Eminem and 50 Cent: morbid, mildly amusing

KA-BOOM!

Shots rang out Sunday night at White River, but they were just part of the sound effects for the "Anger Management 3 Tour" featuring the top two stars of rap, Eminem and 50 Cent, who both played long sets and got together for a couple of numbers.

The pistol shots were powerful enough to blow your hair back, as they were pumped through the tour's atomic-powered sound system. They popped frequently during 50's set but less so in Em's, because fewer of his raps were gangsta-themed.

Eminem showed a light side, doing some comic bits. He made fun of Michael Jackson, dangling baby dolls from a balcony of his three-story set, then dropping them to the stage or tossing them into the audience. He introduced "Puke" by pretending to get sick at the thought of having sex with Mariah Carey, sticking his head inside of a toilet and pretending to hurl. During his signature rap, "The Way I Am," two giant inflated hands appeared, middle fingers extended.

His set opened with video-screen scenes supposedly going on backstage — an upset Em writing a suicide note.

Review

Eminem and 50 Cent, Sunday night at White River Amphitheatre, Auburn

He arrived onstage in black suit and tie — like he wore in a photo of him inside a casket that ran in Rolling Stone — to deliver the sinister "Evil Deeds." Then, after a quick break, he returned in hip-hop wear — red-and-white basketball shorts, tank top and baseball cap — to do "Mosh," in which he rapped about what he saw in front of him, "a sea of people, some white and some black."

The near-capacity audience responded most loudly to "Kill You," a violent rap delivered in the guise of his "bad" character, Slim Shady. Duets with 50, "Patiently Waiting" and "Gatman and Robbin," also energized the fans. The set sagged when D12, his rap "posse," arrived. Their cliché-ridden raps were boring, except for the Em-centered "My Band."

Suicide-themed film clips were shown when Em left the stage. The final one was used to have the audience "save" him by calling him back for an encore — his most positive, life-affirming rap, "Lose Yourself."

50 flew onto the stage but the effect was ruined by sunshine — you could see the wires. He opened with "What Up Gangsta," as shots rang out. His raps about sex, including "Candy Shop" and "Magic Stick," were crowd faves, as were his dance songs, including "Disco Inferno," "Outta Control" and a shortened "In Da Club." During a couple of raps, a little kid, presumedly 50's son, Marquise, 8, danced, wearing a little bullet-proof vest. How cute.

50 donned a white suit and hat for "P.I.M.P." Afterward, he turned the stage over to his posse, G-Unit, whose major contribution was throwing water all over the mosh pit, and each other. He finale was a weak "Build You Up."

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com