Eminem Review: Slim Shady blows Wellington with only New Zealand

REVIEW: The doors open at 5 pm, ahead of Eminem's unique New Zealand concert, legend of American rap, and it's all played out.

The best of Detroit will not appear until four o'clock, but this overwhelming Wellington crowd is not afraid of waiting. In fact, the atmosphere never goes below "feverish and exalted" all night long.

Every successive act of this awesome hip-hop ticket – Boogie, Australia's excellent Australian label Hilltop Hoods signed by Shady Records of Eminem at Shady Records – is greeted with nothing less than rapture and pleasure. Appropriate, it is good Rapture Tour of Eminem.

The feeling that the 46,474 Kiwis gathered at the stadium tonight are going to witness something special is tangible, it drifts over the arena amid the usual fog of weeds and vape smoke.

READ MORE:
* 10 Eminem hits rap that God will bring out in Wellington
* Eminem is almost in the house: 45,000 fans, the largest event in the capital, line-up fans
* Record number of people will invade Wellington for Eminem concert at Westpac stadium
* Eminem arrives in Wellington for the concert of Rapture 2019
* How Eminem should get lost in Wellington
* Eminem rap superstar ready to spout words in Wellington for the first time
* Hundreds of Eminem fans who bought tickets could be turned down at the Wellington concert

But it is when the sun sets behind the hills of the west that the anticipation turns into boiling.

"It's not just every day," says Royse da 5 "9, the biggest fan of Eminem and Shady Records Stable, who delivers a breathtaking set a few hours before the best of Detroit enters the scene. "It's historic, it's not every day you have an artist who can fill a love stage like this, so have fun."

Damned all right. We are here for "the greatest rapper of all time" and that's what we get.

After a video intro featuring an Eminem the size of King Kong who tramples and snatches police helicopters, The Real Slim Shady embarks on the Greatest assault. That boils down to Wont's Back Down and an ode to a 3AM serial killer, even before we gasp to start screaming.

Kill You is next, ending with a literal bang, and we are only five minutes after the start of the series.

The White America political affair follows and the 40-foot screens are so strong that flank the immense thrill of the scene with every beat; the ideal showcase for its virgin machine gun flow.

That's exactly what this large crowd wants to hear, and the roar rises when the nearby Tinakori Nimbys grab their pearls.

What better way to honor the Prince of Pissing Rap Off Rich Folks than this?

The singer Skylar Gray has the unenviable task of singing the roles of Beyoncé, Rihanna and Dido in each of Eminem's collaborations with these singers. Give this woman a big medal. Who wants to replace Beyoncé?

She actually improves Dido for Stan, however, so that's it.

In one way or another, Eminem makes Stan hear that he had to play 9000 times at this point, a sound as fresh as the first time I've heard. Letting go of "Wellington" in the flow towards the end is a nice tip of the hat that has foamy foam.

The sound becomes a bit blurry and for a moment it is difficult to understand what someone is saying on stage.

But all this has already been done when Royce da 5 "9" and Boogie join Mathers on stage for Fast Lane and Rainy Days.

It's clear as a bell when Skylar Gray is recalled to the scene by the "drummer" of Mathers, Mr. Porter. She is accompanied by 20-foot flaming bullets and graphics of a building on fire for Monster, Mathers' collaboration with Rihanna.

My Name Is and Slim Shady are too brief, but it's for the better when Mathers directs what looks like the whole crowd in a fearless song that has 90,000 hands in the air.

It's the last song of the night … which means the reminder will be the biggest anthem to self-confidence written over the last 20 years (forgive the hyperbole, it's in the airs tonight).

Losing oneself is a very good way to say goodbye, the ideal high to leave an already stratospheric crowd.