Bone Thugs-N-Harmony perform at Curran Theatre in San Francisco during Noise Pop Festival on March 1, 2024. Mariana García/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — After 30 years, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony still have it.

Their show at BroadwaySF’s Curran Theater to close out Noise Pop Festival was a crowd pleaser. The four Bone Thugs in attendance—Wish Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Layzie Bone and Krayzie Bone—sounded so good you’d think they were only at it for 15 years rather than 30. Especially impressive was Krayzie, who was hospitalized late last year but came back strong. (The group’s fifth member, Bizzy Bone, retired from touring in 2022.)

They came right out the gate with their first major hit, 1994’s “Thuggish Ruggish Bone,” before jumping all the way to 2013 for “Everything 100,” then back to 2000 with “Resurrection (Paper, Paper).” Not that anyone was expecting a chronological career retrospective, but that’s definitely not the way they decided to go.

An early highlight was “1st of tha Month,” not just because it’s a great song and a classic, but because the show fell on March 1. After Flesh-n-Bone did a song from his newly released solo EP, the group ran through collaborations with since-deceased artists: “Foe tha Love of $” with mentor Eazy-E, “Notorious Thugs” with Biggie from his magnum opus, Life After Death, and “Thug Luv” with Tupac Shakur.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony perform at Curran Theatre in San Francisco during Noise Pop Festival on March 1, 2024.

From there the group asked all the stage and house lights be turned off and everyone’s cell phone flashlights be turned on, and they performed “Tha Crossroads,” their tribute to Eazy-E after his death from AIDS in 1995. It was a great effect that suited the subject matter.

The only real problem with the show was that it could have used more Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. During the collaboration segment, for example, each song was accompanied by a cover—sometimes one, sometimes more— by that artist. “California Love” is never unwelcome, but Bone Thugs themselves have no shortage of songs to fill the set, and it was their name projected on the back wall of the stage.

Also taking up time that could have been spent further exploring their three decades of musical output was that significant chunks of the beginning and end of the show were performances by members of their labelmates, which included Rocky Rock, Baby Tre and their DJ, Pozition. Give the people what they came to see.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony perform at Curran Theatre in San Francisco during Noise Pop Festival on March 1, 2024.

Also, there was some confusion at the very end of the show. The concert didn’t end as much as it faded away. About an hour and a half into the set, people the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony entourage wandered offstage. After what seemed like the end of the show—a verse of Bob Marley’s “One Love”—the performance just kind of kept going.

Pozition performed his song “On Fire” and Layzie performed his solo effort “Let’s Eat” while other members of the group signed autographs from the stage. Then, with music still playing, the remaining artists left while most of the audience stood around, wondering what to do. Give us a signal that it’s officially over, guys.

Oakland’s Oke Junior opened the concert, and he was incredible. After DJ Ajani warmed up the room, Oke got off to a bit of a slow start, but by the time he got to “Breakthrough” he was on a roll and the crowd was completely bought in. “No Filter” and “No Love” killed, and “Life Like,” which features a sample from TLC’s “No Scrubs,” took it up another notch.

He mentioned that “We Ready” was featured on ESPN, and here’s hoping it helps raise his profile. The man has a ton of talent not just as a performer but as a songwriter, his lyrics and flow are a flashback to the golden age Bone Thugs was a part of, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

Follow publisher Daniel J. Willis at @bayareadata.press on BlueSky. Follow photographer Mariana García at Instagram.com/MarianaGPhoto.