Punchestown racecourse in Co Kildare was the destination of thousands of Eminem fans yesterday. The controversial rap singer performed to a crowd of 50,000 and tonight's second concert promises plenty of excitement, being the final European performance of the Anger Management Tour
Despite the pre-show bluster and hype on every radio show phone-in, it was Eminem the rapper, not public enemy no. 1, who turned up at a field in Co Kildare last night.
If you wanted the Marshall Mathers who has caused a storm of controversy in the United States, you only had the video footage which opened the show to rely on.
Quotes from various political notables, including US Vice-President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne, testified to what the moral majority thought of Eminem.
They called him profane, degenerate, shocking, immoral, and designed to wreck the moral fibre of the nation.
For the 50,000 in the audience for the first of two Irish shows, he is simply the biggest hip-hop star in the world.
As for profanity, you'd probably hear more at centre court at Wimbledon.
The only people who could possibly be disappointed with this show were the ticket touts. They were forced to sell tickets with a face value of €52.50 for €40 thanks to the promoters' policy of putting extra tickets on sale on the day of the show.
Earlier over 10,000 concert-goers left Dublin city centre on 150 shuttle bus trips laid on by Dublin Bus for the occasion.
Expecting a good show were Sean Ennis (15) and Jamie Grant (16) from Belfast.
"He's big in Belfast. He talks about life. I'd say Stan will be the song that'll get the biggest response," said Jamie.
Hoping to get close to the bejewelled boy were sisters Anne-Marie McGrath (31) and Margaret Moore (21) from Cork.
Eminem stunned concert-goers in England last week by giving a diamond necklace worth an estimated $450,000 to a girl standing at the front of the audience. "We're hoping for something like that to pay off the mortgage!" said Ms Moore.
Ticket prices began at €52.50 but fans were more bothered by the Dublin Bus return ticket of €17 and the €5 pints.