Aaron Draper has been touring with top-tier stars for years, and he has stories to share about his time with Eminem. There is everything: sabotage, natural disasters, pranks, swooning fans and unparalleled Eminem’s professionalism.
In Revolt’s interview series “Tour Tales”, he talked about the most memorable events in his 20+ years-long touring career. It is the Eminem’s show Aaron remembers as an example of the most unexpected hindrance that musicians had to power through:
When we were doing the Grammys with Eminem [in 2011] — Me, Adam Blackstone, Joe West — we were doing “Love The Way You Lie.” In the middle of the performance, someone in the sound room, I think, sabotaged us and the sound went out for us for five seconds. Five seconds is an eternity during a live performance on the Grammys. If you watch the performance, I think you can hear Adam go, “Yo! We can’t hear.” One of the great things about coming up in the churches is before all of the in-ear monitors, you had to use your ears. So, we were still on beat.
Another one was when we were in Sao Paulo with Eminem [in 2016] and it decided to monsoon rain. We just did the show. We had plastic all around us, instruments were getting ruined, we were getting rained on. Eminem kept going, so we kept going.
Aaron commends Eminem’s professionalism and also how Em respects the artistry of his musicians, listen to their opinions and not playing a star card:
We’ve been playing with him since 2009, so we know what he wants. His attention to detail is great. He’s the only person I know that sounds just like his records even in rehearsals. Some rappers have to read their verses and all of that. I’ve never seen him with paper to read his verses; he knows them. We throw arrangements at him, he listens and nine times out of 10, he likes them. We might subtract something or move something. When I’m not there, Paul Rosenberg, who is one of my OGs and a great guy, says, “We wish you were here. We miss you.” That means you’re putting in your work.
The master of percussion compares Eminem’s touring team to a well-oiled machine but notes that there is always a chance for Eminem to fool around and make his musicians smile:
For Eminem, there are always funny moments. When we get to the end of a song, we all look down and this guy moons you every time. Then, he’d be like, “What?” He’s wild.
The fan’s reaction to Eminem is also wild. And while Marshall does not go into fights with his audience anymore, some of fans interactions shocked Aaron when he joined the band:
2009 was my first time seeing someone pass out. We were doing the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans with Eminem. I saw them carry someone over the gate and out of the festival. I was like, “Oh, this is like those old Michael Jackson concerts when someone passes out.” It shocked me (laughs).
Read the interview in full on Revolt’s website.
