Snoop Dogg lights up the desert

Scott Den Herder

Snoop Dogg played Friday night at Primm.

By Melissa Arseniuk

Saturday, July 11, 2009 | 8:41 p.m.

There’s nothing quite like a Snoop Dogg show; it has a distinctive look and feel that’s all its own.

The smell, though, is somewhat familiar.

“It smells like chronic in there!” a middle-aged man with eyes almost as wide as his smile loudly proclaimed last night as he made his way into the Star of the Desert Arena.

Fresh beer in hand, he stated the obvious without reservation as he sauntered back into the forum.

It wasn’t clear if his words were intended as more of a warning or a promise.

“It smells like chronic in there, and there's a million cops,” he said with a laugh.

He shook his head and concluded, “It's Snoop Dogg, yo.”

Despite his account, however, the distinctive smell of marijuana was surprisingly scarce inside the otherwise-smoky venue during Friday night’s Snoop Dogg performance in Primm.

The pot prophet was right about one thing, however: There seemed to be dozens of Metro officers scattered throughout the venue.

Unsurprisingly, though, the smell did waft through the air from time to time.

“I can smell it,” a plain-looking, middle-aged woman dressed in jeans and a blue plaid shirt said. “It smells like marijuana! Can you smell it?”

Ganja reggae rapper Stephen Marley was just wrapping up his set, making way for the equally stoner-friendly six-piece from San Diego otherwise known as Slightly Stoopid to take to the stage as the woman noticed something special in the air.

Meanwhile, two giant skulls with big pot leafs on their foreheads flanked either side of the stage.

While Buffalo Bill’s may be a cowboy-themed casino shaped like a giant grain elevator, the only agriculture the crowd seemed to be interested in last night was green.

Once Slightly Stoopid’s set came to a close, crews quickly began setting the stage for Snoop Dogg’s show, which was part of his current “Blazed and Confused” tour.

As tear-down and set-up continued onstage, a DJ kept the vibe going, first with the Rick James’ single, “Mary Jane,” and, later, a collection of Michael Jackson tracks that served as a tribute to the fallen icon.

Meanwhile, as partiers danced in the stands and latecomers made their way to their seats, and a range of props and instruments were brought into view.

A large “Tales From the Crip” backdrop was hung (a several-stories high tribute to the Crips, a well-known gang that the 37-year-old married father of three has been affiliated with since he was in high school); a turntable with a tricked-out bike on the front of it was wheeled out; a stripper pole lingered conspicuously off to the side; and several marijuana plants were scattered across the stage.

It wasn’t clear if the greenery was plastic or silk, but given the number of police in attendance and the ongoing scrutiny Snoop faces, it is safe to assume the foliage was fake.

The one and only Doggfather swaggered onstage right on time, at 10 p.m., and proceeded to work through a range of hits, past and present.

Despite the abundance of law enforcement officers and lack of authentic herb for the notorious pot-loving performer, Dogg -- whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. – seemed to have a pretty good time in Primm.

At one point, Snoop showed his goofy side and danced playfully to the Jamie Foxx single, “Blame It.”

“I like that song like a mother (expletive),” he said.

Still, he complained because Foxx neglected to cite Dogg’s personal drink of choice on the song’s list of liquid excuses.

Dogg doesn’t like Grey Goose vodka, Patron tequila, Hpnotiq liqueur, or Hennessy Cognac; even 15 years after the song was released, the rapper’s go-to drink apparently remains gin and juice.

Ironically, the crowd was doused with champagne – or was it sparkling wine? – as the rapper segued into the still-popular single.

As the show went on, a motley crew lingered to the side of the stage: a collection of men who could be efficiently categorized as “Snoop's boys”; a few bimbos and groupies; three men in full suits; and one or two of the rapper's notoriously huge bodyguards.

Midway through the performance, four attention-hungry girls who had been waiting in the wings were invited onstage to dance.

It was obvious that the young women were not sourced from Spearmint Rhino or Sapphire: Their wardrobe (shorts paired with rather ordinary shirts) and not-so-seductive dance moves suggested that they had been pulled from the audience earlier in the evening.

“What is this, a big ass bong or somethin'?” Snoop joked as the single stripper pole was brought onstage for the rather impromptu dance-off.

The prop was promptly removed after the improvised amateur night was over, but the pole was later reinstated when a pair of more, ahem, experienced-looking dancers strutted onstage in sexy mini dresses and proceeded to do their thing during Snoop’s slowed-down single, “Sensual Seduction.”

Other highlights of the performance included a two-song shout-out to slain rapper Tupac Shakur, who died in 1996 after being shot four times while in Las Vegas. (Shakur succumbed to his injuries and died at UMC four days after the shooting.)

The shooting was believed to be part of violent escalations of the East Coast-West Coast rapper rivalry that also claimed the life of Shakur’s rival, Brooklyn-based rapper Notorious B.I.G. (aka Christopher Wallace or Biggie Smalls) the following year.

Snoop led a chant in memory of his fallen West Coast friend: “Tu - pac, Tu - pac / We miss you, we miss you / We love you, we love you.”

“Tupac, rest in peace…” Snoop yelled, emphatically raising his hand and looking up to the ceiling.

In addition to the “Doggystyle” rapper and recent MTV reality show host’s Tupac covers, two members of his onstage entourage helped perform the House of Pain hit, “Jump Around.”

Snoop himself covered the song back in April when he played opening day at Rehab.

In between songs, the hugely famous and easily recognizable rapper took it upon himself to make sure everyone knew his name, knew how to say it, and knew how to spell it, too.

“S-N, double, O-P, D-O, double, giz-ee,” he rhymed, then asked the crowd to repeat after him.

“All you need is a little peace, a little love, and a lot of S, N, double-O, P, D, O, double-G,” he said.

As if that weren’t enough – and as if he hadn’t long ago become a household name in rap and hip-hop-aware homes across the country – he signed off with a Doggified version of a song made popular by Bananarama in the '80s.

“Sha na na na! Sha na na na! Hey, hey! Snoop Dogg…”

And with that, Dogg left the stage, leaving nothing but a curious-smelling cloud of smoke behind him.

Melissa Arseniuk writes about Las Vegas entertainment and celebrity events. She can be reached at 702-948-7823 or by e-mail at melissa.arseniuk@lasvegassun.com.