Eminem defiant after Bonnaroo criticism, keeps 'gunshot' sound effects at Firefly

Eminem is not sorry, Part 313.

After more than 20 years of shocking people (and generally ignoring the backlash), you didn't really think Eminem was going to back down due to a few negative Twitter criticisms, did you?

The 15-time Grammy Award winner retained the sound effects that he used earlier this month at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, which led to online protestation. He played the sound several times across his 75-minute set in Dover Saturday night.

But before he appeared on stage, his personal response to the criticism appeared on two screens on each side of the stage.

In white letters with a black background, a message read, "If you are easily frightened by loud noises or offended by explicit lyrics, you shouldn't be here. Eminem"

Dressed in a Beastie Boys t-shirt -- a nod to the New York hip hop act, whose co-founder Mike D performed a DJ set at Firefly the same day -- Eminem used the sound effect after his "Kill You," along with two other songs, including "Criminal."

Following the Eminem's Bonnaroo performance, his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg  responded to the criticism in an Instagram post that read, "Contrary to inaccurate reports, @Eminem does not use gunshot sound effects during his live show. The effect used by Eminem in his set at @bonnaroo was a pyrotechnic concussion which creates a loud boom. He has used this effect — as have hundreds other artists — in his live show for over 10 years, including previous US festival dates in 2018 without complaint."

Among fans upset at Bonnaroo was one fan who wrote on Twitter, "Less than a year after Vegas and @Eminem thinks it's a good idea to blast gun shot sfx onstage at a music festival?" 

Fifty-eight people were killed Oct. 1 a the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas by a man armed with a semi-automatic rifles and bump stocks.

Eminem's first-ever Delaware performance drew one of the biggest Firefly crowds in recent years with the rapper dropping the name of The First State several times throughout his set. (No mention of Grotto Pizza à la Foo Fighter Dave Grohl in 2014.)

During "Stan," which included singer Skylar Grey on stage substituting for Dido, Eminem dropped Delaware into the song: "Remember when we met in Delaware?/You said if I'd write you, you would write back/See, I'm just like you in a way: I never knew my father neither/He used to always cheat on my mom and beat her."

The song's original lyrics reference Denver.

On Saturday night, Rosenberg took to Instagram again to transmit Eminem's Firefly message to fans outside of The Woodlands:

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

EMINEM SETLIST

Medicine Man (Dr. Dre)
Won't Back Down
3 a.m
Square Dance
Kill You
White America
Rap God
Sing for the Moment
Like Toy Soldiers
Forever (Drake)
Just Don't Give a Fuck
Framed
Criminal
The Way I Am
Walk on Water
Stan
Love the Way You Lie
Berzerk
'Till I CollaTTpse
Cinderella Man
Fast Lane (Bad Meets Evil)
River
The Monster
Nowhere Fast
My Name Is
The Real Slim Shady
Without Me
Not Afraid
Lose Yourself

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