Pitchfork

All photos by William Kirk.

CMJ ended with a bang Saturday night, as Clipse flattened the Knitting Factory with a too-brief set of pure fire. From the opening "Virginia" through the closing "Mr. Me Too", Pusha T and Malice gave the overjoyed crowd everything we wanted...except previews of songs from their excruciatingly delayed forthcoming album Hell Hath No Fury. Other than the singles ("Mr. Me Too" and "Wamp Wamp"), I'm pretty sure Clipse didn't play anything from Hell, instead concentrating on "classic" material like "What Happened to That Boy?", "Cot Damn", "Pussy", and, of course, "Grindin'". As Pitchforker Jessica Suarez wondered, maybe they're so afraid of a leak they won't even let the songs touch the air outside of an extremely controlled environment? Clipse also didn't play "Zen", which was made doubly frustrating by the fact that the DJ spun it directly following their set. What a tease!

Not that any of that necessarily mattered when Pusha and Malice were on stage; we were happy to take whatever we could get. The pair, joined for part of the set by fellow Re-Up Gang members Ab-Liva and Sandman, maintained an intensely high level of energy and focus throughout their performance, feeding off of the crowd's enthusiasm. Pusha has one of the most expressive pairs of eyes in hip hop, lending his threats and boasts the gravitas to elevate them even above their recorded power.

Clipse [Knitting Factory; 1:00 a.m.]