The short but sweet Eminem tour was one of the most anticipated concert events this year, but sound issues at both Sydney shows have left a sour taste in many mouths and some ticket holders are even demanding refunds.
The issue was first raised at Eminem’s first Sydney show where the sound level was so low those fans left in the outer seating area were struggling to hear the rapper or his backing track. However it appears no changes to the sound setup were made and fans were faced with similar issues at Eminem’s second Sydney show. His show in Melbourne appears to have had no sound issues.
Given that his shows were stadium shows one can expect a fair amount of sound problems, but the issues were so severe that at one point a large percentage of the crowd even started chanting ‘turn in up’. According to those in attendance the chant was so loud that even Eminem could hear it but mistook the audience for saying ‘take it off’ to which he lifted up his shirt.
Promoter Paul Dainty has thus far not made an official comment on issue but that hasn’t stopped hundreds of disappointed fans from flocking to his Facebook page to express their outrage.
“The sound quality was shocking at the SFS Eminem concert 2/12. Industry WORST practice. Tickets should be refunded as it is unethical to charge for a concert that people are unable to hear.” said one disgruntled fan. “Seriously, the whole sound thing was so bad I nearly walked out. But how bad was Stan. The whole stadium went silent trying to hear, but nothing. NOTHING. Are you joking?” said another.
Some ticket holders are even threatening to contact Consumer Affairs over the issue if Dainty fails to address the problem adequately.
“sound at eminem was crap. couldnt hear anything. WTF paid good money for tickets. REFUND please. I will be contacting the ombudsman.” said another punter on the Facebook wall. “When eminem tried to communicate with his fans we were left with mouths agape attempting to read his lips… ridiculous! Compensation should be issued to all who attended on 02.12.11 so this never happens again.” wrote another.
Love Eminem?
Get the latest Eminem news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Some have even accused Dainty Group of delibrately ripping them off. “Let me know when our refunds will be issued for those who couldn’t hear a thing on friday night. $600 to hear muffled shit just wasn’t good enough……” said one. “Dainty group you are a bunch of rip offs . You should be ashamed of yourselves” said another.
But not everyone left the concert disappointed. One man wrote “I was at the Sydney eminem show on Friday and i could hear perfectly. Best night ever.”
You can see some fan shot footage of the concert below, if you skip to 1.50 you can hear the crowd chanting ‘turn it up’.
