Re:Eminem's Absence Doesn't Go Unnoticed At D12 Concert
Eminem's absence doesn't go unnoticed at D12 concert
By Kelly Wilson, Tribune
July 5, 3004
The Valley music scene was buzzing with rumors that Eminem would make an appearance at D12's concert at the Marquee Theatre Sunday. So when Marshall Mathers was absent from the Detroit posse, some concertgoers felt cheated.
"Tickets were $35," said James Shelpy, 21, of Tempe. "If they’re going to charge that much for a ticket, you would think Eminem would show up.
The band hasn’t proved they’re successful without him yet so $35 is outrageous for just them."
Twenty-two-year-old Paul Repp of Phoenix said he came to the show for
the sole purpose of seeing Eminem.
"I’m disappointed that he’s not here," he said. "They definitely got the party bumping with the people that were here, but they’re not as great as they think they are."
Although the infamous rapper – who recently performed with D12 in Las Vegas – wasn’t on hand for the Marquee performance, the band tried hard
to represent without him and dubbed his voice in during several tracks he sings on. But despite D12’s solid hour-long performance to a fair-sized audience, Em’s absence was hard to ignore. In fact, the Detroit crew, which is comprised of Bizarre, Proof, Kuniva, Kon Artis and Swift, often had to encourage the crowd to throw their hands in the air and get loose. And when they performed "My Band" – which had crowd favorite Bizarre stripping off his fuzzy pink jacket and T-shirt to display a rather large belly – the guys frequently inserted
‘(expletive) Marshall’ chants into the song, which the audience seemed
puzzled by.
Their performance included a number of tracks from "D12 World," their
sophomore Interscope Records release, such as "Just Like U," "U R the
One," "40 OZ" and "How Come," the group’s encore in which they thanked
the crowd for making the song No. 1 on MTV’s "TRL." They also covered
some material from their debut album "Devil’s World," such as "Revelation" and "Purple Pills," the single that helped put them on the music map. The boys brought along a DJ, who mixed in bursts of gunfire, ala 50 Cent, in between songs.
"I dug their performance," Carrie Wright, 22, of Mesa, said. "They’re good performers, but I can’t help feeling bummed that Eminem wasn’t with them. I don’t think there is one person in here that came to see D12 without Eminem."