ICP reopening 'Riddle Box' in time for Juggalo Day full interview 

Insane Clown Posse has a post-Valentine's Day treat in store for its fans: A full front-to-back presentation of its 1995 album “Riddle Box” performed live at Saint Andrew's Hall in Detroit.

ICP's Violent J liked the idea of performing an album in its entirety, which artists from Pink Floyd's Roger Waters to Rush have done in concert.

“Riddle Box,” ICP's third album, was the first time the horror-rap duo started making noise outside of the Detroit area, and represented a breakthrough for the group. Revisiting the album in recent months, J says he was flooded with memories of being new on the scene and just starting to make waves.

“You can only be new once,” says J, on the phone last week from the Farmington Hills headquarters of Psychopathic Records. “You can stay fresh, you can stay dope, but everybody only gets to be new one time. And those were the days when we were still relatively new.”

J was living in downtown Detroit in the Riverfront Condominiums at the time, and he remembers doing concerts at Saint Andrew's and having wild afterparties back at his place. He remembers making the album in producer Mike E. Clark's basement in the pre-digital era, when he and his partner Shaggy 2 Dope would have to perform everything just right — in addition to vocal duties, they had to work the studio equipment — or be forced to do everything all over again.

“Riddle Box” produced several hits for ICP, and the remix of “Chicken Huntin'” that appears on the album — the original was on 1994's “Ringmaster” — remains the group's signature song. Many “Riddle Box” songs are still staples of the group's live sets, while songs, such as “Ol' Evil Eye” and “The Killing Fields,” haven't been dusted off in years.

“I'm looking forward to some of those (lesser-known) songs,” says J, now 40 and a father of two. “They may not be the ideal concert song, but I'm looking forward to doing them because I'm proud of them. Whether or not the crowd is jumping along doesn't really matter on this particular night.”

This particular night has another treat in store: the return of the rainbow of Faygo flavors the group used to spray on its fans. For most concerts In recent years, ICP had switched to using Diet Faygo flavors, because they don't erode the group's sets the way Faygo's sugar pops do. But since this is a one-night-only event, there's nothing to destroy, so all the old favorites are coming out: Red Pop, Rock-N-Rye, “the full plethora of flavors,” J says.

The “Riddle Box” concert originally was to take place in November, but got shuffled to February where it happily coincides with “Juggalo Day,” a date for fans to celebrate all things ICP.

The has turned Juggalo Day into a weekend-long occasion that includes a Juggalo Championship Wrestling event at Saint Andrew's Hall on Saturday, an afterparty at the Ritz in Warren Saturday night and an in-store event at Rock of Ages in Garden City from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. The added events give fans coming in from out of town more to do, says J.

ICP isn't finished doing full-album concerts; the group plans to perform its 2002 album “The Wraith: Shangri-La” in concert later this year and is toying with the idea of doing another full “Riddle Box” presentation at this year's Gathering of the Juggalos in August.

Meanwhile, ICP is busy cranking out videos from last year's “The Mighty Death Pop” album. In early February, the group shot a video for “Forever” at Detroit's Masonic Temple, and videos for “Where's God?,” “When I'm Clownin'” and “The Mighty Death Pop” are forthcoming.

Violent J says he's still “'Mighty Death Pop' crazy,” but he's pumped to spend a night looking back at “Riddle Box.” And he's excited to do it at Saint Andrew's Hall, which he considers “legendary.”

“You know, they always talk about all the great bands that come through Saint Andrew's,” he says. “I hope in the future, they include us on that list.”

The Warlock said:

rather see the krayshean version haha.. they should do one for juggalo juice & ghetto rainbows…

i could see them making a juggalo juice video at tha gathering like they did with juggalo island

but give it time im guessing  they’ll probaly make videos for most of all three albums The Mighty Death Pop! ,Mike E. Clark’s Extra Pop Emporium.and Smothered, Covered & Chunked