Three Killa Bees – also known as members and affiliates of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan – swarmed the UCen Hub last Sunday, creating hive-minded excitement with their genuine intensity, classically gritty beats and enough blunt smoke to give every happy member of the crowd their own high-flying wings.

Local rapper Intuition kicked things off a little after 8 p.m. The pathos and biting anger in his voice seemed to go relatively unnoticed by the majority of the crowd, and he was off the stage after four songs.

After a 45-minute wait, the crowd really began to heat up once long-time Wu-Tang Clan members DJ Math and Masta Killa hit the stage. Masta Killa seemed a bit hesitant without more of his Shaolin brethren on stage, sticking close to Math as he went through some of the songs on his new CD, Made in Brooklyn. Inspectah Deck showed a little more enthusiasm during the performance. A scratchy, tired-from-touring voice did not stop him from jumping down off the stage to rhyme with the Wu faithful on classics like “Protect Ya Neck” and “C.R.E.AM.” from the Clan’s debut CD, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). But the energy in the crowd reached its peak as Method Man and fellow New York rapper Street Life took the stage.

Early into his first few songs, Method Man provoked frenzy in the crowd by stripping off his baggy coat and literally leaping up into the Hub’s rafters to rhyme down upon his disciples like a hip-hop Humpty Dumpty on his wall. He performed songs off of his new album, 4:21…The Day After, from anywhere and everywhere – on the stage, on top of a chair in the middle of the crowd and even touching the ceiling, as he walked on the hands of his fans. He also hit some old solo classics like “Da Rockwilder” and “How High, Part II.”

Inspectah Deck and Masta Killa joined Method Man on the stage near the middle of the show for a tribute to the Ol’ Dirty Bastard, a founding member of the group that died from a drug overdose in late 2004. “We don’t do moments of silence,” Method Man said as the sympathetic fans produced lighters and chanted “ODB” before the group played “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”

The trio’s encore consisted of two more classics: “Triumph” and “Ain’t Nuthin’ to Fuck Wit.” Method Man seemed to be all appreciative smiles as he said at one point during the show, “All the energy you give to me, I’m gonna give it right back to you… And it sounds like there is 30,000 people up in this motherfucker tonight!” As he waved fans onto the stage for some one-love dancing and blunt smoking, there was little doubt in anyone’s mind that Method Man’s word is his bond.

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