Behind the scenes for the greatest show on earth. The Insane Clown Posse set, WHAT!!!

Welcome back to the ROX-TV website, where we have mad love for Psychopathic Records, Juggalo Culture, and the Insane Clown Posse. The Gathering of the Juggalos had been a non stop party from the moment I got to Ohio, until the very last seconds of Saturday night. If you’ve been following the articles then you know that the ROX-TV crew was working on overdrive to capture as much of the GOTJ21 as humanely possible. Myself, DJ Carlito, and the Rude Boy had searched far and low, looking for all the best flavor and imagery possible to bring back to the ROX-TV viewers on YouTube and readers on the website.

With any mission of this size and caliber, there was bound to be a few gaps here and there, but all in all, I think we hit the mark. The last day of the Gathering was kicking off Saturday and it had been a long night leading up to the final day. I had covered the Project Born, Blahzay Roze, and Dayton Family performances at the Luv Rising stage. The night didn’t end for us until about 6am when we finally made it back to the house on Brushy Fork Road. We were all tired as hell, but it had been a minute since we last ate, so I broke out a few pounds of hamburger and got to work on some 6:30am tacos. As we ate, we talked about the day and the show, as well as the big surprise coming for Saturday night.

The Insane Clown Posse and Project Born were going to perform “Graveyard” for the first time ever live for the Juggalos and we were excited. The song was released in 1995 on the Born Dead 1 album and has always been one of my favorite songs…probably all time. ICP and PJB have done other songs together since that release, but “Graveyard” still stands on top of the mountain as the best (in my opinion).

7am

I finally got settled in and fell asleep after chomping on a few Benadryl. I’ve always had trouble sleeping, even when exhausted, so I figured a few little pink devils would do the trick. I drifted off to the great unknown and stayed there in a rather nice slumber until a loud noise came from the door. In my mind, no time had really passed at all. I was dead to the world.

11am

“Yo Mike, you up” Polk D said through the wall. I had been out hard and jumped up ready for war. It took a minute to understand where I was, I came out to see what was going on, with half my brain still lodged somewhere in Candy Land. “Yo, what’s up I said through cracks in my eyelids. “Nothing man, just making sure you was getting up G” Polk D said.

I looked at the clock at it was 11am. “Damn” I thought, I knew in that brief moment that it was going to be a long day, but we had to finish strong. This was the type of situation where you see exactly how long you can run on minimal sleep, but I was ready to soldier and dragged myself off to the shower. I was tired, but this was what I expected from the experience. No point sleeping the last day away, when so much was coming down the line. The guest appearance with ICP was enough to keep me going. On with the show…

2:30ish pm and onwards

Once again I found myself in the “Parking Lot of Death” and in the farthest row possible. By now I had grown accustom to the forty two mile walk and decided to stay the course. We carried the merch down to the main drag and waited for one of the Golf Cart Army rides to show up. I was still pretty tired and may as well been dreaming for all I know. I do remember stopping at the gas station for cigarettes, which had been over run with Juggalos. I don’t remember any civilians there and I assume that if I was driving to work and was a square, I probably would have kept going to the next gas station without three hundred Juggalos posted up.

We got back to our spot by the Clown Drip Stage and set up shop. There was a couple acts which I wanted to catch at the Clown Drip including La Purp, Cody Manson, and the Isolated Beingz. If my faded and short circuited brain remembered correctly, Cody Manson and the Isolated Beingz were next to us in the merch tent. Someone had a cooler at their spot and they were giving away free beer to anyone who needed a drink.

I thought that was fucking dope because everyone has been in a spot where they were hungover like rover or broke as hell, or just didn’t have the means to find a beer store…when they really needed one. A few rough looking Juggalos drifted over and were treated with ice cold beer. Talk about a classy act. One Juggalo grabbed three cans, which I thought may have been a slight over reach with the gesture, but those guys were cool as hell about it.

Later on in the night, as late as 9pm, Juggalos and Juggalettes were still wandering over, long after the guys had packed up and the free beer was gone, looking for the “free beer cooler”. It had become a legend in its own right, so much so, that hours later people were still looking for remnants of the fabled free beer giveaway. The Isolated Beings were going on stage at 3:30pm, followed by La Purp, and Cody Manson. The performances were all great and I was glad that I had gotten my dead ass up in time to catch the earlier slots. Somedays should never end and this was one of them.

Clock is winding down

After catching the performances at the Clown Drip Stage there was some down time, which I took to grab a bite to eat with Polk D at the pizza wagon “in town” (a cross section in the Juggalo tent city where the shit continued to be live no matter the hour of the day. It was like being on Main Street, only this intersection was smack dab in Juggalo town. I had passed this section of path several times over the course of the last couple of days and seen some pretty far out shit there. There was a wild ass Juggalo who was letting people staple money to his body which I thought was pretty hardcore and it looked like he had made a few green backs in the process.

A day earlier I had seen a Juggalo proposing to a Juggalette in proper fashion (congrats to you guys, whoever you are, may the Dark Carnival bless you with ten wild ass kids and good fortune). It was near the crossroads that Ninja Nate had basically rode on two wheels for about twenty five feet and when I thought we might actually tip that bitch over, but Ninja Nate never lost the plot. We grabbed some Stromboli’s in between random firework attacks and water gun ambushes. Thankfully the Juggalo Gods were looking out for me and I was able to drift in and out without getting tagged by flying projectiles or water. The food was good and I washed it down with a couple of ice cold Faygo cans.

There was a lull in the atmosphere, which can only be produced after the population had partied non-stop for over seventy two hours or beyond (mostly beyond). Some Juggalos were starting to break down camp near the Clown Drip and stage hands eventually started the process of deconstructing the stage. The writing was on the wall and it said the glorious run was almost over, but the night still held the greatest prize of all….Insane Clown Posse on the mainstage. I took the time to collect my thoughts like loose change in a wishing well. I needed to remember the moments and times, so that I could properly document it all at a later date.

I learned long ago to keep my head up and take everything in, you never know when it might be the last time you are in a certain situation or place. Time will always march on, so its good to take stock whether you’re on a winning streak or losing your ass down the river. This road of life isn’t so much about an overall sense of any one thing and judging a life doesn’t always have to be about what you have in the end. I feel like life is meant to be lived and experienced. The losses and wins don’t matter when your dead anyway, just the legacy you leave behind and the times you felt in the flesh. What’s the difference between a dead bum and a dead millionaire? Nothing, because they are both dead. The money doesn’t mean shit when you stop breathing, so relax, be who you are, be kind to others, treat everyone with respect, and don’t worry about it. The universe has a path for us all, so don’t be afraid.

I watched as the clock slowly began march towards 11:00pm, when ICP was set to take the stage. We still had a shit load of merch in the tent and it was time to start thinking about two things. Number one: we needed a cart to haul the loads back to the cars. Number two: we needed to get Frank Nitty and Polk D to the mainstage for the special appearance during Insane Clown Posse’s set to perform “Graveyard”. I have always been a nervous wreck with big items and arriving ahead of schedule. Until we were backstage, I wouldn’t be able to relax much. Frank Nitty just laughed, cool as a cucumber he was. Gary had went off in search of a cart, but I had my doubts. Not in Gary’s ability to succeed, I just didn’t think there would be one available. I started to sweat a little bit, but Nitty said “Gary’s all over it, come on now, this is Gary”. I should have trusted the wise words, but I figured by 9:45pm that the Golf Cart Army was parked for the night. I hadn’t seen one buzz by in over an hour or two.

I started to pace and smoke cigarettes like a guy in his last hour on Death Row. I should have taken my own advice and relaxed, but what can you do? Eventually Gary found a cart and saved the day. No sooner did they start to pack up, when Nitty, Polk, and myself made our way down the hill. The crowd was already at the bottom and the place was filled to the max. Everyone had come down for the same reason and waiting for the Juggalo nirvana to kick off.

Gate One

We arrived at the far gate and made our way to the gate keepers. “Sorry no one is allowed backstage” said one of the workers. We told them that Project Born was there for the performance but the trio looked rather unfazed. “Yeah no one can get back there, not even workers” said the guy and his co-worker chimed in “yeah they even made me walk around” in some interesting attempt to back her guy. I don’t think they understood that we were there for a performance, not just a Sunday stroll on Saturday night or looking for a short cut to the exit.

I decided to interject some and said “this is Frank Nitty and Lil Polk of Project Born” hoping that I could get past the pre-conceived notions about the order for no entry. “I know who Project Born is” the cat said in a sharp tone. I thought about shouting “then what the fuck is the hang up jones” but instead opted for the smooth ride. I simply dropped my gaze and waited. I think the dude sensed a bit of frustration and that maybe we really did need to get backstage because he said “look it’s just been a long couple of days”. There seemed to be no movement and Nitty said “we’re performing “Graveyard” with ICP”.

The three gate workers looked uncertain about what to do, so they got on the radio to verify. I couldn’t hear what was said but the demeanor seemed to change. “You guys can head over to the info tent for a ride” the woman said and I was grateful that everything had worked out. “Thank you so much” I said and we started off towards the opposite side of the stage. I had seen the info tent from the night before, so I led the way into the vast sea of humanity. We managed to work our way through the bodies and popped out on the other side in about five minutes.

Info Tent

We went over to the info tent, with the clock almost out of time. We were behind a Juggalette who was talking to the guy behind the table. I could see that they were both into each other and the lovey dovey vibe was all over the place. After a couple of minutes I started to panic. “Get the fucking number bro” I thought as they both gazed into each others eyes and leaned in to talk into each others ear, which is the only way to be heard at a large event, but also serves as some type of bizarre mating/flirtation chance for those looking for the love and touch. I was happy they had found each other and maybe they were talking about “info” related to something other than fucking but judging by the look in their eyes…I doubt it.

With almost no time left on the clock, O-Girl stepped aside and the homie turned his attention to me. “Hey what’s up man” I said. “Project Born is checking in, they are performing tonight with ICP and need to get backstage”. The guy looked at me and said “sorry no one can get back there tonight”. I said that I understood that but Project Born was going to be performing in a few minutes and needed to get stepping. The guy looked at me like I was crazy and said something that resembled the same thing he had just said.

Maybe I wasn’t saying the shit right although I felt like it was a pretty straight forward type of deal. I’m sure these guys hear a thousand stories a night from people trying to gate crash and I totally understand, this just happened to be the one time that was exactly what I said it was. “Can you call someone, we were told to come over here from the other gate brother” I said, hoping this time I somehow said the words correctly, like a magical combination that I needed but didn’t know the numbers too. The guy shook his head like “sure but it won’t work” and got on the radio.

Thankfully, the radio told the man whatever we were doing was legit and that a ride was coming down to pick us up. I felt better, knowing that we were in the fold and as we waited for the cart to show up, I looked around the massive crowd of Juggalos. It was a beautiful sight and the moon was high in the sky and full to the max. I was grateful for everything the universe had thrown my way and couldn’t believe how far I had come, from a young teen in the early 1990’s gazing down at the first copy of Dog Beats, to the point where I was about to enter Juggalo ultra heaven (fucking backstage bro) with Flint Town’s finest Project Born.

As the cart pulled up, I thanked the guy and we headed over to the cart-mobile. The dude was friendly and we took off into the sunset (past the first of a series of gates and check points). The place was tighter than Fort Knox and it had to be. Super fans like Juggalos will do anything to meet their heroes, I get it. My hat is off to all the workers that had to try and contain the Juggalo/Juggalette tornado for three long days (even the dude at the first gate, he was just doing his job after all and I can’t hold that against anyone).

After two more checks, we were cruising behind the massive stage. I couldn’t believe I was there in that moment. It was spectacular and I was aware of how lucky I was to be where I was. The plan was to take pictures of Project Born for a new project we have cooking on the stove and to get footage of the performance of “Graveyard”. It was the first time the song was ever being done live and it was going to be one for the ages. (Don’t be surprised if this event turns up in a book at some point)

Backstage

We arrived  to our destination and Project Born got ready for the show. I was still in awe and kept pinching myself to determine if I was awake. The roar of the crowd and the constant drum of fireworks exploding in the sky only added to the excitement.

Within minutes we were going up a ramp and were directly behind the stage props and a rather large curtain of sorts. Shaggy 2 Dope was there and Violent J was down by the other side, waiting for the show to begin. Shaggy came over and greeted Project Born, giving them daps for good luck.

I checked my camera and it was still working so there was nothing left to do except wait and observe. I could see giant boxes full of Faygo, just waiting to be launched into the sea of Juggalos pushed up against the front of the stage. The action was steady with everyone getting ready for the performance. Clowns, Monsters, and Circus freaks were everywhere. The Dark Carnival was getting ready for the show of a lifetime.

I had been backstage with Project Born at the Big Ballas Christmas Show and also at the Prom Night Massacre show, but this was something else all together. This was the Gathering of the Juggalos show, the biggest night of the year for the Juggalo Culture. I was at ground zero MFERS and it felt great. I stayed at the ready and held onto Project Born’s gear as they left off with a runner. It was time…the clock had stopped.

Show Time

FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY roared the crowd in a deafening wall of unison. The lights were out….then a huge boom from the speakers….the curtain slowly opened and an onstage Carnival came to life complete with a mini Ferris Wheel, Carousel, and much more. “Ahhh HEY YO CHECK IT OUT MAN, ICP BACK IN THE HOUSE MAN, VIOLENT J MAN, 2 DOPE MAN, WICKED CLOWNZ MAN BHA HA HA” sang 2 Dope and every fucking Juggalo and Juggalette in the place. Even writing this four days later, I still get goose bumps and a tingling in my forehead just thinking about it. The Clownz were on the loose and all was right in the world.

Words really do this experience no justice and although I had a job to do for Project Born, it really was no job at all. I was exactly where I wanted to be, around the people I wanted to be, hearing and seeing everything I wanted to see, and enjoying ever fucking last second of it. If that’s a job, than I finally found my calling after twenty five years of shitty jobs washing windows, dishes, working at a video store, fucked up security jobs, hospital jobs, college jobs, municipal jobs, concrete labor, floor cleaner, weed dealer, weed grower, taco bell employee, night watchman shit, weed festival gate guy, alcoholic, and twenty seven time rehab loser. I had finally found my home and true calling. Do I believe in the Dark Carnival? Your fucking A right my man. All I can say is to follow your dreams and follow your heart and you will end up where you need to be and you will know when you get there because all will be right with the universe.

I love to write, I love this Juggalo Culture, and documenting the history for all time is what I set out to do after trying the other avenues society had offered me in the past. Obviously the Insane Clown Posse set was amazing and when Project Born took the stage to perform “Graveyard” with Violent J and 2 Dope, I did what I needed to do. Everything was glorious and when it was over, I sat with Frank Nitty and Lil Polk aka Polk D in the hospitality post up. I grabbed an ice cold Rock N Rye from the ice filled Faygo bin and toasted the night. What more can I say? Here’s to Project Born for believing in me and the Dark Carnival for the Culture. MAY IT LIVE FOREVER!!!

 

 

 

Signing Off,

Mike Shepard

ROX-TV Head Writer

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