Line-up

Headliner
Insane Clown Posse Last time in Philadelphia: 7 years ago

Venue

Franklin Music Hall

421 N. 7th Street, 19123, Philadelphia, PA, US

Capacity: 3,000

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:00

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Insane Clown Posse biography

Cult hip hop crew from Detroit, USA, Insane Clown Posse, have been unnerving audiences for over twenty years with their distinct brand of horrorcore and trademark clown outfits.

Childhood friends Joseph Bruce and Joseph Ulster met in the suburbs of Detroit, where they would go on to form the gang, Inner City Posse, getting up to mischief and committing crimes which eventually led to Bruce's arrest and imprisonment. The group had begun performing and writing music but Bruce initially was motivated towers a professional wrestling career, although he became disillusioned after only a couple of years.

Having reunited with Utsler and the rest of the gang, they became to pursue a musical career more seriously, performing at local club nights as the Inner City Posse. Struggling to make money with their performances and releases, the group decided to try and move away from their gangsta-rap style and move towards emulating the horrorcore style of artist Esham. With the change of style, they decided to rename themselves as the Insane Clown Posse.

The group slowly built success, with a debut album, "Carnival of Carnage" (1992) that met with average reviews before fairing better with their second and third releases, EP "Beverly Kills 50187" and second full length "Ringmaster" (1994). It wasn't until their 1996 album, released through Disney's record label, Hollywood Records that Insane Clown Posse gained success, reaching number 63 in the Billboard 200, with the album eventually being certified platinum and selling 1.7 million copies, following its rerelease on Island/PolyGram Records.

Mainstream success arrived in 1999 with their record, "The Amazing Jeckel Brothers" which reached number four on the Billboard Charts, finding a growing fan base for their brand of hardcore hip hop and shock metal. They have developed a strong fan base, with their music achieving cult status. Their legions of fans describe themselves as 'Juggalos,' with Insane Clown Posse organising an annual 'Gathering of the Juggalos,' a festival for their fans and other affiliated artists.

With a steady release of records, Insane Clown Posse have achieved significant success, selling 6.5 million records in the United States. Their fan base is so dedicated that it caused the FBI to describe the 'Juggalos' as "a loosely organised hybrid gang" in a report in 2012, which prompted the members of Insane Clown Posse to sue the FBI for their assertion.

Live reviews

I’m not even sure where to start with Insane Clown Posse, so perhaps I should point out that, as much as anything else, they represent a three-way battle for the title of funniest rap moniker of all time, with the duo’s band name facing stiff competition from the individual stage names of Violent J and (my favourite) Shaggy 2 Dope. Probably best known for a feud with Eminem that began when the superstar was a relative unknown in the late nineties, the pair’s music has often been eclipsed by the prominence of their followers, the makeup-heavy Juggalos; it’s important to remember, then, that they’ve had two platinum records, and shifted in excess of six and a half million albums worldwide, too. With their most recent album, Freaky Tales, dropping in 2012, they’ve continued to tour, and as you’d expect, their live shows are suitably ridiculous affairs; their most recent shows, as evidenced by the footage of their annual Gathering of the Juggalos festival on YouTube, involved hordes of costumed juggalo dancers, a huge firework display and an onstage water fight. They rarely visit the UK, a wrong that at least 233 people, according to the Facebook campaign dedicated to the cause, believe should be righted immediately; maybe head over there and lend your support if you agree.

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