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Review: Snoop Dogg rocks the Laketown Shakedown festival

REVIEW What: Laketown Shakedown with Snoop Dogg, Smash Mouth, Sublime With Rome, and more Where: Laketown Ranch Music and Recreation Park, 8811-2 Youbou Rd.

REVIEW

What: Laketown Shakedown with Snoop Dogg, Smash Mouth, Sublime With Rome, and more
Where: Laketown Ranch Music and Recreation Park, 8811-2 Youbou Rd., Lake Cowichan
When: Sunday, June 20, 2019

LAKE COWICHAN — It’s amazing what the sun — a lot of it — can do for the overall attitude of a festival.

Festivities that started at a slow pace Saturday got underway with a bang much earlier Sunday as the Laketown Shakedown festival entered its third and final day at Laketown Ranch in Lake Cowichan.

The third-year festival hit full stride with appearances by a California troika — Snoop Dogg, Smash Mouth and Sublime With Rome. The event went into the early hours of Monday, with thousands still in motion at 2 a.m. at the site’s late stages.

It was a significant step up from the happenings the night prior, which attracted roughly 5,000 fans for sets by Incubus and Black Pistol Fire. The festival’s attendance Sunday was rumored to be in the 8,000 range, but it felt bigger at points due to the stellar showcases on the main stage.

Sublime was a big draw for the festival, but the rock band was suffering from some unusual sound issues for the bulk of its set. Much of those plagued lead singer Rome Ramirez, who is handling the guitar and vocal duties of the band’s late founder Bradley Nowell.

He did an admirable job on hits like Date Rape, Santeria, and Doin’ Time, but the bass-heavy mix failed Ramirez on the band’s signature song, What I Got. Depending on your vantage point, the set was either standard or sub-par.

Smash Mouth was a fun bit of frivolity. The band from San Jose guy took the stage shortly after 6 p.m., with a sizable crowd at the ready. Many of their big hits went over well, but the best reaction was for All Star, their meme-worthy song from the Shrek soundtrack. Theirs was the perfect aperitif to an afternoon of sun.

The atmosphere at outdoor festivals is always greatly improved by nice weather, and Laketown Shakedown had its share Sunday. This was a big drinking crowd, due to this being the first big camping festival of the season, but on-site services (from first aid to RCMP) were not overrun with activity. Moderate temperatures for two of the festival’s three days — it rained Friday shortly before Jesse Roper’s set — helped keep matters under control.

When it came to the festival’s headliner, everything was pitch-perfect. Snoop Dogg was on-point during his incredible set, which featured everything from his verse on Katy Perry’s California Girls to his early-career highlight, Gin and Juice. Few artists from hip hop’s heyday can compete with Snoop Dogg’s extra-large aura, and he delivered a master class of performance. From tributes to late-greats Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G. and Eazy-E to a stage full with dancers (each with their own pole), there was hardly a piece out of place.

The actor-musician was a unifying force, bringing rap and rock fans together. He was the perfect choice to bank on as Laketown Shakedown turned the corner from its classic rock past. The thinking is that the festival only gets better going forward.

mdevlin@timescolonist.com