Two songs into De La Soul's set at the Athens, Ga., 40 Watt Club, Trugoy the Dove stopped the show to taunt the crowd. Looking out at the motley assortment of high school curfew-violators, ball-capped frat boys and pierced alternakids, the stocky rapper asked the night's most philosophical question.

"What the fuck do ya'll know about hip-hop?" he bellowed into the microphone. During the course of the group's two hour performance, though, the crowd more than rose to the challenge, chanting along to nearly every tune De La played while bobbing their heads knowingly to their intricate rhythms.

It could have gone badly, though. After suffering through the stultifying funk rock professionalism of opening act David Ryan Harris, the audience had to endure an hour-long wait inside the over-heated club. But DJ Mase saved a few lives this night, providing a souped-up soundtrack of mostly old-school hip-hop and working the crowd like a seasoned vet. Various members of the De La entourage helped out too, frequently emerging from backstage to share what were probably clove cigarettes with the kids in the front row.

Not surprisingly, by the time Posdnuos and Trugoy bounded onto the stage, the audience was spring-loaded, tightly wound and ready for the call-and-response ritual that's been a hallmark of the group's shows since its D.A.I.S.Y. Age.

De La Soul offered a generous helping of tunes from all their albums, but the crowd saved its biggest reaction for older songs. After name-checking half of "Three Feet High and Rising," the group launched into an explosive version of "Potholes in My Lawn." "Say No Go" and "Eye Know" followed quickly, their respective Hall & Oates and Steely Dan samples still a revelation. The group closed the book on its D.A.I.S.Y. Age with "Me, Myself and I," De La Soul's appropriately introspective version of every rapper's delight: the rockin' intro.

Early in the set, Posdnuos and Trugoy divided the audience down the middle, each rapper taking turns antagonizing the other's crowd while singing the praises of his own. But it was all good, clean fun. "This is friendly competition," offered Plug Two. "We just want to whip your ass in a nice way."

They did exactly that.