Eminem was a No-Brainer
At the risk of dating myself and also revealing how out of touch I am, I didn’t realize that (1) Eminem was eligible for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and/or that (2) he was inducted a long time ago. Congratulations! Also, I’m old. Anyway, his performance at said induction is worth watching. Where am I going with this?
You can probably guess by now based on my missives about Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer that I have a soft spot for punk rock. That’s true, and so back when I was in high school I was a regular attendee at the now defunct Vans (since acquired by VF Corp.) Warped Tour. In the 1999 edition of the now defunct Vans (since acquired by VF Corp.) Warped Tour, Eminem was a performer. He had just released “My Name is,” but wasn’t yet a big name and certainly wasn’t yet a big name among folks who listened to punk rock over hip hop.
Who knows why he was there?
Anyhow, we had a friend named Rita who was hip to both hip hop and punk rock and who also was older and so therefore had a driver’s license in New York and could take us to the now defunct Vans (since acquired by VF Corp.) Warped Tour on Randall’s Island. She did so in her Honda and on the way said, “Hey, there’s this rapper Eminem we should go watch. He’s really good.”
We had no idea who Eminem was, but since we were there because of Rita and since Eminem’s set was in the middle of the day and since there really wasn’t any other band we wanted to watch during that time slot, we figured we’d indulge her and so got to the stage early obtaining front row spots since there was literally no one else there to watch Eminem. Eminem. It’s incredible in hindsight.
Anyhow, Eminem came on stage, launched into “My Name is,” and inflated a giant mummy with a syringe sticking out of it. I/we/everyone was/were/was blown away and within minutes, due to the energy and quality of the performance, every person at the now defunct Vans (since acquired by VF Corp.) Warped Tour on Randall’s Island that day was at that stage. Literally, it was a mob scene. And this, hands down, because of the unexpectedness and serendipity of it, was and is my favorite concert ever attended. The guy won thousands of people over on the merits.
This doesn’t happen every day! And it doesn’t happen for two reasons. First, most of us aren’t open to new and unexpected experiences. Second, most new and unexpected experiences don’t win on the merits. But the opportunity to stand front row at a Hall of Fame performance is not one that comes around often. So be open to new experiences and trust snap judgments. No-brainers are no-brainers for a reason…and we all (the world?) should traffic in more of them.
-Tim