{"id":21836,"date":"2013-08-08T06:18:54","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T10:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=21836"},"modified":"2017-08-02T20:16:29","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T00:16:29","slug":"musical-interlude-eminem-at-g-shock-30th-anniversary-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/musical-interlude-eminem-at-g-shock-30th-anniversary-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Musical Interlude: Eminem at G-Shock 30th Anniversary Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

MrB keeps asking me, “Who’s your hero?” So far, he’s refrained from answering his own question by indicating himself with both thumbs and saying, “This guy!”<\/a><\/p>\n

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That shows how nice he is because he is entitled to do the thumb thing after getting us tickets to attend watch-company G-Shock’s 30th anniversary party in New York City last night– the “Shock the World” event featuring a performance by Eminem that I got to see from the front row.<\/p>\n

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This photo taken before the concert shows where I was standing.<\/p><\/div>\n

Opening for Eminem was my best friend, the rapper Yelawolf<\/a>. Yelawolf and I haven’t ever exchanged a single word, but I feel like he’s my best friend because I fought my way through a nor’easter to see him perform in Brooklyn last November<\/a>. I am normally too lazy to go to any location (besides easy-to-get-to Barclays Center) in Brooklyn on even the most pleasant days. However, I battled snow, wind and a broken-down subway system to see Yela. It seems like the kind of thing I’d only do for a very dear friend. Ergo, Yela and I must be BFFs.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, despite my excellent vantage point at the G-Shock event, I didn’t get good photos of BFF<\/a> Yelawolf. Something about his stage lighting didn’t agree with either my iPhone camera or my regular camera. This is unfortunate because Yela was killing it from a fashion perspective. (He put on a great show as well; MrB was full of praise for him afterwards.) He’s got a new ‘do that’s kind of shaved but mullet-y. It’s a little bit People of Walmart<\/a> and a little bit old-school punk … it’s country-punk! I like it. I also appreciated his “Gangster rap made me do it” t-shirt; American flag sunglasses; sneakers emblazoned with his Slumerican<\/a> record label name; and belt stamped with the words “Holy Bible” (in other words, a true Bible Belt<\/a>). I’m still looking through photos but I think this is the best I got of him.<\/p>\n

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I could have used a sip of his beer right then. It was hot where I was standing.<\/p><\/div>\n

The next time he and I hang out on a stormy evening in Brooklyn, I’ll ask him to pose for a better photo.<\/p>\n

I had more luck photographing Eminem. A lot of people were hoping Eminem would introduce new music from the album that’s supposed to be coming out this year<\/a>, but he stuck to his classics. New work would have been thrilling, but I was fine with the set that was performed, though it would have been nice if the vocals were more audible. So many of the shows I go to lately seem to have the vocals drowned out by the music … or I maybe I can’t hear the voices because I’m going deaf from listening to loud music on headphones, just like my parents said I would. (They warned me I would ruin my eyes by reading in the dark too. So far, I can still see.) Anyway, Em started off with “Won’t Back Down<\/a>,” the same as he did when I saw him at Lollapalooza in 2011<\/a>.<\/p>\n