An Onstage Party With the Wu-Tang Clan

Even the hard-core know how to have a good time. And that’s the side of the Wu-Tang Clan that appeared in the first of its two shows Tuesday at the House of Blues. For barely an hour, the sound was hard, the pace was fast.

But it was mostly just a party.

The concert marked a too-rare return of the Wu-Tang’s full lineup (though again minus the incarcerated Ol’ Dirty Bastard), and the eight MCs and their entourage entered to the noise of sirens, big beats and other effects. All performed with a casual intensity, but the musical richness of RZA’s album productions was mostly lost in the live setting, taking a backseat to the overlapping voices and the stories being told.

“We already in the hip-hop hall of fame,” boasted Raekwon, standing center-stage in a Montreal Expos cap. He added later, “When we make this music, it’s like a movie to us. We need you to listen.”

Ten years after erupting from Staten Island, Wu-Tang has managed to stay relevant even as other hip-hop veterans of their generation have been forgotten. The group’s fourth album, “Iron Flag,” maintains Wu’s bold musical intensity, with unlikely soul and pop samples buried deep in the mix.

Though RZA is not the group’s most distinctive vocalist, he quickly assumed control of Tuesday’s show whenever he stepped behind the mike. Together with Raekwon and the others, Wu dropped in references to ODB and other missing colleagues, as the group chanted quietly, “Tupac, Biggie, we want you to know, we really love you so.”

But the set quickly returned to a party atmosphere as Wu-Tang performed the boasting new single “Pinky Ring,” set against big, brassy samples. And after pulling up dozens of young women onto the stage, the group ended the show as it began: all about the good times.