Eminem at Jones Beach

Just got in ten minutes ago after an 11:10 PM concert finish. Sat 70 minutes on the Cross Bronx Expressway from exit 3C to the bridge. Need sleep.

First, impressions of Jones Beach in general (I'd never been there before): it's scummy. Take Seaside Heights, subtract the boardwalk, add some wetlands, and you have Jones Beach. The amphiteater is a nice venue, though, with great sightlines and very clean sound.

Bionic Jive opened the evening with a mercifully short 15-minute set. The crowd didn't like them, and they didn't seem to like the crowd, walking offstage screaming "Fuck Dat!" Thank God it ended quickly.

Xzibit was up next, and his final song (X) was the first song I knew of the evening. Polished performance. I've downloaded a few of his songs already, and it looks like I'm in the market for a couple of his records now.

Ludacris followed. Though I enjoyed Xzibit's music more, Ludacris put on the better show. The set featured the two biggest bobblehead dolls I have ever seen. Screaming along to Ho was one of the evening's highlights.

The X-ecutioners played immediately before and after Papa Roach, mostly turntabling exhibition. Pretty amazing to see in person.

Papa Roach = Limp Bizkit. Very loud. 'Nuff said.

Eminem's set began with a video montage of various politicians bad-mouthing rap in general, and Eminem in particular, on C-SPAN, MSNBC, CNN, and others. Prominently featured were Joe Lieberman and Lynne Cheney. Never before have I (or likely anyone else in the crowd) gotten so fired up by C-SPAN footage.

The set contained all the expected songs, beginning with Square Dance, Business, and White America. D-12 was prominently featured throughout the set, and Jay-Z made a special guest appearance.

I was dissapointed, at the outset, of Eminem's seeming inability to finish a song: he'd begin, sing a few verses, then he'd just launch into a new one. By the end of the show, I was thankful. There wasn't a whole lot of time for the performance, and by truncating some songs, more were able to be fit into the set. Two songs that were seen through to completion, however, were Without Me (set closer) and My Dad's Gone Crazy (encore).

All in all, an awesome concert. Nothing like any other concert I've ever seen, and without a doubt worth checking out. Would I see Eminem again? I can't say. It'll be nice to be able to say, at the very least, that I saw him play live once.