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Despite a few highlights,
Snoop Dogg show
a tedious shambles

---

By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Use Elton John's excellent nonstop two-hour show last month as the benchmark for appraising Blaisdell Arena concerts that have a $65 ticket price, and last night's Snoop Dogg show was worth maybe $25.

Add another $15 for Ludacris' strong set and for energetic comedian Jo Koy, then deduct at least $20 for the tedious shambles of a "show" that sputtered for three hours before Ludacris came on. The small crowd of hard-core rap loyalists deserved way more than they got for their money.

Ludacris came on to save the show at around 9:20 p.m. and did a fine job of it. He and his krew delivered a high-impact set with all the best of his hot breakthrough "Back for the First Time" album -- from "Southern Hospitality" and "Stick 'Em Up" to the sexually charged "Phat Rabbit" and clever wordplay of "Ho."

'Cris closed with the less explicit radio version of "What's Your Fantasy" and, while lacking a finale, redeemed the night.

Then came Snoop. Tha Doggfather finally appeared at around 10:15 and proved as charismatic as ever. Fans in the floor-level seats stood on their chairs, and almost everyone responded to Bigg Snoop's every gesture and command throughout the 55-minute set.

Surprise guests Whodini evoked the glories of "old skool" rap with "Friends" while Snoop and the Eastsidaz smoked lustily during an onstage "chronic break." Doggy's Angels were conspicuous by their absence. There was no encore.

Comedian Jo Koy was the other bright spot in the painfully slow-paced and badly organized evening. Koy got over despite being stuck with the nightmare assignment of often having to buy time for a dead show. Sometimes crude, sometimes lewd, sometimes simply hilarious, Koy rolled with the punches and won the crowd over time and again as the night dragged on.

Koy is clearly a future comedy star, and Ludacris a future arena headliner. Snoop is back on top as a rap icon.

It was dismal otherwise. The high point of one unidentified act's set came when a woman who was watching from backstage briefly showed her thong panties to the crowd. A stall-for-time hoochie mama (sleazy woman) contest was won by the woman who showed the crowd she wasn't wearing any panties.

The rest of the rest didn't get much better, and the concert overall was one of Honolulu's worst in memory.