REVIEW: Insane Clown Posse at Manchester Academy 2

Bradley Cassidy | 23rd November 2017

Whoop Whoop all Mancunian Juggalos and Juggaletes! Insane Clown Posse recently just played the UK for the first time in 14 years. After having the gig be rearranged in terms of venue and date the Ninja’s finally descend upon Manchester Academy 2 for what promises to be a show that people will never forget. 

The choice to have the show use an MC in terms of Kevin Gill works exceptionally well as it makes the Psychopathic Records laden show have a strong sense of identity towards it. His presence is welcomed by the Juggalos in attendance and works really well towards the madness that is about to ensue.

Staring at the stage for Big Hoodoo’s backdrop gives a great sense of atmosphere towards the gig especially as all that is at the front of the stage is the poster itself. Hoodoo proceeds to play several songs off his two albums; Crystal Skull and Asylum.

Hits from Hoodoo include; Never Had and Hexed which leads to a huge singalong from many in attendance. In terms of Hexed especially the mix of the atmosphere from the stage and the strong look coming from Big Hoodoo’s makeup makes the set one of the best of the night.

The next band  on really felt out of place due to them being the only metal band on the entire bill but Death Blooms more than held their own. With hits in terms of I’m Dead and Hate:Die coming from the bands debut S/T EP within the set gives the feeling of a band who could be huge in their own right, possibly equating the size of a group such as Architects in future years.

Unfortunately the band split opinion of the audience due to the vast difference in genre, perhaps if the gig had occurred where it was meant to on Friday and Mushroomhead had also been on the bill (the band had to end the tour early due to touring commitments) it might have been easier to see why Death Blooms had a place on the lineup.

Within saying that however they managed to get a decent pit started, so the potential for growth and improvement is there, especially if put on a more metal friendly lineup.

Ouija was the next rapper on the bill and whilst it was nice to hear him on the bill, it sucked that fans only got two songs in regards to both Talk About It and TRASHFIRE. The rapper also relied heavily on a backing track and whilst it did make him seem of a better quality live it also took away heavily from the experience.

In terms of Ouija he was barely on stage enough time to really make an impact on people and whilst it was nice to see him live, all it achieved was making fans wish for a longer set. Ouija played no tracks by his main band Swag Toof so the opportunity to make an impression was pretty much lost entirely to the audience.

LYTE was the next act on stage playing tracks primarily from his debut album Psychopathic Monstar. He came across extremely well live leaving his rapping ability open for the audience to see. LYTE matches the fast paced nature of Tech N9ne perfectly with the honest and punchy lyrical expression of early Eminem giving an intense impact for all in attendance.

Tracks such as No Sleep worked really well in demonstrating LYTE’s rap technique whilst On My Way gave a great singalong moment for the Juggalos. Fttbbr was also a great moment in the set as Hoodoo, Ouija and several clowns came out with buckets of confetti to throw at the audience in attendance.

In truth this might have been technically and proficiently the best set of the night, LYTE looks set to be the next big rapper to come from the Psychopathic label with fans thinking he can reach the heights of someone like Twiztid or Blaze Ya Dead Homie. Their Mancunian show with Insane Clown Posse only proved this further.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMQpzRu6dgQ

Of course the night belonged to headliners Insane Clown Posse. It was obvious that the security had been briefed on the madness of the show, due to many of them wearing rain coats. For those not in the know the band have a habit of throwing out Faygo (an American soft drink) at the crowd.

With roughly 50 bottles of the stuff on the stage at any one point, and it being regularly replenished by the clowns on stage with them, several fire buckets full of it and hoses sprayed over the Academy crowd. It was safe to say they made an impact.

What truly matters however is the music that ICP might produce and whilst critics might say it’s stupid, inappropriate and even potentially dangerous, especially with tracks such as; Boogie Woogie Wu, F*ck The World and Murder Rap in the set it’s easy to see why there are many who would turn their noses up at going an Insane Clown Posse lineup, especially for those heavily into Rap or Metal.

Whilst the show did have all this, constant shout outs were their for the Juggalo family, and that’s what truly makes ICP as great as they are. With negativity being shown to both the FBI (who famously listed Juggalos as being a gang) and O2 (the band was originally scheduled to play the O2 Ritz) being shouted by the band during their set it becomes easier to get on board with what they’re doing.

Not to mention tracks such as Hokus Pokus and Tilt A Whirl being genuinely singalong moments for the live set plenty can be said about the quality of ICP and what they mean to the Ninja’s who have followed them for years.

Looking into the crowd there’s fans of all ages, genders and races coming together for a common purpose, there’s many that saw the band back in 2003 and even those that have traveled to America to go the Gathering Of The Juggalos, leading for the band to have an intense cult following.

With a lineup as stellar as this and one which had such a niche but dedicated fan base leads many to hope that the band will return sooner rather than later. Unfortunately the last time they played was 14 years ago, so thoughts are that it’s unlikely to be any time soon, we can only hope.