It was one of the biggest dates of the season so far, and the queue of impatient revellers wound round the side of Amnesia. Inside you had to fight your way into the heaving mass already occupying the Terrace at 1am, everyone determined to keep their precious piece of space at all costs. But then you would expect no less when Snoop Dogg comes to town. A hip hop superstar of monstrous proportions, MTV had succeeded in grabbing the island’s attention for their grand I Want My MTV Ibiza opening party.
But they were going to make us wait. A DJ and some kind of slightly gangster MC pumped out hip hop pop hits while shouting over the mic “put yo hands up who likes dis one!” Roughly three hours later, after a disinterested crowd had taken to sporadic booing and patience was wearing thin, we were all highly relieved to see Snoop step on stage at 4am.
Tall and lean in his baggy t-shirt and jeans and signature pigtail plaits, the chorus of ghetto girl dancers and hype men on stage completed the doggy dogg look. Performing a medley of classic tracks while paying homage to his rapper peers along the way with a number of covers, every song inevitably became a sing along. ‘The Next Episode’ was a definite highlight as was Snoop’s version of 'Regulate' along side surprise guest Warren G. It was also touching to see ravers of all tastes and sizes, side by side in Amnesia. Usually divided by Cream versus Cocoon, here they were united by gangster love. The only dampener was when Snoop started shouting “I just wanna make you sweat!” to a brash, electro-pop backing track. Apparently it’s his new one. Snoop, really?!
Finishing up on “Snoop dog-gy dog-g-g-g-g”, ‘What’s My Name’ had all hands in the air before our hour of fun was up. The whole of the Terrace then proceeded to vacate the building immediately.
Unfortunately the Main Room only got some of the audience it deserved as half the club probably didn’t know who Magda was. And anyway, it would have been a bit of an abrupt musical scene change. Had she or Layo & Bushwacka played the Terrace as a warm up to the show it would have pleasantly filled an uneventful first half of the evening. Still who’s complaining, I saw Snoop Dogg in Ibiza.
