PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA -
Wu-Tang Clan, the visionary hip hop collective that reframed music history with their gritty beats, prolific sampling sensibilities, and undeniable lyrical skills, thrilled North America with a 2025 farewell tour dubbed “Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber.” The tour, with sets lasting two and a half hours over four acts, traveled across the U.S. and Canada to give ardent fans a chance to cheer the legends of East Coast rap. Cohesion was the selected PA on each of the 27 coast-to-coast stops of this extraordinary send-off.
The stage was shared by the eight surviving original members of Wu-Tang Clan—RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa—as well as Young Dirty Bastard (YDB), the son of original member Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ODB), and Cappadonna, affiliated with the group since ODB’s 2004 passing.
“Ten members were on stage at any given point with open mics, all rapping. We got the PA on top of that,” reflected FOH Engineer Zach Stansberry after the 2025 tour’s final stop at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. “When I’m mixing, my three goals are clarity, tonality, and a great experience for the audience. I took out Cohesion with Lil Baby, so I was very familiar with it. I knew I wanted a PA for Wu-Tang that would allow me to give as much as I wanted and have a lot more to give if needed. That’s an advantage for Cohesion.”
“The way Zach mixes, it’s not about pure volume,” said System Engineer Robert Grueneberg. “It’s about clarity and maintaining intelligibility no matter your seat location. Yes, it should be loud and impactful, but you need to hear the lyrics. Clarity was the primary driver.”
The PA comprised sixteen Cohesion CO12 left-right on the main hangs and another sixteen CO12 for each side hang. Six Cohesion CP218 II+ subwoofers were flown per side in cardioid configuration plus another nine per side forward-facing on the ground in ULF (Ultra Low Frequency) mode.
The ULF was “more for the ability to have those lower frequencies reproduced, not that we needed it a lot,” explained Grueneberg. “It was classic hip-hop with more of a punch, not as much the 808-style modern rap, though [supporting act] Run the Jewels did have content, some low sweeps, that ran into the 30 Hz zone. The subs didn’t roll off like others might.”
“I’ve yet to reach the limits of the subs. I know Cohesion always allows for more,” said Stansberry. “They have that punch, that horsepower. The growl of the 218, the tonality of the CO12, that certain oomph—I haven’t run into a PA quite like it, honestly.”
A Cohesion CP118+ was used as a drum sub, eight Cohesion CO8 speakers were used for front fill, and two CO12 and CP218 II+ each provided side fill. “That was purely about SPL because we knew these guys wanted it really, really loud and crazy on stage,” said Monitors Engineer Taylor Holden. “We needed that output, and Cohesion had the horsepower to do it.”
Stage monitoring was provided by a combination of four Cohesion CM14 and seventeen Cohesion CM22, fourteen of which were placed downstage. Clair Global deployed the audio system each night.
“The CM22 can keep up, which is a big deal when you’re in arenas,” said Holden. “You’ll have nights where you’ll need more because you have ridiculous slap and noise in an arena. The performers need to get above that and know what’s going on. We never ran out of headroom on these at all. It was always a full-sounding mix, and the vocals sounded crisp and loud.”
“Just mixing FOH on top of a loud stage alone is a challenge, andit was up to at least 115 dB every night, but the PA handled it,” agreed Stansberry, who has also mixed for Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Lauryn Hill, and Missy Elliott on Pollstar’s 2024 Hip-Hop Tour of the Year. “I feel like our audioteam cracked the code. The audience could always hear the lyrics along with those Wu-Tang beats.”
“Zach and I worked closely because that stage was so loud,” saidHolden. “I didn’t want to overshadow what Zach was doing. We wanted to avoidfrequency dips, so we adjusted on-the-fly and covered each other.
The set varied from night to night depending on the mood of the evening, but they always kept fan favorites, like “Protect Ya Neck,” “Bring DaRuckus,” and the concluding one-two punch of “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Triumph.”
Holden said, “It’s insanely fluid with Wu-Tang Clan: changing songs fifteen minutes before the show starts; different principals singing different parts of a song; YDB on top of the CM22 with his mic next to the horn; mics swinging all over, but it worked out well. We had the headroom to pull it off. It’s active mixing. There’s no timecoding it.”
Many world-class artists dropped in over the length of “The Final Chamber.” The star-studded guest roster included Mary J. Blige, Lil’ Kim, Redman, Big Daddy Kane, The LOX, Mobb Deep, SWD, and Slick Rick. The final show in Philadelphia included powerhouse performances from Lauryn Hill, Freeway, and LL Cool J. No matter the lineup nor the venue, the team was prepared to provide seamless coverage.
“The system is so flexible and efficient,” said Grueneberg. “For instance, I could swap the mains and the sides for to get the horizontal coverage for an amphitheater’s geometry. It’s nice to make that switch, and the products can handle it. We had confidence that our crew could quickly reconfigure it however we needed. The PA is a jack of all trades—and a master of all. I’d absolutely recommend Cohesion for any type of music.”
Billboard raved about the “larger than life” Philadelphia performance where the “high-energy” and “adoring” audience rapped each song word for word.
“I like reviews, but the biggest reward is the audience,” said Stansberry. “Wu-Tang Clan, they’re lyricists: pure, no auto-tune, quintessential New York rap. All their songs are legendary, and so is their following. The fans know all the songs off the first beat, so they have to sound clear.”
As thousands of fans filtered out of Wells Fargo Center, they shared their appreciation with the audio team for such a memorable show.
“The crowd never lies. If they’re not feeling the mix, they’ll let you know, whether it’s on social media or walking by FOH,” said Stansberry. “They’re dancing, they’re bopping their heads, and they’re loving it. It’s [Wu-Tang Clan’s] last concert, but it also might be somebody’s first concert. I take that to heart on every show.”
Wu-Tang Clan recently wrapped performances in Europe and Australia and, due to overwhelming fan demand, subsequently announced an “encore” continuation of “The Final Chamber” tour for select U.S. markets beginning this August.
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