No one can throw a party like Snoop Dogg—just ask anyone who packed the way-sold-out Fillmore in San Francisco for the kick off of his “I Wanna Thank Me Tour.” By the time opener RJMrLA took the stage, the wait staff was already hitting a feverish stride as the drinks flowed and puffs of smoke rose above the crowd as folks pondered the stripper poles that flanked either side of the stage.
The great thing about rap shows is the minimal change-over between sets—swap out a DJ and a microphone and the next act is up, so the momentum was never lost as the legendary Warren G picked up the mic in front of a room that was well-versed in his material and happy to play along.
Local boy Berner kicked things up a notch, striding on stage with a fat joint which he was more than happy to share with the front row. Afterall, what better way to market your own brand of weed than sharing it with a captive audience—even going so far as tossing out bags of his signature strain while instructing the fans to “roll it and share it” which is indeed what they did.
By the time Snoop took the stage a tad before 10 PM, there was a cloud hanging over the now-baked crowd—there was simply no escaping the inevitable contact high. With a microphone in his right hand and a joint in his left, Snoop proceeded to wow the crowd which by then was clearly pushing the capacity limits of the venue where a squadron of firemen and body-cammed police could be seen in the back trying to look concerned but obviously enjoying the spectacle as a pair of pole dancers made impressive use of the aforementioned stripper poles.
The 60 minute set was dense, covering a lot of ground including tributes to late rappers Nate Dogg, Easy E, Biggie Smalls, and Tupac Shakur. At one point, Snoop even took a break to let the crowd sing along while he set down the mic (but not the joint) to free up his right hand to enjoy a cool beverage, but was quickly back at it before closing the set with “Snoop Dogg (What’s My Name, Part 2)” and “Young, Wild and Free.”
“So what we get drunk, So what we smoke weed, We’re just having fun, We don’t care who sees.” That pretty much sums it up.
RJMrLA
WARREN G
BERNER
SNOOP DOGG
