Snoop Dogg hits Detroit with high energy late start

2-19-10 Originally published on Examiner.com by Tracy Heck

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Wednesday night saw the return of Snoop Dogg to the Detroit area with a show at the Royal Oak Music Theatre promoting his tenth studio album Malice In Wonderland.

Although the popular rapper's set was a solid and highly energetic one, the massive wait until he took the stage was a bit much for the sold out crowd.

The show started at 8 p.m. with a 50-minute long promotional video for Snoop Dogg's next movie project;  something that could have been done in much less time paving the way for better opening acts.

Unfortunately, this did not happen and the crowd was instead subjected to two lackluster openers not even worth mentioning.  As if this wasn't enough, the crowd was then forced to wait another hour until Snoop Dogg finally took the stage at midnight.

Frustration was rampant and spilled over into a number of fights throughout the venue.  However, despite the motivationless beginning, by the time Snoop Dogg finally took the stage the crowd managed to dig deep and find some spirit.

Throughout Snoop Dogg's hour long set, the crowd was hyped and singing, dancing and shouting along.

The rapper himself was highly energetic as he swayed and strutted across the stage sporting his normal bling including a diamond knuckle ring bearing his name.

Many rappers today fall victim to standing back and allowing their entourages to take over but Snoop Dogg was front and center throughout his set as he spanned his entire career.  He sounded exceptional and his flow was on fire.

The set opened with the Dr. Dre track Next Episode and closed with Snoop Dogg's pinnacle track Who Am I (What's My Name)? 

In between, the rapper pulled out his popular Akon track I Wanna F**k You, a inspired playing of Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing (which led into Snoop's own bedroom song Sensual Seduction), a cover of House of Pain's Jump Around and a lighter raised tribute to Tupac including Hail Mary.
New songs Gangsta Luv and I Wanna Rock went over as well as classics like Gin and Juice.

The set could have been a bit longer, particularly after the late start but Snoop Dogg sounded great and managed to get the crowd hyped and ready for more.