Far-reaching funk sextet Lettuce spent Independence Day chopping it up with a pair of legendary emcees from the Wu-Tang Clan, the GZA and the RZA, at Denver, CO’s Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom.
The late-night blowout, which followed Wu-Tang’s performance at the nearby Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, was initially billed as a collaboration between Lettuce and the GZA, who mounted a tour together earlier this year. While the early-2025 co-headline tour featured separate nightly sets by Lettuce and GZA, who took his own live band on the road, the Cervantes ‘ show saw Lettuce—comprised of Adam Deitch (drums), Erick “Jesus” Coomes (bass), Nigel Hall (keys), Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff (guitar), and Ryan Zoidis (saxophone)—stick around to serve as GZA’s backing band after warming up the stage as a sextet.
No band commands the malleable space between funk and hip-hop quite like Lettuce. Even beyond its general stylistic tilt, the group has mounted various notable collaborations with hip-hop heavyweights through the years, from its set at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with GZA’s Wu-Tang Clan cohort Ghostface Killah in 2017 to a 2023 stint at New York’s Blue Note featuring early-days rap heavyweights Buckshot and Grand Puba and beyond. During their collaborative tour earlier this year, GZA joined in with Lettuce in Brooklyn for a take on timeless Wu-Tang tentpole “C.R.E.A.M.”
The Denver team-up came across like a natural progression of that growing connection—an organic fit for both sides of this once-unlikely union. As GZA himself told the crowd after walking on and diving straight into his Liquid Swords cut “Duel of the Iron Mics”, “We didn’t rehearse or practice this today, so I’m winging it. Y’all gon’ wing it with me, right?”
The lack of rehearsal did nothing to hinder the ensemble as they blasted through GZA’s 1999 track “Crash Your Crew”. After illustrating jungle with “Animal Planet”—the 2000s cut that not-so-coincidentally featured production by Fyre Dept, Adam Deitch and former Lettuce member Eric Krasno’s production duo—GZA pump-faked the “last joint” and asked if he could kick a verse “to let you know where I’m from,” then delivered his verse from “Destruction of a Guard” as spoken word poetry.
As Lettuce led into “Liquid Swords”, GZA appeared to get some news from a crew member—and a familiar voice arose from out of view: “Ayo, sometimes, you gotta take it back to the foundation,” RZA said as he materialized from the shadows. “Can I join you on this one?” GZA was down: “Yes, yes!”
With that, GZA and RZA led Lettuce and a rowdy Cervantes’ crowd through GZA’s signature tune. The lines between songs blurred from there. RZA and GZA would toss in a few bars from ODB’s “I Like It Raw” or Wu-Tang’s “Protect Ya Neck” over the “Liquid Swords” beat, then Lettuce would add a “Hey Joe”-like fill to keep things fresh, and so on—a thrilling mix of in-the-moment improvisation and clip-show reverence for the classics.
When the lyrical mashup hit “cash rules everything around me,” Lettuce picked up the thread and moved with purpose into the dreamy “C.R.E.A.M.” instrumental. RZA still wasn’t done after cruising through the track, opting to toss in an a cappella verse from “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ wit” for good measure.
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The free-wheeling hip-hop blowout had too much steam at this point to stop there. After coaxing the band into a “Family Affair” jam (which he dedicated to his wife), RZA slipped away to let Nigel Hall lead Lettuce through the Sly & The Family Stone classic and a closing take on James Brown’s “Make It Funky”.
Watch a full, pro-shot video of the late-night Lettucec x GZA x RZA collab in Denver below.
Lettuce w/ GZA & RZA (Wu-Tang Clan) – Full Set [Pro-Shot] – Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom – Denver, CO – 7/4/25
[Video: Shot by Jack Gould, Craig Babineau, Christian Ganem; Edited by Jack Gould; Mixed by Remy Szekely]
Next week, Lettuce will announce its latest studio album and prepare to embark on an international tour featuring dates in Europe, Australia, and Japan on top of a robust domestic touring schedule. Click below or head here for a full list of upcoming Lettuce tour dates. Find ticketing details here.
Wu-Tang Clan’s ongoing The Final Chamber farewell tour continues this month with stops at Boston, MA’s TD Garden, New York, NY’s Madison Square Garden, Philadelphia, PA’s Wells Fargo Center, and more. Find a list of upcoming Wu-Tang Clan tour dates and ticketing details here.