Eminem has become the first rapper to perform a headline show at Wembley Stadium

"I see a lot of people who appear to be fucking wasted – how many people here are fucking wasted? And how many people are here are just fucked up mentally?" calls Eminem, introducing My Name Is, the anthem of every angry adolescent on the planet.

It's met with a feral roar from his army of fans, adorned in a uniform of Parental Advisory T-shirts, foam middle fingers or V For Vendetta masks.

You can see why this crowd of largely febrile young men welcome him back to the stage like an army of internet trolls blessed by the presence of their maker: Eminem is the first rapper to headline Wembley Stadium – and yet by his own admission, he's only here because Hyde Park deemed his lyrical content too offensive.

For music's perennial delinquent – now aged 41 – tonight is the first of two shows at the 90,000 capacity venue, and is the first time the Detroit artist has played the city since 2001 – a set that was then threatened by gay and women's rights protesters before the rapper sparked further controversy with the performance itself, as he took the stage replete with chainsaw, Friday the 13th hockey mask and, perhaps the most cardinal sin of all, wearing nothing but a pair of loosely fitting denim dungarees.
This time, however, the goal is to establish himself as one of music's most iconic artists, rather than shock the masses.

In those 13 years Eminem has encountered all manner of wrinkle inducing incidents – family lawsuits, overdoses and subsequent stints in rehabilitation and now sobriety – but he still cuts a striking figure. His arms are big but his face is thin and remains hidden by a black cap throughout the show, with his bleached blond hair barely visible.
He rattles through the first half of the set as if reacquainting himself with the stage, and it's not until he brings on surprise guest Dr Dre halfway through the show for Next Episode, Still Dre, G Thang and Forgot About Dre, that Eminem's ambitions become fully realised - even if Dre's voice is a much more almighty force than his apprentice's.

Despite his budget stretching to snag the richest rapper of all time, unfortunately there was no sign of Dido for Stan tonight, her part as an ill-fated pregnant girlfriend instead played by a glamorous backing vocalist in a leotard.

Some of Eminem's vision is executed brilliantly – after all, he's been making stadium rap albums since 2002. Tracks like Survival befit its location with its poodle perm guitars, and the Beastie Boys-indebted Berzerk sounds incredible live. Sing for the Moment and Toy Soldiers are huge crowd-pleasers, but then they were always built for arenas – to fill them, maybe, but not necessarily satisfy.

When it works, Eminem's music fills the space with a dark, rumbling magic – The Way I Am and his medley of My Name Is, Real Slim Shady and Without Me hits the balance of huge and yet intimately evil – but the flat points during the show come from a lack of menace, of spite, that same sinisterness that first gained him his loyal tribe, and made him so exciting.

• This article was amended on 12 July to correct a song title from Sing It to Sing for the Moment.