Thursday, Dec. 22
Snoop Dogg @ The Riverside Theater, 7:30 p.m.
For the last 15 years Snoop Dogg has been such a ubiquitous personality, playing off his iconic, marijuana-breathing image in a run of movie cameos and TV appearances—most recently as the co-host of a high-concept cooking show with Martha Stewart (“Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party”) that it can be easy to forget he still raps. While it’s unlikely he’ll ever top his 1993 debut Doggystyle, which stands along with Dr. Dre’s The Chronic as one of the true masterpieces of rap’s G-Funk era, Snoop has been on a surprising late-career hot streak lately, releasing a pair of satisfyingly funky new records: 2015’s Bush and this year’s Coolaid (both albums are much better than their titles). Apparently Snoop’s old muses are speaking to him again, because he’s now on the road behind his “Puff Puff Pass Tour 2,” a spiritual sequel to a 2001 tour that inspired a documentary, joined by some fellow G Funk-era icons: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Warren G, DJ Quik and Tha Dogg Pound, as well as Pomona City Movement and LBC Movement.
Friday, Dec. 23
Mark Waldoch w/ Testa Rosa and Klassik @ Boone & Crockett, 9 p.m.
Whether this is, in fact, the most wonderful time of the year is up for debate, but it’s hard to argue that the holidays have a way of bringing out some powerful performances from some musicians. Milwaukee rock ’n’ roller Mark Waldoch and alternative-pop veterans Testa Rosa have each made their own contributions to the holiday songbook: Waldoch’s band, The Celebrated Workingman, wrote a song called “No More Christmas Suicide
