Wu Tang Clan at Co-Op Live Arena, 19.03.2026

There are some gigs I’d totally assumed I’d never get to shoot. Legendary artists that have retired, passed on, broken up.

Or artists that are at a certain level of fame that I, as a freelancer, likely won’t be granted the access to photograph.

Wu Tang Clan – innovators, geniuses, legends – were in that list. Still, couldn’t hurt to apply, right?

So a pass was granted the day before and excitement levels rose. Parking in some terrifying industrial estate to avoid the hellish Co-Op parking charges, as I walked up to the arena there were already hundreds of fans walking up.

The sheer range of Wu merchandise – of which I have definitely partaken and supported prior to this – was awesome.

There’s no doubting that this is, genuinely, a legendary act. And here they were, about to put on their final ever European show.

Of course as a photographer it’s never that simple, and at the Co-Op especially so. I’ve only shot here once before – Pulp, last summer – but the routine was the same then. Go through the metal detectors, wait in the loading dock until you’re called up. Thankfully there’s a bunch of other people waiting the hour or so before the show too.

The lighting is difficult in there too – to light such a big stage requires a lot of power, which can lead to the photos looking quite flat. There’s also a giant LED screen at the back of the stage, casting a lot of banding across the camera sensors.

I’d decided before hand to lean in to my black and white style for this show – and while editing I realised I had some fantastic individual portraits of each band member which would form a beautiful series, if I do say so myself.

Wu Tang Clan at Co-Op Live Arena, 19.03.2026

So an unprecedented 7 songs later we were turfed out – and it was a genuinely good performance to go with the spectacle itself. Wu Tang Clan’s final European show, done, and another huge tick off the bucket list.