Snoop Dogg Gin & Juice Extravaganza

Snoop Dogg kicked off a new summer tour with Slightly Stoopid, Stephen Marley, and Mickey Avalon. Although Reno isn't an official tour stop, Snoop and Stephen Marley stopped by the Grand Sierra to put on one hell of a performance in true Snoop fashion. The night started off surprisingly on time with Stephen Marley taking the stage around 8:15. Being the son of Bob Marley you know he knows how to bring the Rasta love. He sang a handful of his dad's hits including "Buffalo Soldier", "Jammin", and "Three Little Birds". He also sang songs from his 2007 album, "Mind Control". Stephen Marley finished up around 9:30 after coming back for an encore.

The lights came on for what seemed like might be a quick intermission since the stage crew was already swapping out equipment, but having seen Snoop before, I knew we would be in for a long wait. The bars were promoting quite of few drink specials such as Sky Vodka for $2.50, Patron for $4, and Miller for $1.50. With the screaming deals at the bar, the intoxication level of the crowd kicked into high gear. We noticed a guy stand up from his table and grab significantly smaller person around the collar and throw him on the floor. The little guy stood up, stumbled down the stairs, and found himself at a table of what looked like me to be successful crowd of pimps - large muscle bound pimps. Not a good place to be when you are acting like an idiot. Before the guy decked him, he ended up one table over, talking randomly, and managed to spill a 36oz mega-rita. He went down the row, spilling a few more drinks, before security grabbed him to cheers of the crowd and threw him out.

Around the hour mark, a guy came out on stage and told the crowd that Snoop was still driving in from Eureka, CA and would hopefully be hear soon. Soon was about another hour later when the lights dimmed and Snoop came busting out on stage with his diamond and gold plated brass knuckle style microphone. The first thing he did was apologize for being late and told a guy from his posse to pour the crowd one of his favorite drinks. The crowd was sprayed with bottles of champagne right before Snoop busted into his opening song - "Gin & Juice". He played for about an hour and 15 minutes without slowing down for one second. Snoop is a true performer, getting the crowd not just on their feet, but waving their hands in the air and at one point flipping a double bird to "187", and throwing peace signs for Tupac when he sang both "Hail Mary" and "Amerikaz Most Wanted" (AKA "Gangsta Party"). He also put his own spin on the House of Pain song, "Jump Around".

A daring long haired out of place punk kid jumped on stage and before security could get to him, jumped into the crowd, but had a rud awakening with his face and the floor when the crowd quickly parted letting him flop right on the ground. When "Sexual Seducation" came on, Snoop pulled about twenty girls out of the crowd to dance for him. One girl was getting down, when she fell over, to which Snoop said, "She done slipped and fell."

The after party continued at "210 North" with a free cover with your wristband. Local DJ Chris English was spinning hip hop hits with Snoop's DJ LT. Kenny G., Danielle and I partied until about 3am, then ate some grub. Snoop never disappoints and we were happy to have him in Reno.