Twitching and declaiming center stage, a mass of tics and spits, emphatically hitting the rhymes, and the raps, Eminem was every bit the hugely successful rapper, recovering junkie proselytizer waking up clear eyed every morning, brave new day declaimer you thought (worried) he might. A humorless haranguer.
Yeah, humorless, on a giant stage with huge screens and special effects up the ying, Eminem doesn’t appear to be Eminem any more. It’s like being a homosexual being lectured to by a Born Again Christian: it’s all tense, hard, smackdown rap. “Won’t Back Down” and “3 AM” and the third number, “Square Dance” -not merely one of the funniest anti-war songs but also one of the best, is slipped up with a single chorus.
And so it goes through an excellent sound mix but a nervous, overwhelmed Eminem obsessed with making his point. Eminem’s flow is brilliant, his voice mature, his control complete but he isn’t much fun. The previous times I saw he, he came across as lazy but a blast. Funning everything. Irrelevance is much more important to rock than sobriety. That’s why I’ve been sneering at T Bone Burnett and friends. They are such serious schmucks. And so, apparently, is Eminem.
Eminem’s best set ever was only a declamation of so much we loved about the guy: his bad manners were his calling, his funny voices, his over the top serial killer, all of he is settled into greatest segues where he emotes his heart out to his verse from “Airplane”. “Airplane”??? Couldn’t you give B.o.B. his biggest hit?
Half way thru the set, D12 join him. The audience, who have adored him so far, loudly and completely, calm themselves a little for a mini tribute to The Proof. And then 50 Cent comes on stage. I saw G Unit at Summer Jam years ago and they were so bad the audience on the floor threw their chairs at them. Fitty, in a fluorescent tee shirt, acted like a man with something to prove. And prove it he did, with three classics including “Beamer, Benz Or Bentley” with Lloyd Banks.
But the set doesn’t take off till the legendary Dr. Dre comes on stage and the set snaps into focus. Two classics with Dre, then a righteous “Crack The Bottle” and then Eminem is home free to the encore.
But it has been a long wait.
Obviously, Eminem had a lot to prove Monday night. And he proved it, Recovery is a smash and he is a very powerful live rapper.
But as the elder statesmen of rock are learning, and as Eminem should keep in mind: he is a funny cool wiseass. We love that about him. We want it back.