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Insane Clown Posse

ICP's "The Riddle Box" Tour - Indianapolis, IN

Emerson Theater in Indianapolis, Indiana

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Hey Jugga-Fam! This is yo girl Hashly Haze, once again here to review the Riddle Box Tour, but this time, I left the dirty south and went to Naptown!

This isn’t going to be quite like my other reviews because this time I took my 15 year old daughter along for the experience. We had to make a road trip to Iowa for some family business and Indianapolis happens to be our normal resting spot for that all too familiar trip because it’s our halfway point. Since it was such an awesome coincidence that the tour was hitting Indy at the same time that we would be there resting, we decided to book a hotel and hit it up! The most exciting part of it for me was that it would be my daughter’s first ICP concert. I’ve been gathering and going to ICP shows for about 9 years without her and was ready to show her what the fuss is all about.IMG_3687

I don’t know about anyone else, but I have let my children listen to ICP and form their own opinions. I have 3 kids, Kaitlyn is my youngest. When they were very little, I knew that they didn’t understand the lyrics, besides a few hooks and it was cute to see them bounce their heads to the beats. My daughter Kaitlyn’s favorite song was “Bring it on” from the Jeckyl Brothers album. My boys both preferred the Riddle Box album, but all of us kind of have our own musical flavor now. Kaitlyn is an open minded kid and loves all types of music.

As a Jugga-Mom, I was GEEKED to finally show her my cherished world and extended family. That being said, she is 15 now, so the innocent pig tails are gone and I had to consider all the bad things that could happen in a strange place, Juggalos or not. I made friends online before hand by simply making a post on FLH’s facebook wall. Thank you to all the Indianapolis Ninjas who reached out to me through that. It meant a lot to know that there were people I could rely on in unfamiliar territory if something stale went down and we needed protection.

Speaking of eminent danger, I wanna SALUTE the people of Indianapolis for their ability to live in a place that floods instantly when the rain comes. I was horrified and in a complete panic on your streets. Indianapolis is DANGEROUS in the rain. On my way to the venue, it was raining so hard that I could not see through my windshield. The water filled the streets up to the fenders on MANY sedans as I sat in my Jeep and prayed not to be swept away or for my engine not to stall from the rising water. You couldn’t see the ground, so I had no idea what I was driving over or how deep it was. I am SO glad I drive a Jeep…that SUCKED!

When we arrived at The Emerson Theater, there were already Juggalos lined up around the block, standing in the rain. There was no electricity on the entire block. My first thought was that the concert would be canceled, and my heart sank, but I grabbed my cameras, locked my car and headed towards the growing line.

The rain slowed down and I found shelter on the front porch of a random business with some locals and they were all super friendly. The convenience store next door was stocked with every flavor of Faygo a Juggalo could ask for, which was a total plus. One family had their 5th grade daughter with them and she was telling me stories about her first gathering. Personally, I would never expose my kids to a gathering at that age, but to each their own. She was a cool little ninjette! The rain stopped and I did my thing, taking pics of interesting people in the line until I reached the door.

There seems to ALWAYS be a problem at the door.

This time, my name was not on the list at all. So here we are, in Indianapolis and I had NO WAY to prove that I’m SUPPOSED to be there. I told the box office lady that I’d find Billy Bill and clear the matter up. I looked EVERYWHERE for Billy and could not see him because the electricity was still out, but between Scottie’s ninja tactics and my own persistence, he was found and I was finally allowed inside. And JUST LIKE THAT, the lights came on in the venue. The building seemed to shake from the cheers and applause from the Juggalos within. I took Kaitlyn’s hand and made my way to the front of the stage and introduced myself to the staff. The security people were SO NICE! I think they knew me as a FLH representative because NO questions were asked and I was given full access to the barricade for the entire show. I’m usually asked to step to left or right stage after the first 3 songs. It’s such a relief to have trust and access in a venue. Sometimes I get stuck with stale ass dudes who think that standing right in my way is their job. I HATE that. I told them that I needed to keep my daughter and equipment where I could see them at all times. They invited Kaitlyn to sit dead center inside of the barricade with us. That was AMAZEBALLS! It meant that I didn’t have to worry about her at all! They even gave her some neon glow bracelets and told her to have fun. I was very grateful.

I ran into DJ Carlito right before things started and told him that I had missed his set in Atlanta and he just hugged me and said not to worry cause I’d see him play tonight. I felt great. I was pumped and ready to party.

The first group up was called Bulletproof & The Fool. This is an entire entourage of eye candy, which included a man in a mask, a sexy female cop and I’m not sure what the gimmick was with the blond chick, but I’d buy whatever she’s selling. She was just DSC_0081HAWT! The two performers were doing some dope dance moves and their songs were fun and energetic.. My daughter was having a blast. They threw posters, glow sticks and merch items into the crowd and I really felt the love from them and for them in the venue. There were streamers and silly string flying through the air and it was over way too fast.

I started thinking to myself that it was time for DJ Carlito. I was excited to finally get to see what he brings to the Riddle Box tour! I waited around and spoke to the guards and the fam in the crowd. Before I knew it, Young Wicked was on the stage. Ok, W.T.F.? I was truly confused because ALL I saw Carlito do on the stage was mess with some cables on the turn tables.

Maybe I just don’t understand what his job actually consists of… To me, a DJ stands on the stage and spins, like what I see with DJ Clay or Mike E. Clark, but that never happened. I was confused and felt let down because this time, I never left the front of the stage…I couldn’t have MISSED it his performance and I felt…well, stupid.

Anyways, Young Wicked brought the freshness back to my soul and I started snapping away. My one complaint about the venue is the same as it is ANYWHERE else…the lighting was KILLING me. There is NO setting on my camera for INTENSE RED LIGHTING or strobe flashes, so I knew that my photo quality wasn’t going to be the best. I shrugged it off. Acceptance is a better reaction than panic. I set my camera down and partied with my daughter for a while. We were swaying and singing along for Y.W.G. as the crowd held up their lighters, just like they had done in Atlanta. We both got super crunk for the Killjoy Club songs. She was digging him, but couldn’t figure out the connection. She looked at me and said “How do I IMG_3527know him or this music?” My answer was “Hanka (my boyfriend) bumps it all the time.” She still looked confused, so I pointed to the Killjoy Club flag that was on the stage and she instantly remembered that Hanka just got a new KJC tattoo and it finally clicked. She doesn’t know anything about AMB and had never heard of Young Wicked, even though I have him on my ipod, so it made more sense to tell her that Killjoy was a super group like Dark Lotus, but not all the members were there, so he was doing short versions of the songs she always hears in the car with us. She said he was way too bouncy to expect a good picture and I had to agree, that ninja is FAST and energetic as hell. It felt good to know that she empathized with my struggles to photograph live performances. That was a total aha-moment where we connected. Mom’s job ISN’T that easy, HUH KID? LoL

After his set, I saw Carlito again. He took the turntables off the stage just before the black curtain went up to prepare the stage for the Riddle Box. So I guess he’s a roadie? I’M STILL PUZZLED.

The air was very humid inside the Emerson. My cameras were both fogging up just from being in the room. My heart was starting to sink again, but I remembered that it wasn’t really about photos this time, it was more about showing Kaitlyn the ICP experience first hand. I knew she was going to love it.

I asked her if she was ready for her Faygo shower and she just grinned and said “I’ll do it for you this once”. The feels hit me really hard as the curtain fell and Violent J hit the stage. Watching my daughter’s eyes light up when he came close to her and seeing the recognition come over her face as the music played and Shaggs walked out was almost enough to make me cry…in a GOOD way.

I could tell that she was excited to be there and my heart was full. I did my thing, snapping pics and dancing around the barricade. The moment the first Faygo was cracked, I stopped dead in my tracks and just watched my little ninjette dancing in the rain. It was hard not to just watch her while she watched them. By the end of “The Show Must Go On”, we were drenched. When she heard the beginning guitar riffs of “Chicken Huntin'”, she RAN her little ass all the way to right stage and pressed herself against the wall. When the feathers started flying, I could barely see her laughing at me through them. I guess she knew that was coming and had no plans of getting feathers stuck in her hair…well, the joke was on her. There was nowhere to escape, the clowns flooded the venue with feathers and threw at least 2 Chicken boys into the crowd that I could see.

“Toy Box” was spent picking feathers and streamers out of each others hair on the side of the stage and dodging the Faygo spray with my cameras. We both had to laugh, we were a complete mess, but so was everyone else.

Then the “Cemetary Girl” came out. She was beautiful, creepy and Violent J danced and romanced that gorgeous corpse around the stage like a real O.G. Playa. I love the whole spectacle. Call me a romantic.

The next few songs were spent switching from wet cam to dry cam and ducking the Faygo and catching glimpses of my baby girl watching clowns and zombies dancing with decapitated heads. She was just having a ball! I loved seeing her smile so much. 15 year old girls scowl at their moms a whole lot more than they smile at them, so it was a rare treat.

I was getting really excited during “Dead Body Man” because I knew what was about to happen next. I snapped my last few pics before “Lil Somethin’ Somethin”, stashed my cameras in a plastic bag behind a speaker, and stood by Kaitlyn and waited.

As soon as Violent J invited the Juggalettes to join him on the stage, I was in position to hop up. I got myself up with no problems and reached for Kaitlyn as one of the guards lifted her up to me. We danced over to the Faygo and I handed her one and we both IMG_3846started to spray the crowd. She stood at the head of the stage and that’s when she really let loose. As soon as she was done with a 2 liter, she’d reach back to me and say “Again!” So I just stood there between her and the Faygo handing her a new bottle every few seconds. All the lettes started rushing the stage and it was a very intense moment of pure joy between Kaitlyn and I. Violent J was even sweet enough to get out of her way as she danced past him without even noticing him there. I had to giggle. He and I made eye contact and I felt like he knew that was my kid..I don’t know why..but he smiled at us and put his hands up and let her pass. IT WAS AWESOME.

Coming down from that stage was awful. There was a lot of us trying to exit and it was a steep, narrow ramp and there was no light. We would have been better off jumping down.

The next few songs were a blur to me.

Kaitlyn kept saying she was cold and ready to go take a shower, so I was pretty distracted. When the “Killing Fields” was ending, I made my way to right stage and tried to catch a few pics of Faygo Armageddon. Young Wicked and Shaggy stayed in the front of the stage for most of “I’m Coming Home”, so I got some kick ass shots of them launching Faygo with the fam. I stayed a couple minutes afterwards to get a couple shots of the mess we left behind in the Emerson Theater and I was invited to the after party, but in all honestly, I didn’t have an extra $10 to spend getting in. I figured that was the universe telling me to just stay in the hotel with my daughter and be happy for the fact that we shared that experience together. It was enough.

It was a 20 minute ride back to the hotel, so I asked Kaitlyn what she thought about the whole thing. Her response was merely, “It was fun, but it’s just NOT my thing. I’m cold and have never wanted a shower more in my entire life”.

I know that she had way more fun than she will ever admit and I will remember this experience forever. I want to say Thank you again to Scottie D. I can’t begin to repay you for these experiences. I’ve worked for TJF and JN in the past and I will always appreciate them and their role in my path of life, but FLH has won THIS Lette’s complete loyalty for as long as they will have me.

Thanks to everyone on the tour and to all of you who took the time to read this review or look through my photos. I love my fam and I hope to see you all at the Gathering!

Location:

  • Emerson Theater
  • Indiana
  • United States

Guests:

  • Young Wicked, DJ Carlito, Bulletproof & The Fool

Tour:

  • The Riddlebox Tour

Record Label:

  • Psychopathic Records

Websites:

Reviewer:

Review Date:

  • 06/25/2016

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    Faygoluvers Comments

  1. Rosco

    Rosco

    Comment posted on Thursday, June 30th, 2016 03:37 pm GMT -5 at 3:37 pm

    Dope review!

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