Ghostface Killah / Peter Jackson

Club 9ONE9, Victoria BC December 12

BY Jason SchreursPublished Dec 13, 2011

It was a Wu kinda night in Victoria as Ghostface Killah and his crew chilled backstage during what seemed like an endless string of opening acts. One opening cat impressively spun records behind his back like a modern day Jimi Hendrix, but it was MC Peter Jackson, from T-dot, who rocked the house first with his pants dropping off his hips and his hip-hop hippin'. Jackson has been on the Canadian dates of the Ghostface tour and was pretty happy to be there, with his impressive low-riders and attitude to match, faring well to the Wu-starved crowd.

From the moment that Tony Starks (aka the Iron Man, aka Ghostface Killah) hit the stage, Victoria was feeding off the energy in a big way. In fact, Ghostie kept saying, "I like your energy, Victoria," so the vibe must have been right for his rare Western Canada appearance. Joined by Sheek Louch and Theodore Unit member Trife da God, Ghostface ran through a career-spanning set of tried-and-true favourites. Eight solo albums and counting, Ghost focused on material from Ironman, Supreme Clientele and Fishscale, but also gauged his W-saluting crowd accurately by busting out some Wu-Tang mainstays like "Protect Ya Neck" and "C.R.E.A.M."

When he brought up a couple of ambitious fans to do the Ol' Dirty Bastard and GZA parts, it could have been a recipe for disaster, but one unassuming-looking Victoria dude killed his verses and a young, toqued lass managed to hold her own as well, Ghostface proclaiming she had "the biggest set of balls in the crowd." More crowd participation came in the form of some Victoria ladies heading up on stage to grind against Ghostie and his entourage -- which now included Killah Priest -- with all proclaiming that it was time for some "pussies to get wet." The young nubiles barely batted an eyelash.

At times during the 90-minute set, Ghostface took a bit of backseat to his posse, even literally taking a seat from time to time on the side of the stage. But really, he was just chillin'. Luckily, the Ironman always got back up standing and put on a show that West Coast Canadian hip-hop fans won't soon forget. He even took the time to sign autographs after the show and hang out with his fans. Not as impressive in scope as the semi-recent Wu-Tang reunion shows, but pretty darn close.

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