The Cincinnati Reds welcome Snoop Dogg to Great American Ballpark

The Cincinnati Reds welcome Snoop Dogg to Great American Ballpark

By: Kevin Vickery

I recently had an experience that was several “firsts” for me.  As much as I enjoy traveling to Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati to see my beloved Reds play, I had never before been to an evening game, instead always opting for the 1:00pm games which are far less attended, and still get me home before dark.  As many concert events that I’ve seen, attended and worked I had also never been to a show in a baseball stadium.

I also realized that I had never been to any rap show at all and I definitely had never seen Snoop Dogg perform.  So with all those factors at hand along with my quest to continually take in new and different types of live shows, artists, venues, and experiences for the sake of this column, off to Cincinnati I went.

First let me say that I always enjoy being at Great American Ballpark even when it’s hot outside. As a lifelong Reds fan from all the way back to the days of Johnny Bench, Pete Rose and the rest of  “The Big Red Machine”, I just like watching them play, win or lose. Unfortunately on this day it was the latter as the boys in red after leading nearly the entire game managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and lose to the Philadelphia Phillies 4 -1 in the final innings.

Like I said, it was hot that day and when the game ended those of us that had the upgraded field passes to watch the concert up close on the field level were herded up like cattle and eventually made our way to to the general admission, standing room only area near the stage.  We waited for a good while for Snoop to take the stage as my claustrophobic tendencies started kicking in.

I literally couldn’t move an inch in any direction without touching some other sweaty person.  It was as hot as the devil’s armpit and smelled about the same. I knew before the show even started that I’d never last till the end but I’d made it this far and had to see as much as I could before my old man knees gave out on me.

Snoop eventually took the stage and he was absolutely great. He played all his classics that you’d expect like, “Nuthin’ but a G Thang”, “Lodi Dodi”, and “Murder Was the Case” but my personal favorite was when in his second song he spit a few bars (that’s rap lingo) of Eazy-E’s, “Boyz-n-the-Hood”. 

It really took me back to when some of my other corn-fed, Hoosier white-boy friends and I first discovered west coast rap in the late 1980’s.  We’d cruise the backroads of Henry County, puffing on Swisher Sweets or Black and Mild cigars in my 1980 Buick Regal pumping up gangsta rap like NWA, ICE-T, and  2 Live Crew like were were some something cool while we tried to rap along.

Unfortunately at the show, I had to bail out before I passed out so I missed some tunes like his cover of House of Pain’s, “Jump Around” which is one of my all time favorite rap tunes, as well as a couple of Snoop classics like, “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and “Gin and Juice” which is the song the first turned me onto his music.

I did enjoy the fact that in addition to an on-stage DJ that you would expect to see at a rap show, Snoop also had live musicians backing him up as well.  Of course there were dancers and backing vocalists but there was also live drums, bass and guitar as well. I thought it was pretty cool that between the DJ, the live drummer and the beat-box guy, at times I was actually hearing the beats in triplicate.

I did find it strange however how many young kids were there with their parents.  There’s at least 5-6 song titles on his set list that I won’t even mention because I know my editor won’t print them.  If you know anything about Snoop’s music you know there’s F-bombs dropping like mad, and his live show features some dancing lasies that were not exactly what I would call appropriate for an all-ages crowd.  Plus the show opens with a video clip of him backstage rolling, lighting, and puffing on… well you know what I’m talking about… “jazz cabbage”, “the devil’s lettuce”.  I could go on but I won’t.  It just didn’t have the vibe of someplace you should be with an eight-year-old, but to each their own, I guess.

Maybe Snoop gets a pass with parents because he has become such a pop-cultural icon. Let’s face it, he’s managed to stay successful and relevant for nearly three decades not only as a rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer but also as an actor, entrepreneur, media personality and philanthropist.

I was able to speak with fellow concert goer and Red’s fan, Dominick Mukasa and get some of his thoughts about the experience.  On the Reds’ loss he said, “It’s OK and it’s worth it just to see Snoop at the end”.  He added that it was his first time seeing Snoop Dogg and that  “Gin and Juice” was his favorite track and was just excited to be here”. 

All in all it was a very good show and I’m glad I went despite the heat, the long uphill walk back to the car, and The Reds’ loss.  I’m sure the the sold-out crowd at Great American Ballpark wasn’t at all disappointed in the concert.  If you get the chance to see Snoop Dogg, I highly recommend it.  In fact, I’d like to see him again myself, but next time I’d prefer it to be indoors with some air conditioning.

For more information about Snoop Dogg’s tour dates and merchandise you can find him on all social media platforms or visit his official website at snoopdogg.com

To keep up with The Cincinnati Reds and events at Great American Ballpark go to mlb.com