Having had Snoop Dogg present for almost the entirety of my pop-culture awareness, I was stoked to go to his show and see what Tha Doggfather had to offer in terms of a live show. The bass from Mash Hall’s opening set was audible from blocks away. When I made it past the rigorous search for weapons at the door, I hit the wall of weed smoke one would be disappointed not to find at a Snoop Dogg show.
The crowd was the most diverse I have ever seen at a Seattle show. There was no age level, race, or social group that was not represented in this Snoop Dogg crowd. Mash Hall was halfway through their set when I got in, and though they were giving it their all, the crowd was just not having it. Everyone was standing still, there were boos and big thumbs downs—the audience seemed more interested in Ludacris’ “Move B*tch” (the first track played between sets) than they were in anything Mash Hall had to say. This is surprising, since a lot of the things Mash Hall has to say … are about weed. What does a Snoop Dogg crowd love more than weed?
For second act Step Cousins, a local hip-hop super-duo feat. Xperience and Macklemore, it was an entirely different story. Xperience hit the stage first, accompanied by DJ/producer Ryan Lewis. Lewis was spinning some mad beats with some mad bass, and I had to bust out my earplugs for the first time in months. Lewis and Xperience got the crowd pumped before bringing out Macklemore, arguably one of Seattle’s favorite MC’s. Macklemore gets away with doing pretty much whatever the hell he wants: getting the crowd to repeat ridiculous noises, making a Snoop Dogg audience go crazy for a dark track warning about overdosing on drugs, performing a ballad for Irish folk, and even donning a wig, a fur coat, and bringing out back up dancers for his crazy closing track, “And We Danced” … though I’m not so sure the crowd got the joke on that last one.
Finally, after an hour long set change, most of which contained chants for “SNOOOPP DOOOGGGGGG,” a video popped up on the screen. The crowd roared with excitement, and from what I could see, the video mashed up clips of Snoop and weed, gunfights, pimp cups and 70’s era pimps, among other things.
Snoop finally came out in all of his ‘blazing’ glory (with a heavily blinged out microphone, of course), he launched straight into“Next Episode.” The crowd was singing along, and by his second song, clouds of weed smoke were so thick I could have cut them with a knife. Snoop Dogg played a lot of classics at this show, including “Gin & Juice,” “P.I.M.P.,” “Jump Around,” and crowd favorite “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” Snoop Dogg even busted out a little Marvin Gaye, singing “Sexual Healing” before launching into his own “Sensual Seduction.”
Snoop was digging the love from the crowd, and repeatedly thanked his fans for all of their support over the years. He finished his hour long set with “What’s My Name,” leaving the crowd begging for more. There was no encore, and the mostly inebriated crowd poured out of the venue, buzzing about the show. Though some parts of Snoop Dogg’s set felt a little forced and lackluster, I had a pretty great time overall. There’s nothing quite like spending your Saturday night with a hip-hop legend.
Since no video was allowed at this particular show, I bring you Snoop Dogg’s most recent TV appearance–a performance of new track “I Wanna Rock” and 90’s classic “Insane in the Brain” with special guests Cypress Hill.
So now that the feasting is over, it’s time to get back on the dance floor and work off all those calories. SSG would like to bring your attention to the following festivities!
Earlier this week, Nikki Benson caught up with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to talk about tonight’s EP release party and working together.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are having an album release party on November 27th, and they are doing it in grand style. They are performing an all ages show, doors at 5:30 pm, and a 21+ show, doors at 10pm. The early show will feature Hella Dope, The Next Door Neighbors, Kung Foo Grip, DJ Sabzi, and will be hosted by Grynch, “the King of Ballard.” The late show will feature The Physics, Symmetry, Xperience, The Next Door Neighbors, DJ Terry Radjaw, and will be hosted by El Mizell, Seattle’s resident S**t talker.
Please enjoy the interview below with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis where they talk about the flavor of their new EP VS., and about the experience they had making it. After you’ve enjoyed that, please enjoy the extra special video of the second half of “Otherside” performed A Cappella, recorded and produced by Ryan Lewis.
Perhaps hip-hop isn’t your thing. If that’s the case, here is Nick Larzalere’s preview for The Lonely Forest; Seattle’s next big break out indie band.
For the past year, The Lonely Forest has been crushing it in the local indie scene. The Lonely Forest is likely going to be the next big alt band out of the area. Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, has been a huge advocate for the band, name dropping them on CNN and apparently at the premiere for the movie New Moon, and will even be producing the band’s next album.
With the release of their second album, We Sing the Body Electric, in April of this year, The Lonely Forest has been gaining the attention they deserve. Bumbershoot seems to have been the tipping point for national attention. At Bumbershoot, the EMP Sky Church was filled to capacity. People were lined up in the rain, waiting for their chance to hear the Anacortes band. “We Sing in Time” is probably the most memorable song off their new album, with its slow build into something that everyone can rock out to.
Be ready to rock out on Black Friday at Showbox at the Market, because this is The Lonely Forest’s first time headlining, and they are playing with another Chris Walla produced and local band, Telekinesis. Both bands are great, but The Lonely Forest is a must see, just to brag to your out-of-state friends that you saw them before they sold out.
In a climate of Independent hip-hop where subject matter is often kept to the flagrant, ostentatious, and vulgar, it is refreshing to have another Seattle spokesman who is using his candid life experiences to make a difference in others lives. Have you heard the groundbreaking song “Otherside“ off of the VS. EP from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis? Download “Otherside”, and if you want give it a listen while you read, please do.
In this song “Otherside,” Macklemore gets in deep about social drug use. Many people do it for fun without considering the long-term effects, or worse, the possible short-term effect—death. Macklemore takes a second person look at someone who didn’t think he had a problem with drugs. His girlfriend ended up finding him dead due to a mistaken overdose. Sobering thoughts followed by the words “We live on the cusp of death thinking that it won’t be us.”
Macklemore sang this song live for the first time at Bumbershoot 2009 in front of thousands of people. As he started the song, he held his head high and announced, “I celebrating one year of sobriety.” Whether the individual members of the audience were winning the same fight, still making the choice if they wanted to fight, or just respectfully looking on, everyone was touched, moved, and inspired. Macklemore might not ever know how many people’s lives, and the lives of their families, he’s effected by having the courage to use his own failures and triumphs as a beacon of hope so that others can do the same.
Ryan Lewis is not to be overlooked as the producer and other half of Macklemore’s most recent project. Ryan Lewis is the visionary when it comes to the music behind Macklemore’s words. Lewis is decisive about what direction they are going to go in, and he creates an immaculate product for Macklemore to rap to. If it weren’t for Lewis’ dedication to perfect production, Macklemore might be just another rapper with a GarageBand demo and an immense amount of potential.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are having an album release party on November 27th, and they are doing it in grand style. They are performing an all ages show, doors at 5:30 pm, and a 21+ show, doors at 10pm. The early show will feature Hella Dope, The Next Door Neighbors, Kung Foo Grip, DJ Sabzi, and will be hosted by Grynch, “the King of Ballard.” The late show will feature The Physics, Symmetry, Xperience, The Next Door Neighbors, DJ Terry Radjaw, and will be hosted by El Mizell, Seattle’s resident S**t talker.
Please enjoy the interview below with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis where they talk about the flavor of their new EP VS., and about the experience they had making it. After you’ve enjoyed that, please enjoy the extra special video of the second half of “Otherside” performed A Cappella, recorded and produced by Ryan Lewis.
From time to time, SSG will venture from standard concert speak. There are other avenues of the arts that speak to the SSG writers on a regular basis; when those voices are too loud to be silenced, the overflow spills onto the written page. This concert variance is to honor a local producer, Ryan Lewis. Not only does Lewis work with the beloved Macklemore, but he is also an independent producer, photographer, and short-filmmaker. He recently produced a piece entitled Fake Empire.
As soon as I saw Fake Empire, I had all sorts of questions. This piece has brash, yet understated denunciations aimed at social networking set to the tune of people singing “We’re half awake, in a fake empire.” If my natural reaction to seeing this film was being left in a state of query, it only seemed natural that others would also have questions. I would like to share Ryan Lewis’s work with the Seattle Show Gal readers, and if you are curious, please see the in-depth question and answer session regarding Fake Empire below.
Seattle Show Gal is in hot pursuit of undiscovered talent! How many great bands are out there that are slipping through the cracks? Seattle is saturated with so much music, it would be nearly impossible to sift through it all to find the good stuff. The Seattle Show Gal staff is not so proud to think that we can bring you all of it, but we are actively pursuing all different types of acts to give you a pulse on what is going on--right here in Seattle! (See more in "About")
