The Final Gatherings

When A Tribe Called Quest burst onto the scene in 1988, the group helped usher in an exciting decade of innovation in hip-hop, spurring countless young MCs to write their own rule books. But now that the genre has practically become a gangsta rap hegemony, the group seems like a crucial lifeline to a bygone era, which makes its imminent breakup a tough pill for the group’s loyalists to swallow.

The Queens-based trio turned in its last L.A. performances with a two-nighter at the House of Blues. Instead of wallowing in the past at Tuesday’s opener, the Questers reinvented it by injecting fresh life into old jams. The threesome had a deep well to draw from: Hearing so many of Tribe’s greatest moments back to back, you couldn’t help but marvel at the high level of craftsmanship.

As with so many significant hip-hop acts, Tribe’s greatness is rooted in the versatility of its vocal attack. There are few hip-hop ensembles that can compete with Tribe’s mix-and-match artistry.

Each member has a distinct approach: Phife Dawg is gruff and raspy, while Q-Tip’s sly, adenoidal delivery has made him one of rap’s most durable icons. Jarobi, who left after the group’s first album, is back for this swan song, coming on nice and smooth. Beyond their individual gifts, their voices blend together as well as any great pop vocal group.

Through its five albums, Tribe has always resisted the strident posturing that turned so many of its contemporaries into cartoons. The rappers never raised their voices, choosing instead to speak softly and let their playful narratives do all the work. On stage Tuesday, the band jacked up the volume somewhat, but with no loss of impact. By shouting out such career highlights as “Check the Rhyme,” “Bonita Applebaum” and “Award Tour,” they only upped the energy quotient for the capacity crowd.

The trio pulled off the knottiest phrases with relative ease. At various points during their set, they punctuated each other’s sentences with single words, darted in and out of unison, or commanded center stage with solo feats of verbal fury. The overall effect was seamless, and drove the set’s relentless rhythmic momentum.

The group occasionally stumbled. A couple of missed cues from deejay Ali Shaheed Mohammed caused Q-Tip to choke off numbers in mid-verse, and a segment of audience requests devolved into total chaos. Rapper and basketball star Shaquille O’Neal’s goofy, fist-pumping cameo during this portion of the show, however, did provide some comic relief.

By the time the group finished its set with its latest (and last) single, “Find a Way,” it was obvious that something vital in hip-hop will be lost with Tribe’s dissolution. Let’s hope that the individual members can debunk that old saw about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.