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.
Alright, I’m a bit excited to be giving these tickets away. I mean, come on! Tha Doggfather? Snoop Dogg could arguably be called the modern day King of Swag. I remember back in 1996 when I got Tha Doggfather on cassette tape behind my mothers back. Long walks home from school listening to “Sixx Minutes” felt so gangster with Snoop Dogg in my ear. March 5th and 6th will be a celebration of two things extremely dear to me: Snoop Dogg and the Seattle music scene.
On the menu with Snoop Dogg will be Step Cousins(featuring Xperience and Macklemore), and I might have heard a rumor about Mash Hall joining the bill; no official word yet. We all have our own stories about how Snoop Dogg is the man, and what his music means to us individually, so this preview is going to skip past all the hype talk about how missing Snoop Dogg in Seattle on this leg of his tour is indefensible. Instead, send your best “I Remember When: Snoop Dogg” story regarding your love for the hip-hop Don Corleone to contests@seattleshowgal.com for your chance to win a pair of free tickets! We will be choosing the winner on or before March 6th at 3pm. Don’t wait until then to buy tickets though! Day one is already sold out!!! Guarantee your spot at the March 6th show by purchasing your ticket now, and sell it at the door after you’ve won your tickets from SSG.
Here are some choice vids! “Sixx Minutes” still stands as my favorite rap song of all time. What’s yours? This show is going to be filthy…
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.
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")
