Twisted Insane and Whitney Peyton winter warm up in Clarksville

So...yes...I know that I've been remiss in not updating my blog as often as I should. After every show last year, I thought "Man, I've gotta update the blog" but it just never happened. But don't fear. I promise that I'll keep better track of it this year. We'll start with the first show from this year, and go from there!


Saturday, March 1st
Da Mafia 6ix, Sozay, Twisted Insane, Whitney Peyton
The Warehouse Bar and Grill, Clarksville, TN
$23


I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that it's been a long, cold winter. Most artists don't tour through the winter, so when I noticed that Da Mafia 6ix had a show coming up in nearby Clarksville, TN, I figured that it would be a fun night. But then, I saw that Twisted Insane and Whitey Peyton were opening for them...and oh yes, I knew I had to be there! I was SO ready to get out to a good live show and have some fun with my friends, and this was the perfect opportunity amid all the wintry weather!

My friends Izzy and Rusty accompanied me to this show, but once we arrived, there ended up being about a dozen of us who all showed up without coordinating with each other! Through the first three or four openers, we all spent time alternating between the bar, the stage and goofing around out in the middle of the club. At some point, a few of us took note of one of the openers, named Since When. He had some really good rhymes, and had us all paying attention more than we had to any other opener. After his set, a few of us went to greet him, and tell him that he were really digging his set. He was really nice, and seemed glad that we'd taken notice. It would be great to catch another one of his sets at some point in the future.


Shawn and Rusty enjoying some drinks in the venue


Izzy and yours truly (sporting my freshly made dreads!)


Shawn, Tiny and Rusty throw down some freestyles before the show


Check it out...my drink matches my hair!

The next opener I paid attention to was Fisty Cuffs, who seems to be someone that I've heard more and more about recently among my friends. He did a pretty good job, and the crowd seemed to be feeling him pretty well, though most people were still hanging around the bar and pool table areas during his set.

The person on this tour that I was probably most excited to see was Whitney Peyton. I saw her at the Gathering last year and thought she did a good job with such a huge crowd, so I was excited to see her perform in a small venue. Some of my friends had never heard of her before, so when it was time for her set, I tried to herd people up to the stage to check her out.









As soon as she came on stage, you could tell that she had no problem commanding the entire audience's attention and reveling in it. I thought she did a great job...better than the Gathering in my opinion! She was totally on point, and brought tons of intensity with her performance. Not far into the set, she jumped up on the barricade and held onto an overhead pipe while she performed, then later she ended up on top of a table in the VIP-type area. Then to top off an already awesome set, she ended up standing upright on top of the crowd (underneath an appropriately yet ironically placed disco ball), and TORE IT UP for her last song.

I've gotta say...I'm really digging Whitney Peyton. I think she's really good at what she does, which at the end of the day, is all I really ask for out of a performer. I love that she's intense and bad ass, and doesn't resort to using sex to sell her music. After her set, Marlie, Rusty and I found her at her merch booth, so we all picked up posters and got photos with her.


Me with Whitney


Marlie with Whitney


Rusty with Whitney

I'm definitely excited to see where her career goes, and I really hope to see her on some more big-name collabs soon.



Next on the roster was Twisted Insane, who is someone else who I knew put on a great live show. I saw him last year in Nashville, and dude is a beast! As he began his set, you could look around the venue and see people who didn't know who he was start to suddenly perk up and pay attention to what he was doing. Not gonna lie...I can't understand a word that he says when he's performing live since he raps SO FAST. It's unbelievable that someone can rap that fast, for that long, on basically every song he performs. Just awesome.









Sometimes in between his verses, he has moments of seeming possessed...like, rolling his eyes back in his head, twitching and jerking around, and flicking his tongue at the crowd. He's very unique and very entertaining, and is well worth catching live if you get the chance. After his set (and actually for the whole rest of the night) he milled around the venue and greeted people, so we all ended up getting photos with him as well.


Me with Twisted Insane



Next up on the list was Sozay, who I wasn't familiar with but appeared to be a more mainstream sounding rapper. He was good, and the crowd was really pumped up during his performance. He was having a lot of fun, as well as the guys in his crew who stood at the back of the stage the whole time. Near the end of his set, he said something about wanting all the sexy ladies in the audience to get onstage with him and dance. I saw Izzy jump onstage, then the guy in front of me moved out of my way so I could go. At first I said no, but then he said "...but you're sexy!" so I was like hey, might as well! Thank you, random dude, for paying me a compliment! ;-) Marlie ended up onstage with us as well, and we all danced around for the length of the song before heading back into the audience to finish watching his set.

After Sozay's set, it was 1:00am...and despite how I want to believe that I'm an all night party animal...I'm just not anymore hahaha I was really tired, but I certainly wasn't going to call it quits before Da Mafia 6ix came onstage! Just before they walked out, they brought out some skeletons, then flooded the whole stage area with artificial fog. Once they came out, the crowd was super hyped up for the performance.









I tried my best to take photos, and I ended up snapping about 50 of them, but basically none of them came out well due to so much fog in the venue. They were all washed out and blurry. Boooo. I hung out for a while in the big crowd at the front, but I eventually retreated back a little way since my photos weren't turning out and I was too tired to deal with the crowd. As the set went on, people began to peel away from the immediate area of the stage, instead hanging back and dancing, getting drinks and socializing. It was really fun, and pretty chill as far as rap shows go.

After everyone was done, the venue started to clear out, so we all made one last pass by the merch booths as we were on our way out. This was a great show, and it was just what I needed in the middle of a long, cold winter! There where times when our little group of Juggalos looked like we were the only people in the whole venue having any fun! It was great to have some fun times with my fam while catching some really great music too! I hope that we see a lot more of both Whitney Peyton and Twisted Insane because they're both great, and well worth paying attention to. Til next time, fam! Whoop whoop!

-Julie

Twiztid's Abominationz Tour, Atlanta, GA

Friday, November 9th, 2012
Twiztid, hed(PE), Potluck
The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
$27

November 9th marked the third time I have made a trip to Atlanta to go to a live Twiztid show. It's about a 4 hour drive for me, and I always end up thinking that it's well worth the effort to get to their shows, despite the drive, the gas money and the hotel costs. I was particularly excited to catch this show since Abominationz had just been released and I wanted to hear their amazing new stuff live. My friend Krissi ended up going to this show with me as well, which was awesome since I go to so many shows alone these days! It was great to have someone to talk to in the car and hang out with!

When we arrived for the show around 7:30pm (after some rough Atlanta traffic...but what's new there) and had to park in a little lot about a block away from the venue since apparently something is being built in their old lot.


Odd hand stamps being given out at the door

Once inside, we both grabbed drinks and I headed up to the stage to see how close I could get. I missed the local opener Maverick the Ace, but was just in time to catch Potluck go onstage.

To be honest, I'm not that familiar with Potluck's music, though I did end up meeting them at the 2011 Gathering. Their set was really fun, and UnderRated did an awesome job with his fast rapping! I really enjoyed their set, and the crowd showed them a lot of love, repeatedly chanting FAM-UH-LY with them.









Once they were done, it was time for Lil Wyte. So at last year's Hopsin show in Nashville, Lil Wyte showed his ass something terrible to the Nashville Juggalos, so I wasn't happy at all to have to sit through his set. I didn't want to leave my spot since I was so close to the front, so I just stood there and flipped him off for his entire set. I didn't even dignify him with any photos since he's not worthy to be on my blog again. He didn't seem to get as good of a reception as he probably wanted, which I was fine with.

Thankfully, Lil Wyte soon left the stage and it was time for hed(PE)! I'm a big hed(PE) fan, so I was super excited to see them opening for Twiztid! The first time I saw them was at the Gathering this year where they played at the outdoor Freakshow stage, so I was also excited to see them in a small venue. When they took the stage, the crowd chanted their name and they were all smiles at the warm reception they got. Their set was awesome, and there were plenty of times when the crowd was bouncing enough to feel that familiar Masquerade floor bounce!















During Amerikan Beauty, he held the microphone out to the girl in front of me during the female part, and she sang the entire part back to him! She was so excited! I really love and respect hed(PE)'s music, and I think they are great at what they do. I could stand to do without the religious commentary at their shows, but besides that, I love their live shows and this one definitely didn't disappoint.

When it was finally time for Twiztid, the crowd compressed and the chanting started again. One fabulous thing about Atlanta Juggalos is that they seem to be pretty well mannered, and they don't go too overboard on the alcohol. No one likes for people to be drunk and belligerent, and thankfully that has never been an issue at any of the Atlanta shows I've been to. Everyone always seems to be happy and friendly, which is yet another reason that I don't mind making the drive there.

Soon, all the lights went out, and the speaking intro of Bad Side came on, followed by Madrox and Monoxide slinking their way out from behind the backstage curtain. But once they began to sing, they came out full force and never let up through the whole set. Where I was standing was off to the left of center, which was a perfect spot since they constantly swap sides through the set. One of them was almost always standing directly in front of me, which made for GREAT photos!

They sang a great mix of their best older songs as well as quite a few from Abominationz. Of course they sang Bagz, First Day Out and They Told Me, which seem to be favorites of theirs for live performance. But we also heard Triple Threat, Bella Morte, Krossroads Inn and Diemuthafuckadie among many others. And from Abominationz, they sang exactly the four that I would have expected...Bad Side, This is Your Anthem, Rep That Wicked and Lift Me Up...a great selection, though they couldn't have gone wrong with any of the songs from the album, IMO.






























Probably my favorite shot of the year, right there!!















One song that I particularly loved was Murder Murder Murder. During Monoxide's part where he says "Again and again, and now she's screaming like I care," the beat dropped out and it was just him yelling into the mic and making stabbing motions at the ground. It was so intense and graphic, and the lack of sound aside from his voice just intensified that.



Monoxide looked absolutely maniacal at a lot of points, and his eyes and smile just looked possessed by the music. They are both such incredible performers, and bring intensity like that every single time they're onstage.

As the main part of the set wound to a close, they sang LDLHA-IBCSYWA and brought all of the VIPs onstage for a while. At the end of the song, all the VIPs were escorted off and Madrox and Monoxide went out to the barricade and started giving some daps and handshakes. Madrox ended up on my side of the stage and stepped out toward the crowd right in front of me! He slapped my hand, then paused for a few seconds, and everyone started to touch his arms or stomach as he stood there.



So I ended up with a quick picture of my hand touching Madrox on the stomach haha Once they went back onstage, they did their normal little comedy routine, with the funniest part being accusing Prince of having "little man syndrome" haha.






Madrox shows what you'd have to do to look Prince in the eye

They ended their time on stage by bowing to everyone who had attended, then heading backstage.

Once the show was over, I caught back up with Krissi and we headed outside. As we stood around chatting with a couple of local friends, I spotted Madrox pop out the side of the venue and head towards his bus. But then he stopped as a few people approached him and started to sign autographs. So Krissi and I very quickly decided to run over to him and see if we could greet him as well. He was obviously trying to go as quickly as he could so he could get to everyone in the area, so I just got my ticket signed, and asked if I could snap a quick photo with him. How awesome!!


Me with Madrox!


My signed concert ticket

They are definitely not known for hanging around and chilling with fam after their shows, so it was a fantastic, unexpected little treat to get to meet him for a moment. One guy was even so excited that he ran back toward his friends screaming "Oh my God! Guys! I just HUGGED MADROX!!!" It was too funny! After a few more moments, he ducked back inside his bus, and Krissi and I decided to head back to the hotel for the evening.

Once again, as I walked back to the car, I felt like every dollar I'd spent to get to that show was completely worth it! Gas, hotel, tickets, meals...totally worth it when the show you're going to see is THAT good! Twiztid are true showmen, and are so incredibly talented in both live performance and album production. Basically...Twiztid is the muthafuckin' shit :-) If you have the opportunity to get to a show on the Abominationz tour, do it! You definitely won't be disappointed! Whoop whoop!