Twiztid and KMK fire up the ATL

Friday, May 4th, 2012
Twiztid, Kottonmouth Kings, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Big B
The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
$28

Ever since I made it to my first (and only, besides the Gathering) Twiztid show back in November of 2010, I've been longing to make it to another one of their shows. They were fantastic in a small venue, and while I really loved their Gathering performance as well, I was eager to see them in a more intimate setting again.

For a brief moment at the beginning of the year, I thought that Twiztid was going to be playing at a venue just outside of Nashville due to a cryptic Facebook status by the venue, but that apparently fell through. But later, when an Atlanta date was announced, I knew that it was time to make another trip to the ATL! And what's even better is that they were touring with the KOTTONMOUTH KINGS!!! During the Gathering, my pathological liar of an ex-boyfriend caused me to miss almost their entire set, despite them being one of the main acts that I wanted to see. So I was extra, super excited to get to see them as well!

On the day, I slept in and was on my way to Atlanta by about 10:30am. After checking into my hotel (the same one as last time, but wow, had it gone downhill), I got showered, got dressed and did my hair and makeup. I grabbed some McDonald's for dinner on the way out, and didn't get stopped by traffic until I was within about 3 blocks of the venue. On the way in, a guy merged in front of me, then someone in the back seat hung out the window and flashed a wicked clown sign at me...haha awesome!


TwiztEd

Once I made my way inside, the first thing I noticed was how the venue was already really full of people. And the second thing I noticed was that it was FREAKING HOT inside. Since there were so many people there, I staked out a spot on the left side of the stage, and was about 5 people back from the stage at that point. Before the lights even went out, everyone around me was complaining about how badly they were sweating!

Once the lights went out, the first performer was Big B. Oh my...



...why did no one ever tell me that Big B was exactly "my type"??



I'd heard some of his music but somehow had never seen a photo or video of him. Note to self - seek this out, cuz he's very nice to look at. Aside from all that, I thought his performance was great, and everyone showed him a lot of love.

I find it so very unfortunate that, amid all the excitement about seeing Twiztid and KMK, the fact that Blaze was performing tonight as well didn't get as much attention as it deserved! I LOVE Blaze, and I think his live performances are great!



When he came out, he did almost all of my favorites, including Riding the Whip, Escape Artist, Dub Sack and Damn Bitch (which got shortened to only one verse...MAN I wish the guys from KMK would have surprised us and came out to sing their verses!!).


Blaze up!






Once again, hundreds of sweaty Juggalos throw their arms in the air for Escape Artist

As always, his performance was awesome. Blaze is exceptional at making eye contact with people all throughout the crowd, and eventhough I was at least three people back from the stage, he still managed to pinpoint me and look me in the eyes a couple of times.

After Blaze, the crowd started to push forward and compact, and I ended up sandwiched behind a large, soft guy, and a girl about my size. And it was SO HOT...my hair was soaked, I was sweating through my clothes, and this girl in front of me in a tank top actually had sweat rolling all down her back and arms. Ewww haha. But at least no one had BO. Thank heavens for small blessings, huh? :-)



When it was finally time for KMK to perform, their entrance was grand and amazing! They came out full force and immediately the crowd was going insane with excitement. After a minute or so of being onstage, D-Loc took a face-first dive into the crowd right on top of me! So I ended up being one of the people to help push him back onstage! Their performance was non-stop energy and action, and the crowd never seemed to lose their excitement.



The KMK performance was truly amazing! They always stayed right up at the edge of the stage, and were constantly moving around so everyone got a good view of everything.





















The performance actually went on for so long that it seemed like its own headlining performance, and not one of someone opening for another act. At one point, the girl in front of me got kicked in the head VERY hard by a crowd surfer. So hard in fact that she looked like she was going to pass out, though she refused to leave her spot so she could sit down. And at a couple of points, the crowd was so rowdy that the entire floor of the venue was bouncing! That's just a little bit concerning seeing as how we were on the second floor!

After KMK had been on stage for over an hour, I was really starting to get wiped out from the heat, the excitement and the standing. At one point, one of the guys told the crowd to move to the right, then back to the left, and that was when it really started to hit me. I was feeling just a little too faint to continue standing there sandwiched between so many people in the sweltering heat. So I ended up retreating back to the bar area and getting a bottle of water.


I know that there's a little corner of heaven that looks just like this

KMK continued on for another three or four songs, which really amazed me. Those guys are beasts! They were going at full throttle for well over an hour and didn't even look winded! haha Their performance was fantastic, and it alone made the entire trip worth it. Once they were done, it was surprising to see how many people cleared out of the venue and didn't even stay for Twiztid. I watched maybe 150-200 people just stream out the door. At this point, I caught up with some homies from Nashville who I hadn't been able to spot before the show started. But we couldn't linger long because Twiztid was on their way to the stage.

My friends stayed back a little bit, but I wanted to head back toward the front and get as close as I could. I ended up to the left again, but was a good 20 or 25 feet back from the stage. I had a good view, but I didn't get the quality of pictures I would have liked since I was so far back (and because so many people continuously held their cameras in the air to record the show). Twiztid are such amazingly talented guys, so it was awesome to be seeing them again!



Much like last time, they seemed to concentrate on their older Mostasteless/Freek Show stuff, as well as stuff from W.I.C.K.E.D. I really wished that I had been able to stick it out with my close spot, but the benefit of being back further was that I had more room to move around and get into the music. Since I was more comfortable, at some point I just got lost in the music and the time seemed to fly by. When they were done, it seemed like the set had been really short, but I don't think it was. It was clearly shorter than the really long KMK set, but it was easily an average set length.









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Blaze came back out onstage during Triple Threat


OMG look at his face! I wish I remembered what Monoxide was doing to cause this reaction!

At the end of the set, just like last time, they hung around the stage and talked to the audience, which of course turned into improv comedy after a few moments! Madrox is freaking hilarious, and it was funny to watch Monoxide just sort of stand there and laugh at Madrox at times. He told some joke about a woman being so gross that her face smelled like a fish patty, and used the phrase "a bitch with tartar sauce in her mustache" which made the whole crowd laugh hysterically. I LOVE these guys. It just made me that much more excited to catch their seminar again at the Gathering this year!

Once the show was over and the venue started to clear out, I caught up with my Nashville homies again and we all walked out together. My hotel was just a quick drive away, though I did stop for a fruit punch on the way back since I still felt so dehydrated!

This show was a fantastic experience, and worth every penny I spent to get there. It was really like two shows in one...you had an amazing, full KMK show with Blaze as an opener...then almost as a bonus, you had an awesome Twiztid show afterward! Even with as much as I love Twiztid, I must say that KMK really owned this show. So eventhough I was upset when I missed their set at the Gathering, it was pretty awesome to have my first experience with them be in a smaller venue where I was so close.

Overall, the show was really amazing, and an experience that I hope to have again, sooner than later.

Boondox and Blaze on Beale Street

Friday, June 24th, 2011
Boondox and Blaze Ya Dead Homie
The New Daisy Theater, Memphis, TN
$16
See all the photos from this show here

To say that I was excited for the Boondox and Blaze show in Memphis is an understatement. Almost since the very day they announced this tour date, I was jumping out of my skin excited to see Boondox perform live. I'd just missed his performance at the Muse last June because I wasn't listening to his music yet, which was such a bummer once I found out about it. So when the Sticks and Headstones tour started announcing dates, I decided that I really, really wanted to try to catch a show if there was one anywhere near me. I'd already seen Blaze open for Twiztid last year, but I am always up to catch a performance of his again too.

Once I bought my ticket, I convinced Pamela and Nick to go, and eventually they convinced Pamela's cousin Shawn to go. I got a steal on a Holiday Inn Express room in south east Memphis, and also figured out that Dennis, Amber and Brandon (AKA Lazee, Eazee and Moonshine), who I'd met at the last ABK show at the Muse, were going as well! It was gonna be the perfect little mental recharge that I was needing!

On Thursday night, I slaved over a hot stove to make up two dozen of my Faygo Moon Mist cupcakes, and hit the bed, sleeping remarkably well considering how excited I was! I picked up Pamela, Nick and Shawn at 11:00 on Friday morning, and we started off toward Jackson, where we would meet up with Dennis and Amber.

When we arrived, we went straight to the Casey Jones Village since I knew how to get there easily.


What? You've never seen Juggalos hanging out at the Old Country Store??

It was so funny to be walking in and feel so totally and completely out of place! haha You could tell that people were looking at us, wondering what kind of mischief we were gonna cause haha. But all we did was buy ice cream (cookies and cream...mmm...), buy some candy, then head outside to hang around and wait for Dennis and Amber. While we waited, we listened to the Bluegrass music and danced a little, while reveling in the irony of it. There was also some crazy bird in the area who was freaking out because we were near her nest, so we decided to move before any of us got pecked to death!


Yep, no one looked at us strangely AT ALL

After about an hour of just hanging around and having fun, Dennis and Amber arrived. Dennis handed off his copy of Behind the Paint and Big Money Hustlas to me, and we all hung around and chatted for a while. Once it started to sprinkle rain, the four of us headed out to find a Dollar Tree so we could buy some umbrellas, then head off to the hotel in Memphis. We found the Dollar Tree easily, but there were no umbrellas (just as well since it never rained more than just a sprinkle). We also grabbed some drinks at Starbucks since we were right next door.

After another hour and a half of driving (and a good, hearty laugh when we saw a dead sheep on the side of the road!!), we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in south east Memphis. Even though I had booked the room for three adults, we were given a room with a king bed and a sofa bed, which sucked, but we had to take it since we were only gonna be there one night and I didn't have time to try and move somewhere else. Once we were checked in, we quickly unloaded our bags and started to do our paint. Mine took about a half hour and went on remarkably easily, considering that it took me about an hour the last time I did it. Pamela got hers done fairly quickly, but Nick had to abandon his ABK paint in favor of easier Blaze paint since we were starting to run out of time.



I really loved the way I looked...cute pink plaid top, my favorite jeans, pony tails and Boondox paint. Awesome :-)

We were supposed to meet the rest of the crew on Beale Street at 5:00. Of course, it was around 5:15 before we were even leaving the hotel! The GPS in my phone got me there flawlessly, and we ended up arriving just a little before 6:00pm. We found Dennis and Amber, along with Brandon (Moonshine) and their friend Vikki...none of which were painted! Ugh! But we had tons of fam hanging around with us who had taken a moment to paint, so we weren't alone. It was so cool to be right there in the middle of everything going on on Beale Street, and have all the tourists in the area looking at us as though we were a tourist attraction! It was crazy, and so fun!


The New Daisy Theater marquee


Nick, Pamela and me, hanging out before the show

After mingling a bit, I decided that I needed to have something on my stomach before the show because I'd be starving by the end of the show if I didn't. Pamela and I went across the street for a slice of pizza, but eventhough the doors were unlocked, the restaurant was closed, and the employee was acting like "What are you doing in here??" Just looking for pizza, dude. Chill. So we went a few doors down and found a diner where I grabbed a burger for dinner.



Shawn sat down to join us after a while, and I even got a hug from another Juggalo walking by who was happy to see us! We also got a show from a drunk Juggalo who was rolling around out in the middle of the street, attempting to breakdance. Everyone was chanting "Go ninja! Go ninja!" which made me and Pamela laugh hysterically. Moments like that are exactly why I love the fam!

Once dinner was down the hatch, we went back over with the rest of the crowd and mingled.


Nick and Pamela, ready for the show

Pretty soon everyone was crowded up at the doors, chanting for them to open up. Eventually the venue started to admit people in groups of about 6 or 8 so everyone could have their tickets torn and get searched without there being too big of a crowd.


A random box of face paint laying on the ground...you ain't gonna see that at the Ted Nugent show!

Pamela, Nick and I were in the fourth or fifth group let into the building, which meant that we had great front row spots just off to the left of center! Awesome! I parked myself directly behind one of the speakers, with Pamela to my left and two very unenthusiastic people to my right. After a quick bathroom break, we made good conversation with everyone around us about the Gathering, AMB, Tech N9ne and whatever else came up.



After about an hour, Crazy P and the Marauders took the stage. They were pretty good, and did a good job of getting the crowd warmed up for the bigger acts to come.



After them came the Gangstabillies, who were really, really fun. They had a lot of good songs, and a great stage presence that really involved the crowd. My favorite part though was when they had some trouble with their sound equipment and ended up having do almost an entire song a capella. It sounded amazing! They should just drop the music from that song all together because they sounded fantastic and perfectly on beat without it. That's some true talent!


Me with Dennis, Amber and Brandon, anxiously waiting for Boondox!

Next up was my boy...the one I drove three and a half hours to see! The one I paint my face like and scare cars full of teenage girls! The one who's music I know like the back of my hand! I was too excited to see Boondox perform live for the first time, and his performance did NOT disappoint!! We ended up standing in a perfect location for this show because he split his time between the middle of the stage, half way to the right, and halfway to the left which ended up being directly in front of me!! He looked at me quite a few times, gave me a dap one time, and I even reached out and touched his knee at one point when he came close enough to me. That really shocked Pamela, but hey, why not go for a touch if you have the chance? He always has the option of taking a step back if he wants! I learned that at Sammy T's :-)










OMG! I LOVE THIS PHOTO! Best photo of the night!!









Boondox scrolled through a ton of his best songs, including Death of a Hater, Punkinhed, Sippin', Cold Cruel World, Untold/Unwritten and Seven, but didn't include Rollin' Hard or We All Fall, which I was hoping to hear. Boondox is so brooding and mysterious, and his eyes feel like they're burning a hole through you straight down to your soul when he looks at you. It was awesome to see him perform since I've been such a fan for so long. He did a lot of moving around the stage, and Dennis said that it was the best, most energetic Boondox performance he'd seen. It was such a treat to see him live, and I so, so hope that he comes to the Muse in the near future so I can see him there. After his set, the crowd dispersed for a few minutes while people got drinks or went to the restroom, but I stayed put so I could keep my front row spot for Blaze's performance.

Once Blaze emerged on stage, the whole venue came alive with new energy. He started out his set with "Walk It Out" which was a great intro!


Walk...


...walk...


...walk it out!

Everyone was dancing, and Blaze was doing his crazy walk all over the stage. So fun!


Me and Dennis enjoying Blaze's set















Blaze did a great catalog of his bests too, including Nasty, Blaze Up, The Crypt Keeper, Ridin' the Whip and Escape Artist (which caused everyone in the venue to raise their arms and sway, which in turn unleashed the BO that had been hiding in all those nasty ninjas armpits all night!). Once Blaze was done, everyone sort of looked around with this satisfied look of exhaustion, and made our way slowly out of the club. The plan was to hang around and see if we could sneak backstage and meet Boondox and Blaze, but they were clearing the venue and made everyone leave. Boo!

On the way, I stopped at the merch booth and spotted a Boondox shirt that I'd never seen before. It was $30, but remembering how many comments I've gotten about my unique Twiztid souvenir shirt from their show last year, I decided to bite the bullet and pay the $30 for it. I knew I'd enjoy it, and I work hard so I can blow money on overpriced t-shirts at shows :-) Once I was done, I went outside, where I found everyone else collapsed all over the sidewalk in front of the venue! The street was starting to fill up with non-Juggalo tourists, so we got LOTS of strange looks as we all fell out all over the place! I sat with Dennis, who got a kick out of how small my feet were compared to his haha. After about 20 minutes or so, everyone decided to move the party to the back of the club in hopes that we could catch Blaze or Boondox on their way out and say hello.


The paint, looking a little worse for the wear!

Once at the back, we all sat down again and relaxed. After maybe another half hour or so, everyone jumped up all at once when we caught wind that Blaze was coming out. I'd brought a photo of him that I'd taken in Atlanta in hopes that I could get him to sign it for me, so I was really glad that I had a chance to meet him! He really liked the picture that I had, and graciously signed it for me, even recounting how the photo I had was of his old clock necklace which had gotten dropped and broken at some point.



I got a picture with him...



...and Dennis did as well, then we were all treated to a story about an escapade Blaze had in an Asian spa! He seemed like a really fun guy, and someone who would be a blast to hang out with in real life. As we were all hanging around, someone noticed that Boondox had been hanging out in the Suburban that they were traveling in this whole time, but hadn't come out to mingle. I understand though, since apparently he deals with some social anxiety or something like that, so I forgave him. I did manage to catch his eye right before we all left though, and threw up a peace sign to him, which he gently, knowingly returned. I'd love to meet him and tell him just how much I love his music...maybe one of these days.

Once Blaze had packed up and moved on, we all decided that we wanted a bite to eat. So we all headed out, and decided to follow my GPS to the nearest IHOP, which ended up being in Frayser, which is apparently a very rough area. But as soon as we walked up, everyone inside stopped what they were doing and watched us suspiciously as we walked to our table. It was such a trip to be in a rough area...and THEY were scared of US! hahaha I ended up with an awesome chicken and sun dried tomato sandwich...yummy.


Shawn says "You've won a BRAND NEW (1988) CAR!!

Afterward, everyone headed back to our hotel for a few minutes, but ultimately the Jackson peeps had to make their way back home, so we all bid them farewell.

I had such an AMAZING time during my visit to Memphis. The show was awesome, the company was great, the hotel was nice, the food was good, and overall it was exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. I would drive back to Memphis for another show in a heartbeat, and would definitely prefer to drive the extra half hour to Memphis than to drive 3 hours to shows in Louisville. No contest there! I'm so glad that we decided to hit this show, and am also really glad that we got the hotel. I really, really can't wait to come back and see ICP some time! Hopefully that is sooner than later!

Next show? AMB and Stitchmouth at the Muse on June 30th!