Concert Sutra: Down & Dirty With Snoop Dogg

by terri sapp

Photographs by terri sapp

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved

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July 26, 2008 turned out to be the most perfect time for my man Noel to come with me to his first 311 show!  Besides the fact that 311 is a killer live band, there are two words to describe what set this night apart from any of the other many 311 shows I have witnessed…SNOOP DOGG!!!  What a perfect lineup!  Snoop Dogg and 311.  Some might not think them a likely match for playing a show together, but Snoop Dogg brought his A game to the Lakewood Amphitheatre in the A town as well as the best live band I have seen support a Hip Hop artist in all of my adult life!!  Over the years, I have made it my goal to see as many concerts as possible of all genres.  At some hip hop shows (including previous Snoop Dogg performances I have attended), you just get the artist, the supplementary rappers, and a DJ.  The very special nights are when you get the Hip Hop played truly live by real life musicians!  It makes all the difference in the world.  Even a music snob like Noel had to give it up for Snoop Dogg’s band!  THEY ROCKED IT OUT!!!  I can only give you two more words…Carlos McSwain, the drummer with the chops to match the greatest drummers in the world!

To get the party started Snoop played a recording of the theme song from his TV series, Father Hood.  The stage is set with a big oversized marijuana leaf, a tricked out low rider bicycle, a huge cut out of the back of a woman’s body, an enormous bottle of Cognac, and a giant bong.  To top it all off, there were security type of guys on each side of the stage dressed to the nines just standing around and holding it down.  Continue reading →