Entertainment

On first take, the former king of gangsta rap and one of hybrid rock's groundbreaking bands wouldn't appear to be buddies.

Oh, but Snoop Dogg and 311 are. Buddies. Yeah, something like that (choke, cough).

Just like the registration sticker that caused Snoop's tour bus to be pulled over in Corsicana (see "Also online" box to the right), both acts are past due but not unrenewable. They demonstrated that with predictable and easygoing aplomb during 311's Unity Tour stop at Superpages.com Center – but they've shown that during their careers, too.

Vernon Bryant / DMN

Snoop Dogg performed with 311 Thursday night at Superpages.com Center. State troopers pulled over his tour bus in Corsicana earlier in the day and arrested two people on marijuana possession charges.

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How? 311's gone on from the forefront of the 1990s reggae-rock revival to become one of live music's broadest party-hearty draws. Snoop's gone on from being Dr. Dre's West Coast hard-core rap understudy to become one of hip-hop's coolest and safest personalities.

In person Thursday, neither strayed far from their beat. A serene Snoop sported a Dallas Cowboys jersey (#21, with "Jones" on the back ... would that be Julius' from 2007 or Adam's from '08, Snoop?) during his hourlong opening set with a full live band and a three-MC, four-bodyguard posse. He cherry-picked old-school samples and hype-mongered throughout, but stayed safe with rare exception (a cover of one of N.W.A.'s, ah, more blatant anti-police tracks). Highlights: a suave run through his last hit, "Sensual Seduction," and a thick version of "Drop It Like It's Hot."

From the opening bars of "Beautiful Disaster," 311's turn was more flashy and stylish and had a harder edge than last year's stop with the Wailers in tow. Dashing frontman Nick Hexum's thin voice paled beneath S.A. Martinez's goofball rap calisthenics, and guitarist Tim Mahoney copped a poofy, Brian Setzer-esque mohawk while churning out one dark and chunky riff after another.

Even so, the set was solid and served its purpose for the crowd of about 10,000: a quiescent and trill nu-rock soundtrack for chillin' and ingestion. Yeah, something like that.