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TORONTO - Snoop Dogg brought Uncle Junebug, two mammoth security guards, his Snoop-adelics backing band, and his four supporting female dancers (the Snoop-ettes) to the Docks on Thursday night.
Too bad the West Coast rapper forgot to bring his Snoop-clock.
A near capacity crowd waited for a 9:30 start to Snoop Dogg's set, but an hour later the impatience turned to growing boos and various loud, profane chants. A little after 11, the rapper and his crew finally walked on and went straight into Murder Was The Case from his debut album Doggystyle.
The crowd's anger quickly turned into love, and all was good from then on.
Whether he was getting the fans to wave their hands in the air or have them finish portions of his raps, Snoop Dogg mixed the older hits with songs from his latest album R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. During the song Snoop D.O. Double G, the 32-year old worked the stage and front rows, later accepting a homemade poster.
"Toronto, how you all doing tonight?" the rapper asked prior to The Bidness, a tune which didn't seem to go over too well. This changed quickly with the island-flavoured P.I.M.P. remix of the 50 Cent song, as Snoop was surrounded by his four dancers.
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With the stage props consisting of fake plants that, if real, would be used only for medicinal purposes (of course), Snoop Dogg spent the night dancing, clapping, swaying and trying to keep the momentum up.
After Ups & Downs, the rapper doled out another old-school effort in Deep Cover and then paid tribute to 2Pac and other rappers who have passed on by doing a medley.
Although his new album contains the hit Drop It Like It's Hot, Snoop also got a good response from Signs, the track featuring Justin Timberlake. He also doled out another tune for the ladies with Beautiful from 2002's Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Bo$$. The poppy-ish, radio-friendly number featuring Pharrell again kept the audience onside.
One problem the rapper faced was dwindling energy from the crowd as the night progressed. Lodi Dodi had the front of the crowd still going strong, but those in the back seemed tired from the wait.
After getting the smoke from a joint blown into his face, Snoop Dogg continued into the early morning with Let's Get Blown and other favourites.
He definitely came to party and enjoyed himself, but not everyone stuck around to see it.