ICP’s “The Marvelous Missing Link” Tour – Dallas, TX (10/18/15)

April 23, 2024

Reviews > Event Reviews > ICP’s “The Marvelous Missing Link” Tour – Dallas, TX (10/18/15)

Insane Clown Posse

The Marvelous Missing Link Tour - Dallas, TX (10/18/15)

Southside Ballroom in Dallas, Texas

Friday 23rd October, 2015 by Scottie D | 0 Comments

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(6 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Here we are, just a few days after the Insane Clown Posse barreled through Dallas, TX for the first time in over 5 years! The Marvelous Missing Link Tour all but destroyed the Southside Ballroom in a few short hours, and it was a night that I’ll never forget!

Juggalos in the Dallas area have been feeling neglected for the past several tours. Most of us have traveled to Oklahoma City, San Antonio, or Houston to catch whatever the current ICP tour was at the time. Taking an extra day for travel is always a pain, but the anticipation of a Wicked Clown show makes the trip bearable.

*Side note: on the last tour, Shockfest, we traveled to Oklahoma City just over a year ago. While we were away, a small tornado ripped through my neighborhood causing 10s of thousands of dollars of damage to my house alone. Luckily, nobody was injured, and I’m thankful that we weren’t there to experience it.

Anyways, back to the review. LiveNation owns the Southside Ballroom, and days before the show, we were told by random ninjas that they weren’t selling tickets at the box office due to poor presales. We were told that they said they hoped to cancel it altogether. Again, this was the first clown show to even be scheduled in Dallas for over 5 years, so everyone was on pins and needles up until the day of the show.

After conversations with our homies at Psychopathic, we found out that the show WOULD go on, and Juggalos from the DFW breathed a huge sigh of relief. We are pretty sure that LiveNation just didn’t want to do the cleanup involved after hundreds of bottles of Faygo soaked every crevice of the venue.

Fast forward to show day. It was a Sunday, so if you planned to work the following Monday, you’d probably be going with a hint of a root beer smell, no matter how many times you showered the day before. I actually rather enjoy that though.

I had some homies that came in from Houston (what’s up Donnie and Sheri?), and a good personal friend of mine who hadn’t been to an ICP show since the last time they were in Dallas. V-Tre decided that he was gonna go all out for this one. After a gracious gift of a VIP experience from our Houston homies, he was gung ho about the night he was about to have.

Some other OGs came out to witness the spectacle too, even though they aren’t into the Juggalo scene anymore. Whether you are still as hardcore of a fan as you were at day one, or you eventually drifted away from the scene as a whole, you can’t deny the fact that Violent J and Shaggy put on one of the best shows that you will ever see! My homie G-Dub is a Gathering veteran, but he hadn’t been to one in years, and decided to venture out to the show at the last minute. Another friend of mine named C also hadn’t been to a show for a minute. His girlfriend of several years had never seen ICP either, so they made the trek out, citing their reluctance until the moment they walked into the venue. I knew they were hype as hell about it on the inside though…

After getting our 4 year old situated with a babysitter, it was time to head out to the Southside Ballroom! If you’re going to a Juggalo show of any sort, especially on a weekend, you know that there will be a parking lot party in effect for a majority of the day. This show was no different! We rolled up to the venue at about 6 PM and already started getting shout-outs and “whoop whoop”s from Juggalos before we even parked! We found our homies Marty and Courtney, got parked, and kicked it with the fam for an hour or so before heading inside.

In the meantime, V-Tre, Donnie, Sheri, and a handful of others were all having their VIP meet and greet. Our facebook feeds started filling up with pics of our Dallas homies with the Duke of the Wicked and the Southwest Strangla!

It was time to head up to Will Call, pick up our photo credentials, and get inside the venue. Unfortunately, the local support for the show had been cut (citing low ticket sales as the reason), so we knew the tour package would be starting at any minute.

After making a quick convo with Menace of TrueJuggaloFamily.com, we were through the doors! To our surprise, Dope D.O.D had already started, and it was barely 7:30! Just letting you ninjas know so you get to the show early! I busted out the cell phone and started up Periscope for the few of you who checked that out. I also had my GoPro handy, but wanted to conserve battery for the onslaught of Faygo that we would all be receiving!

There may have been 100 people inside at the time, but Dope D.O.D rapped their asses off anyways! Unfortunately, the guys are relatively unknown in the states, so I think Juggalos were just trying to get a feel for them as they paced back and forth on the stage. They threw a few shirts into the audience which livened everyone up a bit. Juggalos love FREE SHIT after all!

After their short set, we figured we’d probably have some time to kick it with everyone on the smoking patio. I don’t know how it’s been in other cities, but we couldn’t have been more wrong! Halfway through our walk to the smoker’s lounge, Young Wicked hit the stage!

Young Wicked!

I made my way to the front of the barricade to Periscope a few songs, and he definitely got the crowd more hyped up! My wife Amanda, Ed Steele, and our FLH photographer Jet Yonkin were snapping away with their DSLRs while I provided some entertainment for the 50 or show Periscopers watching from home! After the allotted 3 songs for media, we made our way back into the crowd and watched the remainder of the set. Young Wicked performed a few Killjoy Club tracks, and his verses from an AMB track or two, but mostly stuck to his most recent release: SLAUGHTER. He even gave Faygoluvers a shout-out from the stage, and mentioned me specifically saying that I knew were the “good green” was at. My homies and I all laughed about that since I’m not a smoker, but I’ve definitely got my connections if and when I ever decide to start!

Young Wicked’s set was probably 25-30 minutes, and so I figured we’d have at LEAST 5 to chill outside with some ninjas. Wrong again! They had all of the acts moving like gangbusters tonight! I bet there was a 30 second interval between Young Wicked leaving and DJ Paul coming out.

DJ Paul was on top of his game that night! He had the crowd moving with Three-6 Mafia classics like “Ridin’ Spinners”, “Sippin’ on some Sizzurp”, among others! He gave props and love to Lord Infamous, and Koopsta Knicca who also recently passed. That ninja’s facial expressions during some of his tracks were a sight to see too. He would pause in the middle of his verse, just hold the mic out, and glare into the audience. This was during some of his more well-known tracks, so maybe he was taking a breather to let the fans put in some of the work. At any rate, his set was solid, and you should definitely pick up his solo LP Master of Evil once it drops on Psychopathic Records on October 30^th!

DJ Paul!

P.O.D. was due up next, and even though the show was moving along at a furious pace, we knew there’d be at least a few minutes of downtime to setup their instruments. Amanda and I went outside and finally ran into some of the people we knew would be there but hadn’t seen yet. There are too many to list, but you all know who you are! V-Tre was on cloud 9 after his VIP experience. It was the first time he had any kind of interaction with Violent J and Shaggy, so he told me how it went. He had what I thought was a genius idea in that he brought a baseball for everyone to sign! So he had J, Shaggy, DJ Paul on there, as well as some Juggalos and Juggalettes who were in attendance. How dope is that?

While I probably shouldn’t tell you this, there has been a campaign started to get pictures of me with ninjas flashing their male nipples in the background. It has been somewhat successful, but I am now doing everything in my power to avoid it. Lol. I dodged a few that night, and think that I came out unscathed. I also spoke to quite a few Juggalos who gave Faygoluvers huge props, telling me how long they’d been checking us out. After the thousands of hours that we have spent over the years on the site, hearing that never gets old. Much love to all of you who still check it out and continue to spread the word!

*SIDE NOTE 2: Amanda had texted me at some point before P.O.D. saying that there was an issue with our press credentials. Security up front had told Menace from True Juggalo Family that we would no longer be allowed in front of the barricade without an actual camera. They said that live streaming the footage could get them into trouble with the bands performing. From what I understand, Menace flipped his lid on them and set the record straight. He had been working with LiveNation through booking with 462 Concerts for YEARS, and had a good relationship with them up to this point. He threw a little of his weight around and got shit straightened out for all of us. I understand where security was coming from, but much props to Menace for working it out for everyone there who covered it for their respective outlets!

We heard some sound checks coming from the stage inside, so we wanted to make sure that we got inside in time to catch the first three songs in front of the barricade. I know that they are billed as a Christian rock band, but you forget how many mainstream hits that P.O.D. has had over the years! It’s not just “Youth of the Nation”, but you also forget about tracks like “Alive”, “Southtown”, and “Boom”! I found myself repeatedly thinking “I forgot about this one!” They started out saying that they were scheduled for a 45 minute set, so I was thinking sarcastically “OH Great…” But the time flew by, and as all of the other kids who grew up in the 90s, I found myself singing along to at least half of their set. They really surprised me, and kept the crowd’s vibe up as we all eagerly awaited the headliners for the night!

P.O.D.

We had the biggest amount of downtime after P.O.D.’s set. I don’t remember exactly how long it was, but I’d say roughly 20 minutes or so. The stage hands quickly broke down the instruments and rolled the Faygo barrels out. I thought it would have started sooner, but those two lonely Faygo-filled barrels sat on stage for several minutes before we saw any other movement. Soon enough though, the lights dropped, and the venue was pitch black. We used our cell phone lights to maneuver our way through the audience and up in front of the barricade in preparation for ICP!

One of the security guards was decked from head to toe in a rain poncho, boots, and everything that could prevent him from getting drenched. I asked if he had done his research before the show or something, and he said that he worked one of their shows 18 years ago, and he LOVED it! He just knew what to expect! Much props to that security ninja who was super cool to us the entire night!

Now it was time! There was an intro track that played for roughly 2 minutes before anyone hit the stage. It was a montage of movie clips and sound bytes to get everyone ready for the set! What got everyone extremely hyped was when the Ultimate Warrior theme song started playing! It got a HUGE pop! As it played, the curtains opened revealing the Marvelous Missing Link (Found) as the stage set, and Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope were introduced! They both appeared and quickly went into their first track: “Explosions”! I had the Periscope rolling, along with my head-mounted GoPro, and it was on!

Young Wicked came out to sing the chorus of “Explosions” to open up the set, and the hundreds in attendance were bone dry at that point. They transitioned into “Chicken Huntin’” and performed it to a hype ass crowd in its entirety! Still…no Faygo. One ninja watching the Periscope feed from home even asked “Do they still throw Faygo?” Having seen them 4 or 5 times since they started taking the “dry approach” to start their set, I knew what was coming. “The Show Must Go On” was third in their set list, and once the chorus hit, half a dozen clowns came out and DRENCHED Juggalos and Juggalettes in that diet Root Beer goodness! J and Shaggy quickly joined in the festivities launching Faygos to the back with precision! Unfortunately for us with media passes, we only got to stay through the rest of that track before being asked to leave the barricade. That’s OK though, because I wasn’t even close to finished enjoying the show yet!

I left the GoPro rolling and went to stage left where most of my regular crew was watching from. C and his girl Benita were standing just out of harm’s way from getting soaked. G-Dub was sitting there nodding to the music, but back in the day we used to get live in the middle of the crowd. I got behind him, put my hands on his shoulders, and pushed him and I through the crowd all the way up to the middle!

J and Shaggy performed Juggalo favorites like “Hokus Pokus”, “Bazooka Joey”, and “In Yo Face” as we worked our way closer to the front! Though we were getting hit with a little bit of Faygo where we were, it was relatively light compared to other Clown shows I’ve been to. We’d have to wait to see if it stayed that way for the rest of the night.

“Halls of Illusions” and “Fuck the World” were belted out from the stage before our first FAYGO BREAK! Clowns with buckets full of Faygo came out dancing while the sticky goodness sloshed around inside of their receptacles. On queue, a wave of Root Beer splattered all over everyone within reach!

“Bitches”, “Crooked Preacher Killers” and “Tilt-A-Whirl” were next, followed by the track “Juggalo Party” from The Marvelous Missing Link (Found). While I dig that track, I’m not sure if it works for a live performance. I’m not sure how well it has gone over in other cities, but it seemed to bring the energy level down a bit. That was the only lull of the night though. After that one, we got a dose of “Birthday Bitches”, and “The Neden Game”! Juggalos, if you haven’t seen “The Neden Game” performed live in the last year or two, it’s fucking AWESOME what they’ve done with it! J and Shaggy go through their verses drenching themselves in Faygo, and throwing it back and forth at each other! It’s super dope, and I will never get tired of seeing it!

We got hit with “Boogieman” and “Dead Body Man” and then it was time for another Faygo Break! After the Faygo, they started to perform “I Fucked a Cop” from the new Marvelous Missing Link (Found) album! 3 scantily dressed Juggalettes hit the stage to dance along to the song. I recognized one of them instantly. My homie Kenny D has been seeing a girl named Kim for a little while now. I have met her a handful of times, and seen her at shows getting wild in the pit. She was up there center stage dancing her ass off to the delight of Juggalo onlookers! At the end of the track, J and Shaggy took an audience poll, and she was voted the best of the 3 “cop” dancers! She got the prize of having J and Shaggy drench her with a few bottles of Faygo. She looked like she had an incredible time for sure!

“Assassins” was next on the list, followed by “Let’s Go All The Way” to which a TON of confetti was scattered into the open hands of Juggalos and Juggalettes in attendance! It of course all stuck to us, which I think ICP gets a huge kick out of. We got a performance of “Play With Me”, “Vomit”, and then “Homies”. Earlier that night, I was told that those who purchased VIP passes needed to head over to the side stage during “Homies”, and wait for further instructions to take part in the Faygo Armageddon. Now while I didn’t have a VIP pass, I figured that Amanda and I could give flashing our press passes a shot. What could it hurt, right?

After “Homies”, we were corralled backstage and waited for the go-to finale track, “Bang! Pow! Boom!”, to start playing. V-Tre was back there along with Ape Boy, Jaclyn, Cody, and several other Dallas ninjas! We were all eager with anticipation! A stage hand guarded the steps, and we waited for our queue to join Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope on stage to send Dallas out with a BANG! We were sent up the short flight of steps, and out into complete Faygo anarchy! Remember how I said that the show seemed to be relatively dry? Well I officially recant that statement. There were hundreds upon hundreds of Faygos raining onto Dallas Juggalos and Juggalettes!

Amanda went stage left, and I headed to the right and grabbed my first bottle of Faygo next to the homie Bonez Dubb and my ninja Joka Child! From that point, it was motherfuckin’ ON! After participating in a number of these at Gatherings and on tours over the past few years, I’ve gotten my technique down! I use a variation of Violent J’s technique where I shake the bottle up, bust the cap open, spray about half of it, and then cork it with my middle finger and launch it from there! I got some major distance at the Gathering, so I was hitting ceilings and back walls at this relatively small venue! In the middle of the pandemonium, I tried to teach Amanda my technique since I saw she was having problems trying to launch them. Her fingers are just too small to get a good seal on the opening, but she had a hell of a great time anyways! At one point, she opened a bottle to spray it, and while most of it was spraying all over her, she screamed with pure joy “I SUCK SO BAD AT THIS!” It was adorable! Lol.

I saw V-Tre having the time of his life onstage too, chucking bottles into the drenched onlookers while he danced like a fool. I tried showing him how to get some distance too, but he couldn’t get it down. Sounds like a Faygo launching session is needed at our next backyard BBQ!

I laughed like a lunatic the entire time I was up there. No seriously, the sounds coming out of me were ridiculous! See it for yourself courtesy of my GoPro footage:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/YJayj4_KaQo[/youtube]

All in all, we stayed on spraying Faygo for over six minutes! I’m gonna say it again for those who haven’t read a review of an ICP show by me…if you have NEVER done a Faygo Armageddon, make it a point to! Save your pennies, get you a VIP Package, and experience it at least once in your life! Don’t forget that you also get whatever fresh VIP merch comes with it, and you get to chat and get your pics with Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope! If you can’t make it to a Gathering, this may be the next best thing!

That’s pretty much it for this review! Dallas finally got its first Wicked Clown show in over 5 years! It was every bit as fresh as we could have wanted it to be, and hopefully word of mouth gets back around to the ninjas in the area who missed this one in time for the next one! My homie G-Dub had such a great time that he even booked a trip to Detroit for Hallowicked the next day! It’s gonna be such an awesome weekend! I hope to see you all there, and hope that you enjoyed this probably way-too-long review! Peace y’all!