Insane Clown Posse Brings Faygo Showers To Cabooze Outdoor Plaza Show

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Not going to make to the Gathering of the Juggalos this summer? Have no fear, the infamous Insane Clown Posse brought the gathering to The Cabooze Outdoor Plaza on Thursday night by way of the Fury Fest and no one was left without a drop of Faygo on them.

Drama was in the air before the show even started. Kissing Candice, DJ Paul (from Three 6 Mafia) and Mac Lethal had all dropped off the tour due to undisclosed reasons. Honestly, I was a bit bummed. I really really wanted to catch Mac Lethal and there’s something about Kissing Candice that seems to have a lot of people talking and I wanted to check them out for myself. Regardless, people were still walking up to the parking lot of The Cabooze with a pep in their step and a smile on their faces. It was clear that people didn’t care who was playing or who wasn’t, they just wanted to see the one and only Insane Clown Posse.

Side note- yes, there were too stages but due to the time slots, it was just impossible to catch everyone so my photographer and I decided to just focus on the outside stage. My apologies to all of the performers inside.

Minus Love got things started on the outdoor stage. Although I can’t find much, if anything, about this local guy online, I can tell you that he is one to watch. His rapping was the perfect way to start what was going to turn into an evening and night of diverse music. The sole local on the main stage, he definitely made this city proud and I can’t wait to watch this youngster grow.

I just caught Ouija Macc a couple of months ago at a little dive bar in town so I kind of knew what I was getting into but seeing him in an outdoor setting with a huge crowd rather than a little dive bar apparently changes everything. One of the members of the Pyschopathic Records family, Ouija’s style of music is kind of this hard edged rap full of misogynistic lyrics and curse words. Okay, clearly his music was not completely for me but I did love his energy. He didn’t have to do much to get the crowd moving and, as one of the first acts in a long night of music, that’s quite a feat. 

Mushroomhead was up next and although they have been around for years on years, Thursday night was the first time I have been able to catch them live. This Ohio band has been turning heads since their conception in 1993. Their heavy rock music mixed with their truly intense and entertaining live show has made them kings of the game. As soon as the band took the stage I was captivated. From the giant waterdrums (yes, just giant drums with water poured on top of the heads which made for a very cool visual effect) to the way one of the two vocalists snuck off stage and into one of the recycling bins where he proceeded to finish off a song, everything about their set was in your face and fun to watch. I loved that, although they followed a rap artist, the intensity of the music was not lost on the crowd. It was clear that the audience was just there for a good time and some music rather than a certain genre or style.

The mix of genres continued as Rittz took the stage. More of a straight up MC than the rap styling of Minus Love and Ouija Mac, Rittz instantly had me captivated with the way he could spit lines so fast. Born Jonathan McCollum, this thirty-eight year old made rapping seem easily (although it’s definitely not). His lines were smooth and the way he covered the entire stage even though it was just him and a DJ stuck behind a table was impressive to say the least. High energy was the name of the game and he had the entire crowd bouncing to his infectious beats. Formerly signed to Tech N9ne’s Strange Music label, Rittz recently started his own thing called CNT Entertainment (which obviously stands for “clientele”– yeah, sure) and I think that move along with his flawless performance style will catapult this guy into the mainstream in no time.

Closing out the night was the one and only dynamic duo- Insane Clown Posse. Love them or hate them, they’re clearly here to stay and have made a name for themselves by, well, just being themselves. I honestly wasn’t there for their unique brand of rap that they perform but more for their iconic shows that come complete with liters on liters of Faygo (a brand of pop… yes, pop, not soda) that they spray on their fans. Their show was everything I had ever imagined it to be. Insane, out of control… whatever phrase you want to use, that’s what they brought to the stage. Beyond just the two main members (Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope), the stage was often filled with nightmare inducing clown masks and a goblin guy that seemed to just be there to make sure that the bins of Faygo on stage never got any lower than over filling.

Although I would never consider myself a huge fan of Insane Clown Posse, there are a lot of things about this band that I get the allure of. There’s an undeniable sense of family in the crowd at an ICP show and that was evident last night. From the chants of “Fam-i-ly” to the way everyone seems like long lost friends, it’s a feeling that I always crave at a show. I may have been an outsider looking in but that didn’t stop me from feeling that love. There’s also a sense of pride in the scene that I have always adored. Majority of the audience were sporting tattoos of images that come from this band or their label (including their iconic logo of “The hatchetman”) and a good majority of the fans had their faces painted like the duo does (think clown makeup). All of these things are things that I definitely just can’t get into but that I admire from afar.

Thursday night’s show was definitely a check off the ol’ bucketlist for me. I finally got to see Insane Clown Posse live and, although it wasn’t my scene, I have a new appreciation for this weird and wacky group of people.

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