Live Report : Eminem @ Capetown Stadium, Capetown (South Africa) - Feb 26 2014 (Rapture SA Part I)
15 years of wait.. 15 years of wait and this is it !!
Let's start with the beginning. Eminem and I, we always had a bad timing regarding his touring. I had tickets for his Anger Management Tour III (the european leg) in Paris back in 2005 but the tour has been cancelled due to his rehab episode. Before and after that ? I was working or going to the University so I wasn't able to drive 4 hours to Paris or take a plane to UK.
He stopped by to Paris last summer, but then again bad timing.. I was moving to an island in Indian Ocean few months prior his french concert. When I told you we had bad timing I wasn't joking at all.
Back in Nov '13 when his last album dropped, I was secretly hoping to be able to catch him on tour. New Zealand & Australia date were released but the flights timing was not possible at all. Then one morning, South Africa has been announced. I remembered this day pretty well. I was checking instragram and I saw it. I showed it to my hubby and he told me the most amazing words to wake up with : 'Choose your city, and we're going'.
That was it, I will see Eminem for the first time ever in 2014 !!
It's a crazy thing to jump on a plane for South Africa. This will be my first time in this country, first time for Em too, let alone his first time in Africa period. A week, two gigs... the tickets were very affordable so we choose to do both concerts : Captetown & Johannesburg. One from the mosh pit 'Golden circle' area the closest part to the stage, the second one from a seated part.
Ok I've two hours before my boarding time to my next flight to Jo'Burg so let's focus on the Capetown's gig to remind me this crazy night.
Capetown was crazy. First of, the venue Captetown Stadium is one of the best outdoor venue I had a gig on and believe me I had tons of gigs for the last 15 years. Funny enough, few days before the concert, on Feb 23rd Eminem's first album ''Slim Shady LP'' celebrated his 15 years anniversary... 15 years i was waiting.. 15 years seems like a magic number.
Right in the middle of the Golden Circle waiting line, I could feel the excitment of the crowd. Mixed audience, young around 13/14 years old, mid twenties, late thirty like us and even around 50 - 60 years old... yeah that's how large Eminem is stricking. I saw people with GoPro/Ipad and believe me some of them succeed to bring that inside. The security was really taken very seriously. The entrance gave me goosebumps. We were going inside through the parking entrance, the crowd was roaring like a bunch of warrior ready to conqueer. That was a very emotional moment.
4:00 pm, ok Eminem will hit the stage at 9:00 pm. Until then a DJ will spin, then a local band will jump on stage then Action Bronson before the Rap God.
During the DJ session it was funny to see the young crowd discovering HipHop masters like Public Enemy, Run DMC, Mos Def, NWA.. even Snoop. That when you're realizing the age difference between the whole audience. I will not comment on the local band because it was not my thing at ALL. But Action Bronson that's an another story. This former gourmet chef joined the game back in 2011. In 2012, Paul Rosenberg (Em's manager) became Bronson's manager and he get signed to Warner late in 2012. It's not an easy thing to be support act for Eminem and this New York native owned the stage, owned the crowd. He was pure crazyness, so full of energy. He jumped out of stage to cruise into the mosh pit performing one or two songs in the middle of the audience. If you're into Hiphop you should definitely check him out.
30 mn of wait before the main act, Eminem. A huge white sheet floats slowly in front the stage. The minutes are ticking away too slowly. 9:00 PM sharp, the light goes out and the first note of the intro can be heard. Em's shadow appears on the sheet and the whole stadium is on for 1h30 journey into Shady's world.
The sheet falls down on the first note of 'Survival', Mr Porter (Em's hype man) runs on stage followed closely by Mr Mathers in a cloud of smoke. The crowd goes crazy. He will go through 'Won't back down', '3 Am', 'Square dance', 'Business' and 'Kill You' before taking a small break to talk to the audience.
You can really see his pleasure to be there and how he enjoys himself and this crowd. Few tiny smiles appear on his face there and there. While Eminem is known for his frozen/stony face, tonight the whole stadium could see a glimpse of feeling accross his face. During this small first break, the whole crowd starts to sing and cheer ''MAR-SHALL...MAR-SHALL...MAR-SHALL''. Em just stares at the crowd with a small smile on his face a bit amazed that puts him out of his zone for a minute. He deadpans a joke and goes on with what he wanted to say.
'White America', 'Mosh' and 'Rap God' are next. 'RAP GOD' is maybe one of the song that most of the audience was waiting to see live. This famous 3rd verse with this crazy speed and those 101 words in 16 seconds. Em kicked my ass with this one on the album, but there.. he just succeeds to kill me.
Back to Marshall Mathers LP with 'I don't give a fuck', 'Criminal' and 'The Way Am I'. The crowd sing along the chorus and for some hardcore fellows with the whole rap verses. Time to bring us some 'BAD Meets EVIL' flow by calling on stage Royce Da 5''9. For those who don't know, 'BAD Meets EVIL' is a side project done by Em back in 2011with his partner in crime and friend Royce Da 5''9. Royce jumps on stage with his first bar of 'Fast Lane' full of energy & positives vibes. They bring the audience a bit further away with them. 'Lighters' starts and the whole stadium sing the chorus instead of Bruno Mars. A huge sea of lighters/cellphones appears around the venue. This would be the first FULL song performed tonight.
Eminem always pick up some songs to perform full during his shows and the rest of the setlist is made of song 1 verse/1 chorus or 2 verses/1 chorus version of the songs.
Back on the performance, a slight introduction with some women cheering contest for his hits from Recovery 'Love the Way you lie' the second full song of the night. The whole stadium step up for Rhianna's part. Without transition an another hit starts 'Stan'.. back to the past a 15 years back with this hit. 'Sing for the moment', 'Like a toy soldier' and 'Forever' his collab with Drake back in '09 close this part, this emotional part I should say.
Curt Chambers (Eminem's guitar player) starts the 'Berzerk' guitar into and here we go for the first single of this last album.
Em runs around the stage and does the 'Berzerk' face. I can really see his enjoyement growing more and more during this show as he's interacting a lot with the audience, smirking and even sometimes laughing quietly. Back to the past once again with ' 'Till I collapse' and 'Cinderella Man'. Em's dancing around the stage.
We 're on the last part of the setlist. 'The monster' starts and once again the whole stadium step up for Rhianna's part. This whole stadium singing like that give me goosebumps. At the end of the song, Em takes some time to speak with the crowd introducing the medley in approach. Back to his debut with 'My name is', 'The Real Slim Shady' and 'Without Me' are performed partially. Em's running around like his Shady personna back then. The crowd is craziest if it's even possible.
Mr Mathers praise the audience amazed by his first time in South Africa and how those almost 40 000 persons are receptive. 'Not Afraid' is introduced like the last song of the night. Every single words are singing by the pit. The light goes down, Marshall wave the audience and the band do a quick outro. Within 2/3 minutes, Em's back with a quick change of outfit for the real last song of the night 'Loose Yourself'.
The whole stadium stand up, the whole pit is jumping. Mr Porter introduce the whole band, Royce, himself and the man who needs no introduction.. Once again, for the last time of the night Em thanks the audience and leave the stage giving a peace sign follow by his trademark 'middle finger up' sign which the pit kindly give back at him. The band do the whole outro.. and that was it 1h30 are over. Seems like only 10 min have passed.
Basically he walked with the crowd through most of his singles. From Slim Shady LP to MMLP2, by going through The Marshall Mathers LP, Encore, The Eminem Show, Recovery, Relapse, Bad Meets Evil album, he didn't miss a hits. To be honnest I was a bit frustrated at first to not have more songs of his latest album here, but yeah this setlist is working pretty well.
Survival
Won't Back Down
3 a.m.
Square Dance
Business
Kill You
White America
Mosh
Rap God
Just Don't Give a Fuck
Criminal
The Way I Am
Fast Lane (Bad Meets Evil cover)
Lighters (Bad Meets Evil cover)
Love the Way You Lie
Stan
Sing for the Moment
Like Toy Soldiers
Forever
Berzerk
'Till I Collapse
Cinderella Man
The Monster
My Name Is / The Real Slim Shady / Without Me
Not Afraid
Encore:
Lose Yourself
Can't wait for the second leg of this Rapture tour in South Africa tomorrow. I would be able to say that I was a part of this crazy South Africa moment. My plane is boarding, Johannesburg is waiting for me.
Peace !
Let's start with the beginning. Eminem and I, we always had a bad timing regarding his touring. I had tickets for his Anger Management Tour III (the european leg) in Paris back in 2005 but the tour has been cancelled due to his rehab episode. Before and after that ? I was working or going to the University so I wasn't able to drive 4 hours to Paris or take a plane to UK.
He stopped by to Paris last summer, but then again bad timing.. I was moving to an island in Indian Ocean few months prior his french concert. When I told you we had bad timing I wasn't joking at all.
Back in Nov '13 when his last album dropped, I was secretly hoping to be able to catch him on tour. New Zealand & Australia date were released but the flights timing was not possible at all. Then one morning, South Africa has been announced. I remembered this day pretty well. I was checking instragram and I saw it. I showed it to my hubby and he told me the most amazing words to wake up with : 'Choose your city, and we're going'.
That was it, I will see Eminem for the first time ever in 2014 !!
It's a crazy thing to jump on a plane for South Africa. This will be my first time in this country, first time for Em too, let alone his first time in Africa period. A week, two gigs... the tickets were very affordable so we choose to do both concerts : Captetown & Johannesburg. One from the mosh pit 'Golden circle' area the closest part to the stage, the second one from a seated part.
Ok I've two hours before my boarding time to my next flight to Jo'Burg so let's focus on the Capetown's gig to remind me this crazy night.
Capetown was crazy. First of, the venue Captetown Stadium is one of the best outdoor venue I had a gig on and believe me I had tons of gigs for the last 15 years. Funny enough, few days before the concert, on Feb 23rd Eminem's first album ''Slim Shady LP'' celebrated his 15 years anniversary... 15 years i was waiting.. 15 years seems like a magic number.
Right in the middle of the Golden Circle waiting line, I could feel the excitment of the crowd. Mixed audience, young around 13/14 years old, mid twenties, late thirty like us and even around 50 - 60 years old... yeah that's how large Eminem is stricking. I saw people with GoPro/Ipad and believe me some of them succeed to bring that inside. The security was really taken very seriously. The entrance gave me goosebumps. We were going inside through the parking entrance, the crowd was roaring like a bunch of warrior ready to conqueer. That was a very emotional moment.
4:00 pm, ok Eminem will hit the stage at 9:00 pm. Until then a DJ will spin, then a local band will jump on stage then Action Bronson before the Rap God.
During the DJ session it was funny to see the young crowd discovering HipHop masters like Public Enemy, Run DMC, Mos Def, NWA.. even Snoop. That when you're realizing the age difference between the whole audience. I will not comment on the local band because it was not my thing at ALL. But Action Bronson that's an another story. This former gourmet chef joined the game back in 2011. In 2012, Paul Rosenberg (Em's manager) became Bronson's manager and he get signed to Warner late in 2012. It's not an easy thing to be support act for Eminem and this New York native owned the stage, owned the crowd. He was pure crazyness, so full of energy. He jumped out of stage to cruise into the mosh pit performing one or two songs in the middle of the audience. If you're into Hiphop you should definitely check him out.
30 mn of wait before the main act, Eminem. A huge white sheet floats slowly in front the stage. The minutes are ticking away too slowly. 9:00 PM sharp, the light goes out and the first note of the intro can be heard. Em's shadow appears on the sheet and the whole stadium is on for 1h30 journey into Shady's world.
The sheet falls down on the first note of 'Survival', Mr Porter (Em's hype man) runs on stage followed closely by Mr Mathers in a cloud of smoke. The crowd goes crazy. He will go through 'Won't back down', '3 Am', 'Square dance', 'Business' and 'Kill You' before taking a small break to talk to the audience.
You can really see his pleasure to be there and how he enjoys himself and this crowd. Few tiny smiles appear on his face there and there. While Eminem is known for his frozen/stony face, tonight the whole stadium could see a glimpse of feeling accross his face. During this small first break, the whole crowd starts to sing and cheer ''MAR-SHALL...MAR-SHALL...MAR-SHALL''. Em just stares at the crowd with a small smile on his face a bit amazed that puts him out of his zone for a minute. He deadpans a joke and goes on with what he wanted to say.
'White America', 'Mosh' and 'Rap God' are next. 'RAP GOD' is maybe one of the song that most of the audience was waiting to see live. This famous 3rd verse with this crazy speed and those 101 words in 16 seconds. Em kicked my ass with this one on the album, but there.. he just succeeds to kill me.
Back to Marshall Mathers LP with 'I don't give a fuck', 'Criminal' and 'The Way Am I'. The crowd sing along the chorus and for some hardcore fellows with the whole rap verses. Time to bring us some 'BAD Meets EVIL' flow by calling on stage Royce Da 5''9. For those who don't know, 'BAD Meets EVIL' is a side project done by Em back in 2011with his partner in crime and friend Royce Da 5''9. Royce jumps on stage with his first bar of 'Fast Lane' full of energy & positives vibes. They bring the audience a bit further away with them. 'Lighters' starts and the whole stadium sing the chorus instead of Bruno Mars. A huge sea of lighters/cellphones appears around the venue. This would be the first FULL song performed tonight.
Eminem always pick up some songs to perform full during his shows and the rest of the setlist is made of song 1 verse/1 chorus or 2 verses/1 chorus version of the songs.
Back on the performance, a slight introduction with some women cheering contest for his hits from Recovery 'Love the Way you lie' the second full song of the night. The whole stadium step up for Rhianna's part. Without transition an another hit starts 'Stan'.. back to the past a 15 years back with this hit. 'Sing for the moment', 'Like a toy soldier' and 'Forever' his collab with Drake back in '09 close this part, this emotional part I should say.
Curt Chambers (Eminem's guitar player) starts the 'Berzerk' guitar into and here we go for the first single of this last album.
Em runs around the stage and does the 'Berzerk' face. I can really see his enjoyement growing more and more during this show as he's interacting a lot with the audience, smirking and even sometimes laughing quietly. Back to the past once again with ' 'Till I collapse' and 'Cinderella Man'. Em's dancing around the stage.
We 're on the last part of the setlist. 'The monster' starts and once again the whole stadium step up for Rhianna's part. This whole stadium singing like that give me goosebumps. At the end of the song, Em takes some time to speak with the crowd introducing the medley in approach. Back to his debut with 'My name is', 'The Real Slim Shady' and 'Without Me' are performed partially. Em's running around like his Shady personna back then. The crowd is craziest if it's even possible.
Mr Mathers praise the audience amazed by his first time in South Africa and how those almost 40 000 persons are receptive. 'Not Afraid' is introduced like the last song of the night. Every single words are singing by the pit. The light goes down, Marshall wave the audience and the band do a quick outro. Within 2/3 minutes, Em's back with a quick change of outfit for the real last song of the night 'Loose Yourself'.
The whole stadium stand up, the whole pit is jumping. Mr Porter introduce the whole band, Royce, himself and the man who needs no introduction.. Once again, for the last time of the night Em thanks the audience and leave the stage giving a peace sign follow by his trademark 'middle finger up' sign which the pit kindly give back at him. The band do the whole outro.. and that was it 1h30 are over. Seems like only 10 min have passed.
Basically he walked with the crowd through most of his singles. From Slim Shady LP to MMLP2, by going through The Marshall Mathers LP, Encore, The Eminem Show, Recovery, Relapse, Bad Meets Evil album, he didn't miss a hits. To be honnest I was a bit frustrated at first to not have more songs of his latest album here, but yeah this setlist is working pretty well.
Survival
Won't Back Down
3 a.m.
Square Dance
Business
Kill You
White America
Mosh
Rap God
Just Don't Give a Fuck
Criminal
The Way I Am
Fast Lane (Bad Meets Evil cover)
Lighters (Bad Meets Evil cover)
Love the Way You Lie
Stan
Sing for the Moment
Like Toy Soldiers
Forever
Berzerk
'Till I Collapse
Cinderella Man
The Monster
My Name Is / The Real Slim Shady / Without Me
Not Afraid
Encore:
Lose Yourself
Can't wait for the second leg of this Rapture tour in South Africa tomorrow. I would be able to say that I was a part of this crazy South Africa moment. My plane is boarding, Johannesburg is waiting for me.
Peace !