Eminem at London Docklands Arena (Eminem)

Member Name: evertonfc75

Product:	Eminem
Date:	07/01/03 (241 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: eminem, media gesture, free tickets

Disadvantages: travelling there and back, it finishing, going home

After reading the Main Event Ticket Guide (http://www.ticketsecrets.tk), I was able to get free concert tickets to any show I wanted. What better way of getting them to the sold-out show in the docklands to see american bad boy Eminem.

?Slim Shady does not give a f*ck?. Except of course he does - he was ?sick?n?tired of motherf*ckers talkin shit? about him. He was mightily pissed that the press were giving him a hard time - we were invited by Tim Westwood of Radio 1, who compered the gig, to roar ?Fuck You? to the media up in the glass VIP booths that circle the cavernous hall, booing the Sun, the Daily Mail, and, surreally, Trevor McDonald - a one- fingered salute from the plebs to the establishment. I bet they were real scared.

A 12,500 strong crowd gave Eminem a rapturous send off on the last night of his European tour. 99% white, 75% male, and most under 25. Hard faces, street attitude, crotch-grobbing suburban high street misfits with mobile phones and mini-CD players; pale skin, cruddy haircuts and cold eyes, seeking permission from a popstar to say rude words.

A hip-hop crew from London wrapped themselves up in the Union Jack at the end of their piss-poor warm-up, and made way for Eminem?s main man, Dr Dre and XZIBIT, who were the real shit but couldn?t connect to this crowd. Too, erm, black?

Eventually, the diminutive Marshall Mathers came on after a childish mock Blair Witch Project video intro, and blasted off with a steaming ?Real Slim Shady?, right into a raucous ?Kill You?. Then he said hi - and checked out what noise the crowd were making - boo? ?I thought they were booing me last night? he confessed shyly - and so got the crowd to boo him. ?Hm?, he mused, pleased, ?I?m gonna to take that shit back wit? me?. But it?s a bad idea - getting a crowd to ?boo?, they run out of breath, and then there?s a weird silence - and Marshall don?t cope well with silence, it confuses him. Fill the silence, that?s the gi
g. So we all roared along with ?so you can suck my dick, if you don?t like my shit? (?Under the influence?) and it had all the ironic phallic thrust of Demi Moore in GI Jane. Boys playing at being men, knowing it?s a game, but talkin? the talk anyway. The surprise is, there aren?t more like him, not that he?s angry and telling it like it is on the streets with a fucked-up mom and no dad trying to bring up a kid and not being able to afford diapers. He?s a messenger, not a leader - don?t kill the fucking messenger.

To hugs, Dido came on and performed a sublime ?Stan? with him - perfect pop. ?I?m sorry my mother?s a bitch. I?m going to drink myself to death? he says - and he doesn?t fucking mean it.

?My name is Marshall Mathers? had a peculiarly touching sequence of early home videos of him in the bath looking impossibly vulnerable and pretty - its curious lilting melody, saying he?s just ?a regular guy? - this is a record of what it?s like be young, male, and the object of lust from other men - eww - get the fuck out of here.

Then a stinging ?Criminal?: My mother did drugs - tar, liquor, cigarettes, and speed/The baby came out - disfigured, ligaments indeed/It was a seed who would grow up just as crazy as she/Don't dare make fun of that baby cause that baby was me. Respect, Marshall, respect, you won?t get dissed by me.

The gig lost steam when he played his ten minute cartoon, and a queeny lisping lech became the object of his mockery, a campy Cruella de Ville. Homophobic? Nah, boring. The next few tracks couldn?t recover the momentum, and it wasn?t until he performed his scripted ecstasy-taking routine (duh, anyone who thinks that was real needs their head looking at) that the crowd came to life again, with ?The Way I am?, a brilliant analysis of the effects of fame. One encore, ?The Real Slim Shady? and then the corrupted youth of London were herded out like silent sheep. This guy?s a threat? Nah, t
hese kids don?t know the meaning of dangerous shit, they never saw punk.

He?s a gifted wordsmith, a tuneful popster, a clown, and the crowd got what they came for. Most enthusiastic were a little posse of queens from Belfast next to me, street hustlers with pinched ravaged faces and tight denim jeans and fuck-off attitude dancing around a crate of beer and screaming when Dr Dre asked the ?ladies out there? to ?make some noise?. They?d come over just for the gig. They knew where he came from.

And where he?s going? It?s been confirmed that young Marshall will be performing at the Grammy?s on Feb 21st with a special guest star, possibly singing Dido?s part in ?Stan? - Elton John. Pop pap is where he?s going, sadly. But he?s a lot of fun now.

Questions: evertonfc75@hotmail.com

Thanks to Johnny T!

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