Eminem Lollapalooza – Music Unlimited Stage Chicago, IL August 6, 2011

By the time 8:30 p.m. rolled around it was wall-to-wall at the Music Unlimited stage. Those that had stayed to watch Cee Lo Green perform had, for the most part, stayed where they were to grab good seats for Eminem. Attempting to move through the sea of people was problematic and tended to cause aggression and frustration from those around you.

Starting with a bang as Mathers burst on stage along with his current partner Royce Da 5'9”and dived right into their hit “Won’t Back Down” a fast paced and crazy song that set the tone for the rest of the evening.

The man has talent, he managed to move the audience more in two hours with a couple of microphones than Lady Gaga did last year with her entire, over the top stage show. It doesn’t take much to make good music.

That being said Eminem’s set played it a little safe. Playing mostly favorites he never seemed to push the envelope. He gave the audience what they wanted and nothing more. Though hearing songs like “Stan,” “Without Me,” and “other classics from his catalogue live was still one of the biggest rushes of the night. Many of us grew up on the songs of Eminem on some level his music has more of an impact than The Cars or even the more recent Cage the Elephant. I am a fan of both bands but neither can move me like a good Eminem song.

The night was not without its surprises. For the song “Lighters” he brought Bruno Mars on to the stage. Mars had collaborated with Mathers on the song in the studio but did not have to be there Saturday night, the fact that he was showed that the show meant a lot to everyone involved, even if it wasn’t groundbreaking.

Before diving into some of his old school tracks, Mathers made a comment about how he wanted to take a drink with the whole audience. He grabbed a huge bottle of vodka and started to drink it, within seconds his jacket started leaking in all directions. Mathers explained that while it used to be fun, he couldn’t get messed up anymore. It was a strange addition to the show that seemed both out of place and unnecessary. It came across almost preachy to prove his sobriety to the point of one wanting to question it even more.

One also got the impression that, despite his extensive and admirable lyrical ability, he doesn’t have the largest vocabulary. It became a running joke to count how many times he said the word Chicago throughout the night. Whenever there was a pause, or he couldn’t think of the correct thing to say, he would just blurt out the word Chicago. To be fair, that seems to be a safe place that many musicians fall on.

All that aside, Eminem still put on an awesome show that put the rest of the acts that day to shame. In the battle between My Morning Jacket and Eminem, it is without argument that Eminem will win every single time.

Write Comment
Name:	Guest
Title:
Comment:
Code:*

Powered by AkoComment 2.0!