Snoop rocks the city

Best friends Christina Lacerenca and Brian Dunbar celebrated a reborn St. Augustine Friday night at Francis Field's Ancient City Crawfish Boil.

The two joined scores of people taking in the smells and sounds of one of the most star-studded concerts in the Oldest City's recent history.

"Two years ago, this would have never happened," Lacerenca said of the concert featuring rap artist Snoop Dogg, current alternative hip-hop "it" band G Love and the burgeoning rock band Flyleaf.





Both Lacerenca, 19, and Dunbar, 20, grew up in St. Augustine. They now attend college in Central Florida.

"He goes to Stetson, I go to UCF, and we came to our hometown -- St. Augustine -- to see Snoop Dogg!" Lacerenca said. "It's amazing! Last week I saw James Taylor at the Amphitheatre, and I cried. I'm so proud of the progress we're making."

Francis Field was filled with activity on day one of the two-day crawfish boil. A booth hosted by the U.S. Marines had pull-up contests for men and "flex-arm hangs" for women.

With a suspension time of 91 seconds, Flagler College student Emily Whritenour was the champion hanger and was "crowned" with a T-shirt.

"The other girls must not have been trying their best," Whritenour, 21, said, refusing recruiters' prompts to try to best her time.

Ashley Young, 19, won a lanyard for her time of 20 seconds.

"It was a blast," she said.

Major League Baseball sponsored a contest to see who could light up a radar gun the brightest and had a batting cage in the middle of the field as part of its road show.

In the shade of a large MLB trailer, 22-year-old Halligan Rountree of Jacksonville, decked out in a Beatles T-shirt, waited for the arrival of Snoop Dogg with friends Maggie Pulido and Krystal McKinnon.

Pulido said she was glad there was an event for which she could convince her friends to drive to St. Augustine.

"I'm always trying to get them to come here, and I'm always the one driving to Jacksonville," Pulido said.

Jen Wages and her boyfriend, Jimmy Link, said the concert has been the hottest topic for weeks at the Bayfront Hilton, where they work.

"This has definitely been the talk of the town," Wages said. "Saving Abel and Flyleaf are my two favorites."

Saving Abel plays tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. Gates open at 2 p.m. Wages and Link purchased the event's two-day ticket.

Fans walked quickly toward the stage Friday when G Love began playing just after 7 p.m. One man with a determined stare wore a T-shirt depicting Frank Sinatra's mug shot from the time the crooner was arrested for keeping company with another man's wife.

As G Love sang their hit "Booty call," 56-year-old Suzie Stotler came from behind the beer stand she was working to dance.

"I love it," Stotler said. "This is my town!"

But the greatest enthusiasm was saved for rap impresario Snoop Dogg, who came to the stage minutes before 9 p.m. in a long black coat and sparkling silver T-shirt.

As the slight, then heavy, smell of marijuana floated among the cheering throng, Matt Corvado lifted Ellie Taylor onto his shoulders, where she snapped a picture of the rapper.

About 30 yards behind the bouncing mob, as Snoop Dogg sang his once-mega hit Gin and Juice, 9-year-old Haley Kane, who has cerebral palsy, danced jubilantly in her wheelchair, smiling wide at the dark gray sky above her.