Long Beach Gives Snoop Dogg the Key to the City at F&M Bank Amphitheater Debut
- Sharmaine Johnson
- Jun 10
- 2 min read
There are hometown shows, and then there are moments that make an entire city pause and say, yeah, that represents us to the T.
On Saturday night, Long Beach native and global rap icon Snoop Dogg officially opened the city's newest entertainment landmark, the F&M Bank Amphitheater, performing for a sold-out crowd of 11,000 people along the waterfront. By the end of the evening, the celebration continued as Mayor Rex Richardson presented Snoop with the Key to the City, honoring the artist who has carried Long Beach with him through every era of his career.
"Long Beach created the culture, and Snoop Dogg shared it with the world," Richardson said. "Tonight's sold-out opening of the FMB Amphitheater was more than a concert; it was a historic cultural moment decades in the making. Presenting Snoop Dogg with the Key to the City recognizes not only his extraordinary achievements in music, entertainment, and business, but also the authenticity, creativity, and pride with which he has represented Long Beach on the global stage for decades."
For decades, Snoop has said "Long Beach" so many times that even people who've never set foot in Southern California know exactly where the LBC is. He's built an empire, become a pop-culture uncle, commentated on the Olympics, dropped cookbooks with Martha Stewart, and somehow still finds new ways to reinvent himself. Through all of it, Long Beach has remained part of the story.
The venue itself is a major flex for the city.
The $21 million F&M Bank Amphitheater sits right on the waterfront with the Queen Mary in the background, which, let's be honest, is a pretty hard launch to top. With room for 11,000 concertgoers, it's Long Beach's first large-scale outdoor music venue and the second-largest outdoor amphitheater in Los Angeles County. Not bad for a city that's often overlooked in conversations about Southern California entertainment.
And because this was Snoop's night, subtlety was never really on the menu.
He reportedly brought out special guests, dancers hit the stage, and yes, there was a lowrider involved. Would it even be a Snoop Dogg homecoming without one?
The amphitheater's 2026 lineup is already stacked with artists including Ice Cube, Lil Wayne, Toto, Luke Bryan, and Mötley Crüe, with dozens of other acts slated to perform.
For Long Beach, that's perhaps the most exciting part of this story. A new venue on the waterfront. Major tours on the calendar. National attention is headed toward a city that has influenced music and culture for generations.
And now, one of its most recognizable ambassadors has a key to prove what locals have known all along: Long Beach knows how to make an impact far beyond its city limits.
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