shared NY State of Mind tour with a handy hip-hop primer, making particular reference to their home city. Both acts were early adopters rather than first wave; both remain active concerns, so their joint venture was less nostalgic celebration than a career-spanning party with alternating tag-team mini-sets.

Staten Island legends Wu-Tang Clan are good on division of labour. "We got a lot of MCs", stated designated driver RZA as he introduced the surviving crew, from the laidback GZA to the gravelly Raekwon. The octet of MCs were backed by a fierce live band, upping the punch of their performance which was embellished by a strong visual aesthetic borrowing from martial arts, comic art and video game culture.

Eight against one was hardly a fair fight but Brooklyn veteran Nas still has the delivery, not to mention the material, to take on the world. His 1994 debut Illmatic is a classic of the genre but his dense sets took him right up to the present day with his King’s Disease trilogy of albums.

Nas brought the laser focus, Wu-Tang brought the noise. Despite some confusion from certain MCs over UK currency and even their present location, they did honour their local connections, with Sharleen Spiteri bounding on stage to belt out Texas/Wu-Tang collaborations Hi and Say What You Want (All Day, Every Day). They remain an odd match but also a testimony to how far hip-hop has travelled and mutated in its lifespan to date – 10,000 elated Scottish fans can’t be wrong.