Review: Snoop Dogg at Switch

After Snoop Dogg’s original booking at Switch back in March was cancelled last-minute, many were skeptical about whether he would ever really come to Southampton. But he did and it was awesome.

A multi-platinum, genre-defining artist playing to 1,000 Southampton students and locals at less than £20 per ticket? It seemed too good to be true.

But any fears were allayed when he performed a great two-hour DJ and PA set to a packed crowd.

Billed as DJ Snoopadelic, the rapper DJ’d on his macbook, successfully mixing a variety of genres and hyping the crowd on the mic. The central theme of his set was the gangsta rap that he’s famous for, including many songs from Dr Dre’s classic album 2001, perhaps the most iconic album from the genre.

He also played wide range of hip-hop and wove in some rather bizarre and eclectic choices including Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’, because hey, he’s Snoop Dogg and he can do what he wants.

Needless to say, the crowd loved it and were joining in throughout, making for an intimate gig-like atmosphere. For me, the highlights of the night were definitely when he rapped the entirety of Still D.R.E. and Drop It Like It’s Hot – two of his most well known songs.

Snoop also lived up to his ganja smoking reputation: the D-O double G managed to juggle his mic, laptop and a fat spliff at all times throughout the performance.

It must be noted that his weed smelt so strong that just standing near the front of the crowd would probably have got you high. I’m pretty sure I could see a member of his entourage with him in the booth busy rolling up the next joint.

Not known for his abilities on the decks, I was interested to see how he would handle it. It was a fairly no-frills set, but he could comfortably mix between songs and was good enough for the purposes of the show- I don’t think anyone turned up expecting a technical showcase.

At times it felt more like he was picking songs off an iPod rather than DJing, but he blended songs well and when he didn’t mix straight into another song it was so that he could talk to the crowd, which is really what people came for- the Snoop Dogg experience.

I felt he struck a good balance between DJing, rapping, and interacting with the crowd.

Given that I haven’t finished exams yet and a friend I was with had an exam the next day, we were pleasantly surprised when Snoop took to the booth at 11pm. He also stayed on for a good two hours and really seemed to be enjoying the show.

I asked Switch co-owner and bookings manager Ryan Keary about the night:

It was amazing to have a real modern day legend inside our venue so soon – his set maybe wasn’t what people expected at times, but it made it more fun and who cares? It’s Snoop- he can do what he wants!

It was a really special atmosphere. He made real effort to have a load of photos with people and we’re defintely going to look at bringing him back at a later date.

Overall, it was an excellent night, and a once-in-a-lifetime event. Respect to Ryan for persevering through the unfortunate cancellation to bring the event to fruition. And who knows, there might be a next episode…

Did you see Snoop Dog at Switch? What did you think of his set? Let us know in the comments.