Fans of Method Man and Redman’s acclaimed platinum 1999 debut, Blackout!, had to wait 10 years for the follow-up. Tonight, though, the fellow east-coast rap stars make up for lost time. Redman explains that their shows involve “110% effort, every time”. This provides the cue for a blistering hour-and-a-half hip-hop marathon that ends with him diving into the packed crowd and Method standing fully upright on the audience’s hands.

Method is, of course, part of seminal hip-hop crew the Wu-Tang Clan, and both starred in stoner movie How High, but they really should rap together more often. Each rapper’s wordplay complements the other perfectly, and they have the charisma of a great double act. Redman is master of ceremonies, leading every call and response. Method, meanwhile, has the crowd roaring when he flips off his cap, balances it on a hand and flips it back on to his head in one simple, sublime movement.

It’s old school – what they call “pure” hip-hop, “before the shiny suits and cars” – with turntables and microphones, but delivered at such ear-popping pace that Method is soaked in sweat after a few songs. A stellar setlist rampages through their own classics, including How High and Da Rockwilder to late Wu rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Shimmy Shimmy Ya, and several unscripted Wu songs, performed after the curfew to repay the euphoric crowd reaction. There’s a moving moment when Method calls for respect for hip-hop’s fallen – naming each artist individually. Redman brings the house down when he dedicates the show to “all the real rappers, who are tired of the bullshit played on the radio”. Then he reveals that they’re working on a third album. If they can take this form into the studio, the results should be storming.

• At Academy, Oxford, 13 December. Box office: 0844 477 2000. Then touring until 21 December.