Method Man At Matter

Method Man At Matter

08 April, 2010
by: Trol23

Tomas Olesen goes to see Method Man bring the Wu Tang brand of ruckus to Matter and it goes off, on a Wednesday!

You know you're going to a hip hop gig when you're required to negotiate two sets of metal detectors and friskings to get in to the venue. To be fair, I suppose I could have picked up some pretty dangerous cutlery between detectors from one of the eateries you pass in the O2 en route to Matter. Perhaps the Garfunkel's – their fry ups are practically weapons in themselves.

Rubbish restaurants aside, there is always a sense of excitement when one arrives at Matter. It’s probably a combination of the tension-building trek and the fact that it’s essentially in a glorified big top, which brings the thrill of childhood circus memories flooding back. In tonight’s circus, however, the ringleader is Method Man, and the only animals involved are the baying crowd of fans.

The Wu Tang used to have quite a reputation in this country for not turning up to shows or for turning up with just one or two members of an advertised ‘full line-up’. So when a gig with an eleven o’clock end time gets to twenty past ten with no sign of the headliner those of us that remember the bad old days start to get nervous. No need though, Mr. Meth is clearly just backstage building crowd expectancy, or maybe one last blunt. When he does finally bounce out on to stage flanked by his regular hype man, Streetlife, the crowd at the front goes mental enough for him to stage dive no less than three times during the initial ‘hands in the air’ preamble, losing his hat in the process.

The first track proper is, of course, ‘Method Man’. The whole room knows every word of this and the opening flurry of classics like ‘Bring the Pain’, ‘Ice Cream’, and ‘All I Need’. Throughout the show, Method Man and Streetlife are constantly moving, whipping up frenzy on alternating sides of the stage, eliciting call and response, spraying the crowd with their water bottles, and doing little synchronised dance moves. It’s this consummate showmanship that is the difference between the greats and the also-rans of hip hop.

Meth announces the beginning of a series of songs he likes to call ‘the smoking section’ to a massive cheer – although it feels like I’ve been standing in an actual smoking section for quite some time before that anyway. Joints and cigarettes are sneakily smoked all over the shop and the security guards seem unable to police mass disobedience. This is highlighted when Method Man grabs a spliff from someone at the front and smokes it with gusto whilst trying to persuade various members of onstage security to have some too. The crowd loves this and soon the calls to “roll that shit, light that shit, smoke it” seem to have been taken literally and the whole place takes on a pungent aroma. The Meth and Redman classics ‘How High’ and ‘I Get So High’ are then duly given an airing.

Towards the end of the show there is a deeply heartfelt dedication to the late Ol' Dirty Bastard in the form of ODB classics ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ and ‘Got Your Money’. This turns into a proper sing-along, and when Method Man hushes the crowd and stands eyes closed in silent contemplation of his fallen friend, the spontaneous chant of “Wu Tang, Wu Tang” brings tears to his eyes and he looks genuinely touched by the response. 

The only thing that's a negative feature of the night is the often muddy sound. When you decide to make a serious music venue inside what is essentially a concrete box there are always going to be sound issues, although judging by the last minute manner in which Method Man arrived it may have had more to do with a lack of sound check. All in all, however, this was the best rap show I’ve seen in some time and another feather in Matter’s increasingly crowded cap.


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Trol23