Marshall Mathers a.k.a. Slim Shady, a.k.a. Marshall Mathers released a concert DVD of his Anger Management Tour. I don't know how relevant this is, but I found it in the discount rack of Newbury Comics for only $3.99. Have Marhsall's brand of angry hate filled lyrics fallen to a new low?

Despite the anger, I have been entertained by the wry humor that lies beneath. Truth be told, I like Eminem. Anyway, for $3.99, I picked it up, I have four of his CDs. This concert DVD captures the Detroit concert of the Anger Managment Tour.

The Eminem Show

The stage looks like an old fashioned amusement park with bright garish lights around a video screen, a full sized ferris wheel, and a carnival like stage. Eminem comes on stage wearing bright yellow and starts singing Square Dance Absent from the stage are any kind of musicians. A DJ instead sits on one section of the stage as Eminem and some of his fellow rappers including the members of D-12 and Obie Trice hit the stage to sing.

Set List

Square Dance, Business, White America, Kill You, When the Music Stops, Pimp Like Me, Fight Music, Purple Pills, Stan, The Way I am, Soldier, Cleaning Out My Closet, Forget About Dre, Drips, Superman, Drug Ballad, Just Don't Give a ****m Sing for the Moment, Without Me, and My Dads Gone Crazy are the songs performed at this concert.

Concert Performance

Eminem didn't sound as good live as I had expected him to. For example on Stan a song that I really like by Mathers, a video of Dido's Thank you appears on a large screen and Eminem raps to it, but his heart doesn't seem to be in it. Yes, he remembers all the lyrics but his voice seems a bit out of it, and it lacks that anger and compassion that mark Mather's style present on his CDs.

Even on Cleaning Out My Closet a song filled with anger towards his mother for his sad childhood and her treatment of him, Mathers seems to sing it as if he is going through the motions rather than with the heartfelt anger he has on the CD.

Several times in the concert, Mathers doesn't even sing, he has one of the other rappers or the audience sing the lyrics.

Some circus elements are placed in the show which are rather fun, he has an Emcee, a Jester, and a couple magic tricks here and there. Near the end of the show, Eminems nemesis electronica artist Moby floats around stage and is shot down in effigy. In fact after Eminem has Moby shot down, he does give a great performance of Without Me As he sings two trailer park girls go round the outside, round the outside two rather large ladies come out and dance beside him.

Audio Quality The audio here is pretty good. You have a choice of Dolby Stereo or Dolby Digital Surround. Surround effects are mostly audience clapping and cheering and ambient sound effects. Low bass, a must for rap, is well recorded, this will wake your neighbors.

Video Quality I was disappointed in the video. Although this concert movie was shot in 1.85:1 (16:9), it is presented in Letterbox! Of course when you enlarge the picture to fill a widescreen television, you get a drop in quality. I wish the show had been done in anamorphic widescreen.

Backstage In a segment called On the Road Marshall takes us behind the scenes of the Anger Management tour.

Rating It's Eminem!, You should be aware that he sings songs that warrant a Parental Advisory Explicit Content label on this DVD. He swears and sings songs with content inappropriate for younger listeners.

Summary Although the sound on this DVD is good, a video of Eminem singing his songs don't add much to just listening to them. Aside from the elaborate stage, nothing much happens on stage except Eminem and his friends singing. Not only that, many of my favorite songs are absent from this concert, it focuses mostly on Mather's latest CDs like The Eminem Show which I didn't think were as good. Finally, I don't think Eminem should be in Anger Management, I like him best when he is angry! On this tour he seemed almost tired as he sang many songs, and I didn't hear the same anger and urgency as the studio albums.

Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age