It might have been a Monday night but there was plenty of hustle and bustle around the Adelaide Entertainment precinct in anticipation of New York rapper Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent. It was interesting walking in to see a larger than normal police presence keeping an eye on proceedings before and after the show. That aside, as far as shows go this was huge and to to summarise in one word “impressive”. Whether you are a casual observer or a hard core fan it is really difficult to fault this show as it had everything you would expect from a stadium spectacular. It was a near capacity crowd for “The Final Lap Tour” and the Entertainment Centre was buzzing. Both the front and back general admission sections were absolutely packed and even upstairs looked full as well.
50 Cent has had quite the career racking up more than thirty million album sales, collecting many awards such as Grammy and turning his hand to other pursuits such as acting and other business ventures. Hard to believe that this tour also coincides with the twentieth anniversary of Get Rich or Die Tryin‘ which was one of the fastest selling albums of all time.
As soon as the lights dropped it was a heroes like reception for 50 Cent and if you can’t be pumped up by that sort energy nothing will. A transparent cube was moved out on to the stage by crew which was followed by a release of smoke as a silhouette was revealed. As 50 Cent emerged it was fever pitched as he ripped through I’m On Some Shit.
It was a powerful performance packed full of bravado and swagger albeit it 50 Cent style. There was no mincing words, pointless banter letting the music do all the taking. You could see the intensity of the performance and how much he was invested in it judging by the sweat teaming off his body. The energy of the show kept building with this dynamic show with state of the 3D screens with awesome art backdrops pyros and light show to light up each song really did heighten the concert experience. The set list to was well put together as one song seamlessly rolled in to the next. It didn’t matter what the songs were the crowd knew them all.
To say this was just a rap concert is underselling the experience. The were plenty of big moments in the spectacular by way of 21 Questions, In da Club, Wanksta, P.I.M.P, Just a Lil Bit and Candy Shop. If this is the farewell tour what a way to go out! No detail or expense was spared putting this production together. Jeremih on Down On Me was impressive. An incredible part of the show was I’m the Man which sees 50 Cent trapped in this laser beam prism then showering the crowd in ticket tape/ confetti before rolling in to In da Club. The dancers! Wow! All I’ll say is hot! How hot? Damn hot! Kicking up a notch the show finished on I’ll Whip ya Head Boy making for one hell of a concert experience. Like I said, if this is the farewell, what a way to go out.
Live Review By Rob Lyon