Friday, 9 December 2011

The People in Line at the Eminem Concert.


In the middle of the Eminem concert the other night, the camera caught some blonde riding her boyfriends shoulders and lifting her top up. Eminem's eyebrows shot up. I was jealous of that chick .. her freedom and fun. But mostly, her boobs. They were magnificent - brown nipples, even.

Some chicks get all the luck.


Seeing him live in concert was unreal. Even though the sound was shit .. it was a pleasure just to be breathing the same air as him for awhile. His opener was Won't Back Down. Which set the tone for the whole concert, and I suspect will set the tone for him for quite a few years yet.

"I feel like I'm morphin, into something that's so incredible that I'm dwarfin, all competitors."


Before he came onstage, we read the screens about how he entered rehab in 2005 and then spent the next almost five years as a recluse, not touring.

Finally, after all these years, he's admitted he's a drug addict. OD'd in late 2006 and spent Christmas in hospital then spent the next few years in a depressive slump. Completely fucked up, wishing he was dead, and questioning everything.

He spoke of this, between his songs. His current album is called Recovery - the one before it was Relapse. Rappers are literal, yo.

"Cause sometimes you just feel tired,
Feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse."


Fascinating to see the change. Instead of an angry peroxided guy in a hockey mask, there was this incredibly mature, talented performer. He twitched his hand, like a freaky genius does. I don't think he has much experience in performing straight, yet. He was shy.

"Ok. I'm guessing all of you out there, you people who come to an Eminem concert ... you're pretty fucked up."

The whole crowd goes nuts. He said that he always used to be fucked up too, but this time he's gonna remember the Australian shows because he's completely sober.

"Ok, let's take a lil trip down memory lane."

Launches into My Name Is, Real Slim Shady, Kill You. He sang snippets of each, the most awesomely fucked-up medley in town. I smelt beer and pot. The whole entire crowd was indeed, entirely fucked up.

As he introduced Not Afraid, he dedicated it to anybody still struggling. Watching him perform this song live after I'd done this with it back in March .. was kind of magic.

I've been thinking about him all week .. aside from being incredibly sad that he's not in Australia anymore. He's in the process of huge metamorphosis. The most interesting and talented people transcend themselves, again and again. He'll be back, for sure. Probably doing something completely unexpected, like touring with a symphony orchestra or something. Now that he's clean .. brilliantly clean, he's going to harness up all of his energy in a completely different way. His entire career so far has been while he's on drugs. Imagine what he's actually capable of!

When he talked to me during the concert, Eminem kept calling me "Sydney." That guy is so romantic! My friend Mrs Woog got a whole heap of people on board and they had #edenandeminem trending on twitter. It was magnificent, because here I am standing there, a straighty-one-eighty feeling all different kinds of emotions in this sea of fucked-up people ... and my friends in the computer made me and Marshall be together. On twitter, at least.

(Eminem has 7.6 million followers on twitter. And he follows NOBODY. Goddamn that beautiful arrogance.)

The people were a mixed bag. Young, old, try-hard, jaded, drunk. It's such a spectacle, to  see a big stadium show like that. We're all the little people, there to see this big star. When I stood to exchange my T-shirt because I am never as skinny as what I actually think I am, I looked around at my homies in the merch line. And realised ... we're all just as important as the star we're there to see. We all have a piece of Slim inside. We see in him what's in us. This is why great artists resonate with so many people .. we relate to their truth, their words and their pain.

One of the best parts was right at the end, during the encore chant. I filmed as Em came back on stage and when the strains of Lose Yourself were recognised, 30,000+ people all ejaculated together.



My usually shy, newly ten-year old son fist-pumped the air. Even punctuated it with a few WHOOAAA's. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. The music, the moment .. you better never let it go. My heart swelled out it's familiar decade-long swell.


 Some chicks get all the luck.



.

34 comments:

  1. Made me tear up

    again.

    Some sons get all the luck too.

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  2. when I need (bigger) balls, i put on my shit-kicker blunnies and listen to shady.

    music is my new drug.

    (aussie boots rock--the ARE the best)

    cheers /G

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  3. Love it. Love you.

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  4. I used to have a car whch had Easy Peasy Kids logo on both sides and would wonder why I got strange looks as I sat in the car with Eminen blaring out and me rapping along in my own way. The logos went and Eminem won. So pumped you had a fab night. x

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  5. I've just spent the week seeing Cold Chisel twice and Foo Fighters once. Being in a massive crowd of people, adoring, connecting and singing with the stars is a transcendent experience. I'm so glad you got to go and see Mr E. And to share it with your son is ace. I'm taking my will-be-then 6 year old daughter to her first concert next year to see Michael Franti.
    Rock on!

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  6. Love this Eden, so thrilled that you had a great night.

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  7. Love it when you go to those gigs that you take a bit of it away with you and buzz off for the next foreseeable. Not a Marshall fan myself, DP is, but I can transfer the feeling.
    Sounds an amazing show

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  8. that video is all kinds of awesome!Looks like a fab night! I have to say I love Eminem, especially his latest album.

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  9. Max is a lucky boy that is an AWESOME first live gig to see.

    I am not afraid is my favourite Eminem song

    We'll walk this road together,through the storm
    Whatever weather, cold or warm Just lettin you know that, you're not alone Holla if you feel like you've been down the same road

    Too true

    x

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  10. Eden, music is my guidance, my philosophy, my bible. There are some songs that are 'F*** You World' kind of songs that I connect with and there are some that are down right depressing.

    I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with those songs. It's like these song lyrics were lifted straight from the thoughts in my head, they speak to me so well.

    But really, are these the songs you want to connect with? The ones where you feel so friggin bad you don't want to get out of bed in the morning. Are these the songs you want speaking to you?

    Having said all that, I have a friend who is an actress and because her life was so nice and she has no grievances she finds it hard to play those tortured roles.

    Maybe there is a purpose to all this pain.

    Love & stuff
    Mrs M

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  11. I am so glad you had a great time! I knew you would.
    I've watched Eminem's recovery over the past few months/years with excitement. He does indeed have amazing potential. Did you see the Anderson Cooper interview he did on 60 Minutes? What an amazing guy. He speaks to AND FOR the fucked up people. Which is probably all of us, really!

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  12. Brilliant. I teared up a bit when the screaming started on the video, not even knowing you but knowing how goddamn amazing that must have been for you.

    Brilliant.

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  13. I have goosebumps. I would have died. died. then cried and died again. love that feeling xx

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  14. So happy for you Eden. What an experience and how gutsy are you to grab the ball with one hand and book yourself some tickets for the show! No trying to justify why you wanting to go.
    That feeling in your chest when the concert starts and there is your idol is as Gilly aka Silly Gilly, a Transcendent Experience...
    So.... on to the next amazing experience... Take care and I loved your blog on helping that pregnant mother and son. Keep strong. xo

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  15. Oh ... just WOW. What an incredible experience for you - and your son!! What a change in the man himself.

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  16. I want perky boobs worth flashing and a boyfriend that will let me sit on his sholders at a concert. *pout*

    Eden, I so desperately want to catch up with you for coffee or something and just pick your brain forever.
    I love your blog but hate it at the same time. I hate that there is a part of you that gets me, yet we both have very different demons. Or maybe not?
    But I just have a million questions for you, and so much heart for you.

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  17. 1. I love you.

    2. You in that hoodie reminds me of when Boo told me he was going to pop a cap in my arse the other day cause I asked him to brush his teeth. Fair enough.

    3. I love you.

    4. 'Eminem has 7.6 million followers on twitter. And he follows NOBODY. Goddamn that beautiful arrogance.' I don't see it as arrogance I see it as he is treating everyone equally. The fucked up crack whore with internet access, the rich movie star, the president, the 40 year old woman sitting in her loungeroom listening to one of his songs posted on her friends blog. THAT is a true star.

    Oh and did I tell you I love you? Sometimes I forget.
    x

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  18. sounds incredible! Love the bit about your son fist pumping!

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  19. Sounds like y'all had an incredible time...and I think it's incredibly cool that you were part of a trending twitter topic.

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  20. Wait...I'm supposed to have BROWN nipples?

    Well....fuck!

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  21. Why does this make me cry?

    Because you understand how much bigger eminem is than only a rapper?

    Why you see through the arbitrary words of profanity?

    Or because your little boy will remember you 500 years after you're gone?

    xo

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  22. Really?

    Brown nipples are coveted?

    *blowsacrossfingernails*

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  23. I'll be honest. I've never been a fan. Ever. Quite the reverse. But reading this, it makes me step back and rethink. I'm still not a fan of his music (it's not him. It's the genre).

    I can respect him, am now intrigued by his story and want to know more.

    I'm so glad you and the boy had a good time.

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  24. I'm kind of surprised at the brown nipples, E. I always wished mine were a little pinker! Who knew?

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  25. Why am I sitting here crying??!!

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  26. Loving, loving these comments. And remembered heaps more I had to say about the night ... but I will say this -

    I've always coveted brown nipples. You're telling me that it's ok to have pink?

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  27. lols, 30,000 ejaculating at once,,,,what a mess,,,good times!!

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  28. So glad you and Max were able to have such an incredible, memorable night together. He'll never, ever forget his first concert. Pretty sure neither will you!

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  29. This post was so many levels of awesome. Just loved it.

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  30. I listed to Recovery all morning on our way to my son's wrestling match (great music to get pumped to) and I had so many thoughts, thoughts about where I was back in the day when Em burst onto the scene...he and I were in eerily the same place. And how far we've both come. You're right about true artists reaching a place within each of us.

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Write to be understood, speak to be heard. - Lawrence Powell

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