Hip-hop festival is all about Wu-Tang Clan

Rock the Bells, an eight-hour hip-hop festival at San Bernardino’s National Orange Show on Saturday, promised the first live appearance in a decade by all 10 members of hard-core rap group Wu-Tang Clan.

Arguably one of the most influential rap acts of all time, the New York crew has branched out in many directions, from solo albums to film scoring (RZA) to an acting career (Method Man) to brushes with the law (Ol’ Dirty Bastard). The last Wu-Tang album, “Iron Flag,” was released in 2001.

Given the Wu-Tang Clan’s reputation for chaos, there were serious doubts that all the members would show up.

Still, a capacity crowd of 8,000 fans packed the sweltering pavilion in hopes that the Wu would raise the mighty “W.”

And despite a day of music that included a high-energy set from Dilated Peoples, a ripping 50-minute performance from Redman and the usual assortment of vendors, secondary stages and outside diversions that mark the festival scene, the fans made it clear what they were there for, chanting “Wu-Tang” within seconds after Redman’s set.

Scheduled to go on at 10:20, Wu-Tang Clan finally took the stage nearly an hour late, and despite its lack of rehearsal time, the ensemble was surprisingly organized.

Feeding off the energy of the ravenous crowd, the group came out firing, delivering the signature Wu-Tang sound -- sinister beats wrought with an underlying tension and haunting piano riffs

All 10 MCs shared vocal duties on signature tracks such as “It’s Yourz,” and one of the highlights of the set, “Triumph.” RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface, Cappadona, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and U God have all honed their talents outside of the Wu-Tang family, and the group used that to its advantage Saturday, putting aside any ego issues to let everyone lead at various points during the 80-minute set while drawing on the members’ solo material for a richly diverse set that went from the Wu hits to house music beats, an occasional party vibe, a compelling a cappella rap from Cappadona, and even a bit of doo-wop.

As the group finished, RZA asked, “How many people would love to hear a new Wu-Tang album?” The deafening roar made the answer pretty clear.