The last time I'd bought tickets to see Snoop Dogg in concert it ended up being cancelled after he was banned from the country. Then in 2019 I bought tickets to see him at The O2 with the concert taking place in April 2020 and we all know what happened then. More postponements happened and I started doubting it would ever happen, but it finally did this week.
I'll start with my obligatory rant about The O2. They no longer do paper tickets or even pdf tickets you can print out. Instead you have to use an app which is fuckin annoying. It took me ages to figure out how to get to the tickets. Have the app by all means, but give people the option of paper tickets. You are able to take your credit card and ID to the box office on the night, but the credit card I bought it with in 2019 has long since expired. The queue at the box office on the night was also huge which goes to show people don't want these sodding apps.
I opted not to drink beer on the night but I went to the bar just to see how much of a rip off their beer is these days. It was £8.50 a pint, absolutely disgusting that they charge these prices. I think you have to buy it on an app too so I think it's safe to say I've already had my final pint at The O2.
Onto the gig then and we had a DJ warming up to start off with. He played some classics by a lot of the big name rappers from the 90s and early 00s as well as some shit by the likes of Rihanna and Beyonce. Given Snoop Dogg himself has collaborated with some pretty abysmal artists in more recent years I guess that was to be expected.
Then up came Versatile, an Irish rap duo I'd never heard of. They were funny but I won't be in a hurry to go out and buy their music. They'd done a collaboration with Coolio and paid tribute to him by covering "Gangsta's Paradise" and I found it funny hearing them rap it in an Irish accent.
Next up was D12, well 2 members of D12 anyway. I'd not heard anything of theirs since the "D12 World" album but it would seem they've not really done anything since. They fitted in a lot of tunes from their 2 albums and I enjoyed it.
Then it was time for Snoop Dogg himself which began a video of him backstage asking if we're ready for him to rock this motherfucker. He arrived on stage to "The Next Episode".
There was a time when I owned all his albums and I have his first 10. He'd released a further 9 albums since including 2 since the gig was originally going to take place. I'd listened to said albums back in 2019 to get myself up to date but have long forgotten anything on them.
I had no such thing to worry about though, he was mostly doing the classics with plenty from his debut album "Doggystyle", just the way I wanted it.
He also did some of his more questionable modern collaborations with Katy Perry, Jason Derulo and David Guetta, but you can't have it all. The lack of Katy Perry and Jason Derulo actually being there meant those performances were short and more tolerable.
One of his earlier collaborators who is sadly no longer with us was Nate Dogg. We had "Aint No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)" with the recording of Nate Dogg's vocals which was good to hear. It's possibly my favourite Snoop Dogg tune.
There was also a tribute to 2Pac via their collaboration "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" and he also covered "California Love" but only did the Dr Dre verse. He also paid tribute to Notorious BIG by covering "Hypnotize".
Perhaps the most bizarre cover of the night was "Too Close" by Next. This was followed by a screening of his "Just Eat" advert before he came back out and covered "Jump Around" by House Of Pain.
It was then another video which this time had Pharrell Williams telling us to sing "Minnie the Moocher" but change the lyrics to "Snoop Doggy Doggy Dogg". Snoop Dogg then came out one last time to do "Drop it Like it's Hot" and "Who Am I (What's My Name)" followed by a couple of more modern records.
It's quite odd really that a man with so many albums performed so many covers or tracks that don't even appear on his albums. At the same time though that's what I'd want from a Snoop Dogg gig if I'm honest. It was the "I Wanna Thank Me" tour but he did nothing from that album. I recall it being one of his better modern albums, but had he mostly done tunes from that album it wouldn't have been as good.
Overall it was a great night and worth the wait.
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