Hashly and Hanka here. Tremont Music Hall Charlotte NC It’s always a wicked time when the demented duo roll through the queen city.
First off a few things about the venue. Tremont has been a venue I (Hanka) have been watching shows at for years. It’s one of those small venues that feels spacious yet intimate.
In my eyes (Hashly) it was a cool place. They even had a Hooka Bar, but the staff was far too strict when it came to juggalo etiquette. I think it’s fresh that they offered juggalo themed drinks that would have even the smoothest killa sluring their words.
The night started off with all the VIP’s lining up at the bus to meet Twiztid and get some one on one time with them. Which is always a special privilege
First act of the night: F. Dux. Charlotte’s own tunnel runner. Always rocking the house, had about a 25 minute set. During every minute of those 25 he was filling the room with mad love. Being the hometown homie, Charlotte will always show the utmost love and respect for the PBR drinking half face killa.
Act Two: Neurotic November: NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED. Pleasantly surprised at the sound and the theatrics of both the band AND the crowd with this act. What horrorcore did for rap, this act did for metal. Plus ballroom dancing in the middle of a mosh pit always wins me over. (Hanka) Totally enjoyed the look of their unconventional stage wear. (Hashly)
Act Three: Kung Fu Vampire (KFV): Crowd was EXTREMELY pumped by the time he hit the stage. Did a mix of old favorites, got live jumping down interacting with the crowd, Then gave us a taste of new flavor. Plus, he’s sexy and has JOKES! (Hashly) At one point, he was waving a light stick around asking the crowd “what was up with the giraffe dicks”? Someone threw one on stage then he put it in his pants teasing the ninjettes and sang to us before throwing it back out to the crowd. If that wasn’t enough to fill your Blood Lust, he then brought out Mr. Grey who tours with KFV and has just released his new cd “Remain Raw”. The collab was mad fresh and they reflect off each other in a way only FU and Grey can! The set ended with KFV’s original fresh ass hit “Dead Girls Don’t Say No”. The whole crowd was jumpin and rappin right along with him. Hard to say goodbye at the end of the set and coming from one guy that was not a KFV fan before the show… I gotta say the feel of his set and the vibe I got from the crowd, KVF gained a new fan in me. (Hanka)
He stuck around all through the night hangin with fam, and signing autographs and slangin merch.
Main Act: TWIIIIZZZZTIIIID!
Electricity in the air, facepaint in the crowd. That can only mean one thing The Demented Duo has FINALLY returned to the queen city. From the second they stepped out on stage and that first bump hit from “Lift Me Up” you knew it was gonna be fucking W.I.C.K.E.D. Twiztid came out swigning with enough mostasteless songs to make even the oldest juggalo in the crowd happy. Doing only as Twiztid can they ask the crowd a simple question “do you wanna rock the dead”? The crowd erupted with love for that! Keeping things going they served up the crowd with some new flavor that was MAD Fresh!
One of the best moments of the night happened when the lights got low and the “DL’s” got thrown up. LOOTUUUUUS. Well not exactly but we did get both of their verses from “Headache” I popped the hardest of anyone in the crowd for that (Hanka)
Twiztid always being ones to please the lettes in the crowd, had to let us all know that “She Ain’t Afraid”. Which had all the lettes looking for someone to get their grind on with. (Hanka & Hashly Approves)
Hype show they closed with LDLHA-IBCSYWA which had everyone happy yet sad knowing that their time with Twiztid was coming to a close.
Hashly was all around the venue, press pit, backstage trying to get good shots. Even though her camera was less than cooperative, and her shots turned out soft focused. She and I both had a blast!
We wanna shout-out to the Fam for all the love and support and to Mr. Grey for supporting TJF and getting us inside the show with press access. We hope to see you all at the next show!
Bring a homie, but don’t bring your weed to tremont. You will get bounced.
Something else, is just that. It is something else. I may have my finger on the pulse of a very large following of tech and strange music fans, however it seemed that many where disappointed that this project was a huge feature album with many main stream artists. Well my personal opinion is this project shows that tech is not only something else but almost immortal – the change of inflection and sound of his voice on some of these tracks is a refreshing difference from his previous work and not just another project of tracks. With the rate that Tech has been cranking out music, this is not that same stuff you are used to hearing. Strange and Tech always bring something hot to the table and this is not different in that aspect, but enough different to snag my attention. Not only is tech something else, the music is something else. Do not listen to your would be friends on facebook and twitter who have a very different taste then you do, give it a listen and I guarantee there will be multiple tracks that you add into your playlists. -Hazin
Deluxe version of Something Else is as follows:
“News With Mark Alford 1″ (skit) – A news report of a meteor hitting KC area, pretty simple intro that grabs your attention.
FIRE
“Straight Out The Gate” (featuring Serj Tankian, Krizz Kaliko) – Straight out the gate is exactly what it is, coming right out of the gate this album shows you what its all about, Serj’s voice on this is classic Serj, and although I wish he would of had a verse of his fast hard hitting vocals, his slow hook fit perfectly with Tech’s verses. This is one track that has a video out already and the video is amazing, Serj’s Blue jacket is epic, Tech’s American Flag themed robes are crazy, the class room enviroment with kids glued to thier cell phones, and the screen having all kinds of references from Snowden, Paula Dean, the Boston Marathon Bombing, as well as twitter lines. Keeps your eyes busy giving you additional visuals to go with this track that will definitely be on a good number of my playlists. Music, Beat, Lyrically, Tech, Serj, Krizz, the video – Straight out the gate is a bomb ass epic track!
“B.I.T.C.H.” (featuring T-Pain) – Maybe I am just not a T-Pain fan, I did like him on “I’m on a Boat” but this track was just a little to much T-Pain repetitive for me. Track starts out great, love the audio and the twist of Tech’s voice, the piano and flow of the track through the verses are also fire. Lyrically love the concept, and unless you listen you’ll get the wrong impression. One run of the T-Pain section would of been good, Two would of been ok, but it’s hard for me not to just skip to next track when it comes up to wrap out the track.
“With The BS” (featuring Red Café, Trae Tha Truth & Big Scoob) – Another track with a Something else feel right off the start even with the crowd cheer in the middle of the build up. This is a classic hard beating track you expect to hear on a Tech project, I enjoy the back instrumental in the track, features where good sounding additions to the track. The song has a lot of meaning behind it that will relate to anyone who’s had to deal “With The BS”
“Love 2 Dislike Me” (featuring Tyler Lyon of Evalyn Awake & Liz Suwandi) – Slow female intro, I get into all kinds of music that would surprise many I am sure, however was not a fan of the intro all that much, the music kicks in hard and fast at just the right moment. Fast past hard hitting verse, that drops into a slow vocal with the same hard hitting music. The track continues with the great music track, hard hitting beats with a metal sounding instrumental that I liked very much. The slower paced feature vocals almost killed this track for me. Chaotic track for a chaotic topic though.
“Fortune Force Field” – No Features and a very mellow paced intro of tech that slowly builds and descends – great changes and very hard hitting beats to a mellow instrumental that goes perfect with techs flows on this one. I am not usually a fan of tracks that lyrically have to do with money as I don’t and many others don’t relate to being rich or the “problems” involved with being rich. However really liked this track as it really twists more into having dreams and reaching for them. This is one I will listen to often, going to be a classic Tech track I think.
“I’m Not A Saint” – Religious leaning track, and the “ohhohhohh” through out the track drove me nuts. Was able to tune it out and loved the beat on this one, darker track on a project that seemed more angel heart then it did evil brain. Dealing with ones inner demons and trying to balance yourself is a struggle on the daily, and this track high lights that. Extremely relatable for me. This would probably be one of my favorite tracks minus that one sample – remix??
“Fragile” (featuring Kendrick Lamar, ¡Mayday!, & Kendall Morgan) – A track kinda about people who do reviews, etc… ohhh dwamn. One of my favorite tech n9ne tracks ever, all features killed it on this one. Tech lets his feelings fly about his shit, and its good to know there are artists out there who still give a fuck about what people think. Now I am far from mainstream media, and not even remotely a decent writer – id like to think my pictures turn out good and I am sensitive about that shit, so even though here I am picking apart the tracks on this project and review his tours, this is very relatable, and should be to most people. I Have listened to the whole album a good 4 times now with the exception of this track, Priorities, and Straight out the gate which got probably double digit listens in as they are in multiple play lists of mine now. Ohh and I don’t hope for your demise.
“Priorities” (featuring The Game & Angel Davanport) – This track is extremely visual – would love to see a video of this one maybe – then again that might ruin it. With little other then vocals and some sound effects to enhance the mental visual. Closing my eyes I can see The Game and Tech running. Angel was a bit of stretch for me on this one, but easily one of the top 3 tracks on the project. Drop this in, with nothing else going on and let your mind run as this fills your ears. Ill be bold – this track is FUCKING REVOLUTIONARY!
“News With Mark Alford 2″ (skit) – Second Skit on the project that just builds on the first one, not just filler or garbage like a lot of skits that are out on projects now a days.
WATER
“Dwamn” – As Tech said on the strange music sampler – shocking a “Dwamn” Track has not been done before. I love the funkiness of the instrumental on this one, and beats hit solid and take a break during some of the flows allowing you to hear whats being said. Break down of the word, and who don’t enjoy a track laced with sex. Easily a track for the car, working out, or just your general daily play list.
“So Dope” (They Wanna) (featuring Wrekonize, Snow Tha Product & Twisted Insane) – The other track with a video out already, and it has amazing visuals, best way to grab attention is to back up some killer features spitting some hot flows is with some hot girls. Twisted Insane and Tech N9ne both spit out that classic fast paced flow that they are well known for and have both perfected. Wrekonize from Mayday fits right in with the same style and Snow brought a female twist into a track that was very male oriented. T9X comes to mind with the beat and references to drugs, which is one of my all time fav tracks. Track is in the water section of the project but its on fire!
“See Me” (featuring Wiz Khalifa & B.o.B) – Hard hitting beats and a variational flow that draws you in, features that sound great with tech and on this track. Instrumental that is catchy. Has that classic rap/hip hop feel to it. Very repetitive on the hook though – most music is, but it sticks out in this track a lot compared to the others on the his project. To the point where i have to hit next after the last verse so I don’t have to hear it again, like the T-Pain track.
EARTH
“My Haiku-Burn the World” (featuring Krizz Kaliko) – Tech spits his Haiku fast then drops into a mellow almost spoken vocals and then it picks up into a medium paced verse. The music is something else and not what you would expect to hear, Krizz on the track and also repetitive, I like the lyrics on this track – meaningful but overall this track just wasn’t for me. Between the instrumental and the voice infliction with the repetition I just cant get behind this one. Very main stream sounding as much as I hate to say that.
“That’s My Kid” (featuring Cee Lo Green, Big K.R.I.T., Kutt Calhoun) – As a single dad – this one hit a spot. Much like Mama Nem, this track will go down as a classic Tech Piece. I am not a Cee Lo Green fan at all – his voice has always just kinda hit a spot in my head, but he fit in on this track. Other features had meaningful verses. I really cant say enough how much this track hit home. Raised a Daughter that wasn’t mine, etc, etc. Thanks whoever wrote the verses and everyone involved in getting this track to my ears! Hoping this one has a video soon, my boy will cameo in it… Make it happen.
“Meant to Happen” (featuring Scoop Deville) – Another meaningful track – This one should hit a lot of people, lyrically on point, feature was spot on, slow instrumental that fits perfect and still beats on the subs. Really just focuses for me on not dwelling on the bad shit that has happened – its who made you today would be a good way to look at it.
“News With Mark Alford 3″ (skit) – Positive outlook on the ongoing news story. Enforcing this Angel Heart project – wonder if we can expect a more Evil Brained theme project next (the fans always want more dark tech n9ne music)
“Believe” – Very interesting sounding instrumental and faster paced beat, also another Positive piece on this project, I cant say it sticks out above any of the other tracks I have high lighted, but my personal opinion is that its a good track, not something id rock out though. found it extremely repetitive, which i hate saying all the time… Everything I review seems that way now, makes me want to go back and listen to Priorities again.
“R.I.P. Ray” (skit) – Personal Piece from Aaron to Raymond, nothing else to say here. R.I.P.!
“Strange 2013″ (featuring The Doors) – THE FUCKING DOORS! before hearing this track, I probably would of said I don’t care if your one of my favorite artists or not, don’t fuck with The Doors. However this turned out very well, I love how tech just throws down his lightning fast flows between Jim’s vocals. Hard heating beats on top of The Doors, its like this was meant to all fit together. This is one of the tracks on the project that makes you want to move, and who would of thought that?
“SMB” – Nuff Said!
BONUS TRACKS
“Colorado” (featuring B.o.B, Krizz Kaliko, Rittz, ¡Mayday!, Stevie Stone, Ces Cru) – Heavy Feature Track about that Good Colorado that I’m hoping to see at the GoTJ! Who don’t love a good weed track? With so many weed tracks out there, it’s nice to hear something that’s fresh on the topic. Sounds great, good mix of artists and mixed very well. Long track that would be perfect if your a toker to just kick back and pass one or four around!
“Drowning” (featuring Liz Suwandi) – Probably the hardest track for me to get into. Long intro by Liz Suwandi – and although I am a slow female vocalist fan, but this was leaving me wondering if she was a feature or had the whole track it seemed to drag on for way to long. Once the transition to Tech takes place, the music really stays the same and it leaves it hard to focus on the lyrical genius that is Tech n9ne, about the time I got used to it, it jumped to a shortened version Liz’s part again. This attempt at a darker track really just failed for me. Instrumental, Music, etc – this is my “throw away” track of the project if I’m being honest to my readers. But I am sure many will dig it.
“Thizzles” (featuring Danny Brown) – Danny Brown has been impressing me for awhile now, glad Tech got him on this track. Molly may or may not be my Saturday night GoTJ Date for this pretty much straight edge ninja. So how do you not enjoy a Molly Track with Danny Brown – interlace with sex and this sex addict has found a funky track that I really enjoy. Honestly am surprised I don’t find that main sound “Thizzles” very annoying. Danny Brown kills it on this one. This track screams Saturday night at the GoTJ for me!
Somebody Else (feat. Krizz Kaliko) – Sex track with multiple tempo’s and flows from techs classic lightning fast to slow spoken. Classic Tech/Krizz track and how they flow off each other. However to slow at the end for me.
Feels Like Heaven (feat. Krizz Kaliko & Oobergeek) – This track really solidifies this alum as a positive piece. Tech like many people have gained wisdom and learned from their evil ways as a younger person… Just a good sounding track from start to finish – meaningful but clearly a bonus track. Not a banger or something that will hit a ton of play lists I don’t imagine – but a good track to chill out to.
In closing – this project like most full albums by Tech N9ne – is a success. Tech although becoming more of a positive writer is not slowing down and he is not losing his touch with what people are going to enjoy – great tracks, and well worth buying it whether your a digital copy fan or a physical copy fan – I highly recommend this one. When most artists are putting out projects that have 1-2 solid tracks on them, I would have no issue putting in the physical copy of this CD in my ride and listening to it start to finish – minus skipping a few end hooks on a couple tracks. Although I tend to live more Angel Heart now that I am also older – and enjoy this whole thing, I do crave that Evil Brain writing style I know Tech can produce, and hope we get to see some more of that at some point.
Even though this is a huge feature album, I do hope to catch some tracks done live at some point – live music gives you so much more then produced music. I dont know how feasible it would be, and even when in same location things dont happen. But a Straight Out the Gate – Live would be epic – or Fragile. videos for Colorado, Thats my Kid, and Fragile would be amazing.
Tech is amazing when it comes to live performances, and one thing I always wanted to see was Demons – however with everyone needed to do it live at last years GoTJ it did not happen. Lets hope we can see some of these amazing feature tracks live at some point. There is enough on youtube to give your ears a listen, plus the Strange Music Sampler – but honestly, you are going to want this CD, so go out and get it now, you can order it online at:http://www.strangemusicinc.net/
The craving for the next event is always in me, just sitting back and waiting for some announcement of something I can attend where I get to spend time with the juggalo nation. With everything I do being focused around that amazing family love, on Saturday, March 22, 2014, I headed out to a local show at the Hideout. It was Omaha’s own P-tro, seen at the Gathering of the Juggalos 2013, with his entire Ellmatiq crew in the house for one hell of a birthday celebration. It was half way through the night, I knew I had to write up a review for the awesomeness that was experienced.
Now prior to this night, P-Tro had heard about my book, Growing Up Wicked and extended the offer for me to sell some of my books at their merch table for this show. This was an honor and a privilege I never thought I would have extended to me by anyone. In return, I had contacted P-Tro to see if he wanted some ad space in the back of my book, Living It Wicked. It seemed like a fair enough trade for the opportunity to get more of my books into the world and for him to get some information out about his music outside of Omaha…hell, these books have been selling across the country and a few around the world.
I showed up hella early. It said 7pm start on the event page so I was there at 7pm. Yea, it was not going down till closer to 9pm. I took a seat at the bar and chilled with a few other early arrivers. There is never anything wrong with being early. Soon enough, everyone started filling in…artist and fans alike. It was a regular juggalo party. As I sat at the bar, a semi-drunk guy came out and randomly said “Whoop Whoop” to the crowd of maybe 15 of us (at the time). It was an unconscious response as everyone collectively returned the greeting. This man must have been told to go say it because his reaction was priceless. He had the look of complete shock mixed with amusement and joy plastered across his face. It was a response worth a thousand words as he quickly learned how close knit we all are. It was like he instantly wanted to be part of us.
Soon I was shown where I could set up my books and I took my place at the merch booth. Then I waited for the night to truly get under way. P-tro hosted the whole night for his birthday party and one by one the five artists took the stage. I was blessed to have him announcing my book to the entire crowd. In a word, it was epic. I ended up selling 8 copies that night because Ellmatiq believe in helping people. No joke, they do clothing drives, toy drives and other shit to help out around the community. They are a bunch of standup peeps!
The whole night was magical in the sense it was not super packed but had just the right amount of people, everyone seemed to know everyone or at least got to know everyone through the night, and it was full of a bunch of artists that truly enjoy what they do. The performers of the night were G-sixty8, U2I, Mike Fantastik, P-tro, and Psych B. Although I didn’t know the music of most of the people who took the stage, mostly because it was my first time seeing some of them and 2ndfor others. I was impressed by how well each artist knew how to engage a crowd. The beats were bumpin, the lyrics written well, and the music itself was captivating. I found myself running around the bar mingling with people, talking about a variety of topics, and making new friends. I was dancing to songs I had never danced to, which for me, is pretty huge. I’m not the best dancer in the world, but if I can make a connection to the rhythm of the song, I can make it look like I know what I’m doing. Let’s just say, I could turn a few moves to the music I heard while at this show better than I could on stage with Vanilla Ice at the Gathering. Trust, that is saying something about the level of music I was hearing coming from all of these guys.
The night ended for the music and everyone still stayed to just kick it with each other. The term Ruckus is thrown around a lot at an Ellmatiq show and it certainly lives up to that name. I got to sit and chat with a lot of the Ellmatiq family and get to know them on a personal level. Each and every person is friendly and down to earth. I am always happy to meet new and interesting people and I hope to call all of these guys my friends for years to come.
Check out P-tro’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ellmatiqptro to keep up with his shows. He works very hard to keep music alive in the Omaha area and his label is quickly growing. I’m a firm believer in supporting local artists, so juggalos show him the love we all know we carry with our hatchets high. His next show is coming up on April 20 at the one and only Hideout. I know I will be in attendance. As always, much love and keep it wicked!!! Whoop Whoop!
This is a unsolicited review – and what I mean by that is, the artist or the label did not send us the CD and ask us to promote it, nothing was sent to us at all about it at all. So as a fan of both the artist and the label – I gave it a listen to see what they came up with for their first Psychopathic release in 6 years.
Summary – I really liked it, beats that drop, instrumental and samples that are not just basic cookie cutter stuff like most stuff coming out these days. Lyrical meaning and feeling. Hoping the sound and feel of this rubs off on the labels upcoming releases.
1. Intro – Although clearly the sounds of a fire burning and a fire truck – it is still sirens going, which is one thing I hate in music – nothing like sirens coming over the radio when your driving. Quick lil intro and then that’s pretty much where the staleness ends.
2. Us Against The World – A track about coming up with a nice electronic feel to the beats and a very clean and crisp instrumental – lyrics take you through the story of them against the world!
3. M.O.E. – A funky sounding track in a good way, great mix that puts depth into the project, a track about Murder – a hook that drops and sounds amazing
4. I Get Even – A track that has some great sounds sampled in, great for us add kids who don’t like to hear the same repetitive shit over and over
5. Smoke Kush – Colorado Juggalos – gotta have a track about the smoke! another funky style instrumental that fits the topic perfectly
6. Might Go Mad (feat. Insane Clown Posse) – Love this track, crisp and clean vocals from AMB and ICP – although a extremely repetitive instrumental – its a nice mellow track when your looking to chill out after Smoking some Kush.
7. Roaches – We don’t never die! A slightly less mellow track, dual artists group shine on tracks like this, change of pace and infliction between them highlights the lyrical talent of both artists.
8. Shine – Great beat, mixed amazingly – all sounds come together perfectly – probably my favorite track and is already on my daily playlist – so I try to pick this one apart the most… that annoying noise a lot of artists are using at live shows has found its self as a sample in this track a few times which I hate, but other then that and the repetitiveness at the end of the track, this one is fire.
9. Bleed (feat. Anybody Killa) – Digging the instrumental on this track – good beats, slower vocals which is nice – and a heavily electronic influenced hook. ABK’s verse flows great on this track and hoping to hear more tracks from the three of them together.
10. No Trust – Anyone who’s dealt with some shady ass significant others will dig this track – so everyone!! Everything pieces together great, to much repetition for me
11. I Keep It Movin’ – Another electronic influenced track and fast paced – yet flows great and easy to follow.
12. Listen (feat. Big Hoodoo) – News Samples from Kurt Cobain’s Suicide? – A very laid back track – one of the more meaningful tracks on the project as far as lyrical content goes and will touch many that way. Hoodoo’s voice goes great on this track – good to hear him on this one.
13. Runaway -Another track with a extreme mellow feel to it with some sinister sounding lyrics.
14. Nobody Get Hurt – Rasta sounding KMK style sound almost – wraps out the sound as the project mellowed out at the end.
In closing this project surprised me, I could listen to this start to finish which is more then I could say for pretty much most music coming out these days. A great mix of beats, instrumentals, samples, and overall sounds. I look forward to seeing them out on tour again soon – and have high hopes for their upcoming music. Very high on the “Us against the world” Mentality lyrically, and some tracks with lots of repetition, are the only negatives from someone trying to find negatives.
It came as no surprise that Juggalo Day 2014 would sell out with a quickness. Less than 48 hours and tickets were sold to the max. 1700 plus juggalos would then wait with desperate anticipation for the highly publicized Great Milenko show. For many juggalos, this CD marked their introduction to the world of the Dark Carnival, this author included. Although the day would mingle in the unknown of the 15th annual Gathering and much debated confusion over ICP, Twiztid and Blaze’s cover photos being changed to that of the Dark Lotus hand sign, Juggalo Day soon took over its much deserved focus of all in attendance.
Columbus, OH became the destination of the fam, with many coming in from out of town. Many arrived early, including those from True Juggalo Family. The hot spot of all the partying became that of the Days Inn motel off 17th and I-71. I was not surprised by the look of dread and fear in the clerk’s eyes when checking it at 11pm on the 16th. I was bombarded with a series of questions on why we were all there, when the concert was, and when we would all be leaving. The night before the grand show was filled with family love, faygo cake made by the awesome Asset of TJF, and the first of several fire alarms being accidentally set off. Every room, nearly, was filled with Juggalos and everyone was living it up to the best of their ability. It is still debatable on how much sleep actually occurred. “Fuck yo sleep!” was definitely thrown around a lot by some of the guests.
While partying the night before Juggalo Day, those at the hotel would soon learn our “gang” label would mean we would be refused service from the nearby Domino’s Pizza. When calling in an order, once they discovered the address to the motel, they would then tell us the kitchen was closed, even though their store hours would state otherwise. But, seeing as how Juggalos are crafty determined people, it was soon learned that downloading the phone app would null and void their discriminatory denial of services because they could not deny an order already processed for payment. Hazin then took the honors of ordering through the app to get some pizza. We would have our pizza…no matter what! Unfortunately, it looked like shit.
The morning of Juggalo Day, it seemed the family reunion would reach the inner city local restaurants. More than 50 juggalos would venture off to Tee Jaye’s Country Place Restaurant for breakfast/lunch. The establishment served old fashion country breakfast and lunch at extremely reasonable prices. The wait staff were friendly and accommodating. They did not even panic as nearly the entire restaurant went outside to form together for a group photo. It should be mentioned that this experience alone should prove why Juggalos are not a gang. A) We all paid for our meals. B) We took the better portion of 10 minutes to merge into a line to take a single photo. And C) we all returned to finish our meals. It was of some hilarity when the checks began to arrive at tables because the restaurant did not total the bills which lead to many a joking remarks of “but Juggalos can’t do math!” LOL
After lunch, it was back to the hotel to get ready for the concert. This Juggalo Day would offered the option of VIP, as the Mighty Death Pop Tour and Hallowicked did previously, but I was surprised by how it was handled this time. There was some disappointments with the VIP. There was NO laminate to be had. I, for one, was very upset by this. Having received laminates for the other events, it had started somewhat of a new collection for me and I was excited to have one from this momentous event. Instead we were given McDonalds wrist bands on the left wrist to prove we were VIP. If it was lost, you were out of luck. We were given a free concert shirt, but that was it. No other freshness to be had. No stickers, no free CD’s. Now I’m not going to say I expect these things, but $100 is a lot of money for just about 2-5 minutes with the guys, a shirt and maybe being on stage at the end of the night. Just saying.
There were upsides though, we were allowed first purchase at the merch table. This was only after some of us, myself included, were highly vocal about wanting to purchase items before entering the VIP tarp. Billy then informed those working the merch booth to start selling to us. I, personally, thanked Billy. Honestly, I’m not sure many around me even knew who Billy was. Thank you Hazin for introducing me to him at Hallowicked! J Another benefit to being VIP was we did not have to return outside to come back in. Initially we had the choice to go bak out to drop off things then we would get to come right back in, but eventually, they stopped letting us go back outside. We were also able to have first pick on where we wanted to view the show.
Unfortunately, everyone else who was waiting for the show was forced to wait until VIP had reached its end before they would allow anyone else in. This meant everyone had to wait outside in what started as rain but then turned to sleet and hail at one point. This meant each and every Juggalo was stuck, wet and freezing before they entered into the music hall. The climate inside wasn’t much warmer. It seemed like the heat was either not on or set very low, causing it to be difficult to warm up. I felt really bad because I was inside and my fam was outside, Asset and Hazin. Sugar Slam had posted to twitter the night before she planned on kidnapping Hazin so I began trying to watch for her to get her attention. Unfortunately, even though she came out to get food with lil JJ, I wasn’t able to get her attention to go rescue them outside.
The meet and greet was quick and was videotaped by several people inside of it. My guess would be they intend to put portions of it into the DVD. I have never been very outgoing in front of a camera, so my meet and greet experience was very short and even a tab bit uncomfortable. They sectioned everyone into small groups of 4-5 people to go in. Chop was there to assist with taking pictures, as usual. I was the last of my group of 5 to speak with ICP. I was celebrating my 30thbirthday while at Juggalo Day so ICP was more than accommodating with signing a birthday card. The best part of my experience in this VIP was that Shaggy remembered me from some time we hung out back last May, during the MDP tour. He looked up while signing other people stuff and shouted out “Hey!” and pointed at me. This definitely got me shaking a bit. Shaggy and I talked about how I had been and not much more during the meet and greet. He initiated a hug with me and had no problem standing rather close with his arm actually touching me during the photo we took. Even back in May, he didn’t put his arm on me.
I realized I didn’t really talk to Violent J much during the experience. Sorry, J, nothing personal. I clam up around cameras so I didn’t hang out long in the room. I think the only thing I said to J was in response to him confirming I drove all the way there to be with them for my birthday, to which I said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way!” I’m not even sure if I gave J a hug. The whole experience was a blur because I was shocked Shaggy remembered me. Flattered and happy, but still shocked.
Now with excitement and adrenaline running through me, I waited for the show to begin. I stood and chatted with some new friends and watched as they began allowing everyone into the venue. It was very small for the amount of tickets sold. There were two floors, the main floor and a balcony that appeared to have some seating available, although I never made it upstairs to confirm this. I took a spot at the front of the stage on the left hand side, just in front of the left speakers. I really had the perfect spot because it was next to an elevated section with a railing and next to the front barricade. There was just enough room for little me to stand there. I had another smaller barricade in front of me, but it wasn’t anchored down. I was able to stand there most of the show and dance and enjoy myself without being pushed down or squished. I realized at this point it was my 20th ICP show and I had never been directly in front for one. It was decided at that point, I would maintain my space in front…at least for half of the show.
The first band out was a heavy metal band straight outta Detroit called Downtown Brown. They played maybe a handful of song but they were really excited to be there. The music was good, they clearly have talent, but I felt they needed to work a bit on the flow of their set. The lead singer seemed to only want to feature the bass guitarist. After the third time of doing this, even the bass guitarist could be seen growing frustrated. It would have been nice to see him offer the drummer a solo or even performing one himself.
Claas and Bukshot were up next. Claas started the set solo before being joined by Bukshot. Claas performed to expectation, keeping the crowd engaged. It was clear Claas was doing all of his own singing at nearly 100%, but when Bukshot came out, it seemed more of his singing was simply him talking over the audio playing. I was slightly disappointed in his performance. I was half expecting Boondox to come out for an impromptu Underground Avengers song, but to my dismay, it did not happen.
Like most juggalos in attendance, we waited to see if there was any announcement made relating to Dark Lotus. There were several songs by Dark Lotus played between sets and even one of Twiztid’s new songs off of their non-psychopathic release was played, at least in half. They were definitely doing a good job of keeping the suspense building in all of us.
Jumpsteady was the announcer for the entire evening. He gave a very long speech at one point with some amazing points. The best of what he said, “We at Psychopathic, we provide entertainment for ya’ll, that’s what we do. There is no greater joy for us at Psychopathic Records, to work and bust our ass every day to provide ya’ll with entertainment. And I love my job because of ya’ll.” After this, he introduced Big Hoodoo. Now I have seen a few sets now by big Hoodoo, including his performance at the 2013 Gathering of the Juggalos and the 2013 Hallowicked. This performance was free of large stage sets. Free of all the lights and props. I was unsure of how he would do minus all these factors as these had been the more entertaining parts of his sets in the past. As a new artist, it takes some time to understand how to engage a crowd…and some never figure it out.
Big Hoodoo had a stage presence like I have never seen before. I was thoroughly impressed with his ability to rise and own the stage as he did the night of Juggalo Day. He had a young man who was working with him throughout the set to bring out his Hoodoo dust and was also spreading glitter very enthusiastically about the stage, but Hoodoo himself, seemed to capture the heart of everyone in the room. I found myself entranced by his performance and was singing along before I even knew it. I am very proud of his ability to own the stage and really set the tone for ICP to follow. I was not a big Hoodoo fan at the beginning of the show, but I would definitely attend a solo show for him now. Keep it up man! You are on the right track. Whoop Whoop!
After his set, I waited with baited breath for ICP to start. I will say it is a whole new experience knowing exactly what the set will be from start to finish. There’s no real anticipation or expectation of will they play this song or will they play that. There’s no curiosity on what the flow will be like or if there will be a bunch of faygo breaks. It’s Juggalo Day and it’s the Great Milenko cd…there’s no faygo breaks. It was strangely comforting to know exactly how the rest of the night would go. I’m ocd and very stuck in routine so this was a brilliant experience for me. I was also taking a long trip down memory lane remembering that very first show at 14 years old, now 30, for the House of Horrors tour where the Great Milenko was just released. As with every show, the lights went out, the crowd began to chant and push…then the intro began. With the entire family singing along, it gave me goose bumps from head to toe.
The intro played with no one on the stage, then as the Great Milenko started Violent J came out. He sang and took a nice bow to the crowd before Shaggy’s part started. Shaggy was soon out on stage and slightly messing up his lyrics. I am sure it has been a long time since they sang some of these songs, especially since several have never been played in concert. The faygo started with the start of Hokus Pokus. Remember when I said the venue was cold…well, mix that with faygo that has been sitting outside in that freezing weather and you get ice cold faygo straight to the face. At one point, the faygo was coming out slightly slushy. It soaked through the several layers of clothing I had on, chilling to the bone. But I still stayed right where I was, enjoying every second of it.
The night went by way too fast. The songs went on and on, each with the whole family singing along. The clowns on stage were sporting new masks I had not seen before. It was constant faygo and love the whole show. The camera crews were everywhere capturing the whole event from start to finish. Kevin Gill was out among the fam talking and snapping pics. Sugar Slam could be seen throughout the night mingling with everyone. She even stopped to say hello to me after I moved to the left side to wait to go up for Faygo Armageddon. I am still amazed at how short and beautiful she is, complete sweetheart. As I waited out the last few songs before the ending song, I stood on a small landing all the way on the left. This gave me a perfect view above the crowd.
My favorite songs of the night were How Many Times and Under the Moon. Under the Moon is a very special song for me. It is just one of those songs that I’ve always loved and I’ve found myself quoting the chorus many times in reference to people that mean a lot to me. I almost cried during that song, believe me the power of hearing that song live brought me very close. I was happy after that Chop had taken a short video of it and posted it online. Thank you for that!!!!!
What I did not expect was the ambush of people when security started allowing people up for Faygo Armageddon. This guy next to me was very adamant that he was getting up on stage. He kept interrupting my focus on the concert to tell me how I was not making it up because he and his buddies were getting up there. I was so soaked in faygo that I really didn’t care, but his rudeness was appalling. Dude, we are family…we don’t treat each other like that. He started pushing on the crowd from on top of this landing. He almost knocked over one of the smaller girls who was in the VIP room with me. At this point, I pulled him over to me and told him if he knocked her over I would put him on the floor. There’s only so much rudeness I can tolerate. He soon got down and stopped pushing on everyone. I decided it was best I did not go up on stage after dealing with him. I watched the night come to a close with tears in my eyes. It was a very emotional end because the feeling in the room just took over. There was magic and love everywhere I looked. Faygo rain, confetti, and a bunch of glistening soaked bodies. It really was a home coming for all of us.
We all returned to the motel. Showers and all around warm up were in order. We all had soaked shoes and clothes. We debated on going to the after party. We each had tickets, but lacked the motivation to go back outside into the cold. After much deliberation and a few people stopping by to kick it, it was determined we would not be making the formal after party. It was a blessing in hind sight because it was reported Boondox did not do well with his set, ABK was good, but ICP did not go to the after party. Instead, it was another full on party in the TJF room.
There were many visitors and many pictures taken. Hazin decided to take pictures of everyone that came to the room. It was a full on juggalo party complete with all our normal family extra-curricular activities. We ordered more pizza from Dominos through the app. As we waited, there was some discussion on playing a practical joke on the delivery guy. Needless to say, I don’t think that particular delivery guy will take an offer from a juggalo again. No harsh feelings yo!!!! If inquiring minds are curious, I’m sure you can find answers in pics found on the internet, but something’s are just better left unsaid.
The motel was a buzz the whole night. Fire alarms raging all night long. Prank phone calls between rooms. A nice little mote developing around the whole building. I think I passed out around 5am. It was one hell of a juggalo day!!!!
The next morning everyone began heading home. On our little journey home was muddled by me being sick, Asset being in pain, and a seriously long drive home. We did get a little giggle out of pulling over for lunch at a Waffle House. Out of the dozens we saw in route to and from the show, we just happened to stop at #420. LOL. I can’t make shit like this up! It was hilarious.
It will take a lot to top this experience. One of the best ICP trips I have ever had the privilege of being a part of. It will go down in history and I cannot wait to see the DVD. It is the first time I can honestly say, if I’m not see in the video, I will be super surprised. Keep an eye out for me at shows…just look for the Checkers!!!! Much clown love and a big WHOOP WHOOP!!!!! I love ya fam!!!!
Below is the images Hazin released from the show, you can see full quality shots on http://hazin.me
A group of Juggalos found out that one of their own had not eaten in three days, and there was no end in sight. He was considering getting himself arrested or even admitted to the hospital just to get something to eat. They couldn’t stand the thought of this ninja suffering that way, and so they worked together from three different states to help him out. Donations of time, money, rolling papers, and a vehicle to use for the trip were made.
After a two and a half hour drive in the rain and a stop at the local A&P they arrived at this ninja’s home.
When they arrived, they found the cupboards bare and the refrigerator virtually empty. There was nothing but a huge (no longer good) bottle of mayo, diced garlic, jelly, and a few beers (which he tried to offer to them).
The food was brought in, and pictures were taken to share with those who donated funds to make this happen, though they couldn’t be there in person. The only thanks they wanted was to know that their homie was eating once again, and to see the joy on his face.
Some people may be surprised at the generosity that was shown, or even surprised that people would be willing to put their own plans aside to make such a trip, but this is the Juggalo spirit. We are family and we will always look out for one another.
“Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.” – Unkown
“Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten” -David Ogden Stiers
