Snoop Dee Oh Double Gee has become as well known as a cultural icon as he is as a hip hop superstar, which is highlighted in the fact that the majority of his press coverage leading to this tour is about his visa rejection, rather than the longevity of his remarkable career. In terms of hip hop’s finest, the Doggfather is one of the most extraordinary artists of his generation, making the transition from street hood to music megastar. He’s got clothing lines, TV shows and numerous acting roles to prove it. With the notorious disposability of the genre, Snoop has been one of the game’s longest players, kicking out nine studio albums, his latest effort being Ego Trippin’.
When the lights went down and Carmina Burana blared out through the speakers, the crowd went ballistic and the big screens on either side of the stage lit up. In a similar start to the infamous Up In Smoke tour movie, the big screens had a montage of clips of classic films such as Brando in the Godfather and Pacino in Scarface, interspersed with clips of Snoop being a gangster and a pimp. It also borrowed some of the mini-movie footage he and Dre had produced for the Up In Smoke tour, and it went down a treat with the expectant fans as Snoop strolled on stage.
Dressed in a loosely fitting suit that looked like a whole heap of blue bandannas had been sewn together, with white wrap-around sunnies and his trademark braids, the Dogg also brandished a microphone fit for a king. It was bejeweled and reminiscent of one seen on reggae legend Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s, though the latter’s has been made from tin cans and bottle tops, not gold and diamonds. Launching straight into some ‘hands in the air’ hip hop, the modest to healthy crowd got involved immediately and Dogg Pounders’ Daz and Kurupt whipped things up even further.
Backed by a 4-piece live band it was unclear how much of their instrumentation was heard in the mix. The first real sing-along was a semi-cover of 50 Cent’s P.I.M.P, and it went down a treat. Then it was the first of numerous song dedications to the ladies in the house, with the vocoder being turned on to demonstrate Snoop’s ability to move with the times by adopting many of the innovations of dance and pop music, the synthesized keys and vocal manipulation keeping things interesting. When the opening bars of his Pharrel duet Beautiful started, Snoop invited a stage-load of women up with him to dance and get busy. A more cynical reviewer might have dismissed it as a cheap hip hop cliché, but the whole show was a hip hop cliché – if you went expecting anything else you were at the wrong dome!
Each and every girl on stage was having a fantastic time, and with all the negativity that has accompanied hip hop throughout its life it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves. I’m sure those lucky enough to get on stage would have been buzzing for days after. Following it up with his all-time classic collaboration with Dr Dre Nuthin’ But a G Thang, he had fun with some more older tracks including Down 4 My Niggas and his party anthem with Tupac, 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted. After some more ‘lurve 2 tha laydays’ the Dogg disappeared quickly off stage for a ‘Chronic break’, in which many of the patrons also indulged, happily flouting the Dome’s no smoking policy.
Bouncing back on stage to House of Pain’s Jump Around, Snoop had slipped on a Wildcats singlet with his name emblazoned across the back and was flying an Australian flag around the stage. Again, the cynic might have been critical of the move, but the crowd loved it and there’s no doubting every single person in attendance would have loved to get hold of that Wildcats wife-beater. Moving into Drop It Like It’s Hot, the crowd was moving and shaking and it became evidently clear how much Snoop was responsible in bringing hip hop into the mainstream with the amount of radio hits he put into play tonight.
Finishing off with a hard hitting version of Who I Am, Snoop was joined on stage by Bone Thugs and West Side Connection for a big group love in, but unfortunately there was no group track which many in the audience were hoping for. With ticket prices as significant as they were, one might have hoped for a posse collab and a set a little longer than an hour. Finishing with some well directed agro against his detractors and a personal take on the Hermes House Band classic with the crowd singing “nanana hey hey hey Snoop Dogg!”
I have read some fairly negative reviews on this show from some of the mainstream press. Sure Snoop may be getting on a little – as evidenced with the close up shots on the giant screen – but he is still one of the most relevant music artists of the last decade. The show was pretty much read straight from the ‘live hip hop showbook,’ but hey when you wrote the damn thing you’ve got every right to use all the tricks in the book. If he hadn’t had the fingers in the air, the chronic breaks, the ‘what the fuck is happening Perth’ or the Wildcats singlet, and instead took the show down a serious route I’m quite sure there could have been a riot.
That being said, the show did have its detractions, including the RIDICULOUSLY early start time of 6:30pm (finishing at 10:30pm!) It was still light outside when Bone Thugs started, which is why this review contains no mention of either Cube or Thugs – I devastatingly missed them! I’m not sure whether this was because it was an all ages gig, but for shizzle ma nizzle get it sorted. Besides the unfortunate circumstances, the show was a thoroughly enjoyable evening that most in attendance won’t forget anytime soon.
