Gathering of the Juggalos 2003
Nelson Ledges Quarry Park — Portage County, Ohio
Key Acts: Bushwick Bill, Killah Priest, Dope
Nelson Ledges Quarry Park — Portage County, Ohio
Key Acts: Bushwick Bill, Killah Priest, Dope
Violent J: When we went to the woods, there was never another problem again.
Shaggy: No police, no problems, straight up.
Violent J: There was no issues. 'Cause there was no bullies there. We hired security. And we told security, relax. Have fun. If you're in the front fucking row of the concert, if you don't like this shit, move and let somebody else on the staff work that position. Don't stand there mean-mugging everybody. Security's having fun.
Shaggy: That changed the game. That changed the whole game.
Violent J: Brother, that first year, being outdoors, was like coming home. It just was un-fucking-believable, man. It was like the key fit in the lock, finally. What the fuck were we thinking before? Trying to have this in a convention hall? There was a lake and there was an island in the center. It was like 1 a.m., whatever it was in the program, and it said "Burning Man at the lake." So, literally, thousands all around the lake. And then all of a sudden on the island, this ninja lights himself, full body on fire. He's a stunt guy, you know. And he's running round and round this little 30-foot island.
Shaggy: Forever! It seemed like 40 minutes.
Violent J: And then he dives in the water. That was such a psychopathic thing, that was so our shit.
Shaggy: No police, no problems, straight up.
Violent J: There was no issues. 'Cause there was no bullies there. We hired security. And we told security, relax. Have fun. If you're in the front fucking row of the concert, if you don't like this shit, move and let somebody else on the staff work that position. Don't stand there mean-mugging everybody. Security's having fun.
Shaggy: That changed the game. That changed the whole game.
Violent J: Brother, that first year, being outdoors, was like coming home. It just was un-fucking-believable, man. It was like the key fit in the lock, finally. What the fuck were we thinking before? Trying to have this in a convention hall? There was a lake and there was an island in the center. It was like 1 a.m., whatever it was in the program, and it said "Burning Man at the lake." So, literally, thousands all around the lake. And then all of a sudden on the island, this ninja lights himself, full body on fire. He's a stunt guy, you know. And he's running round and round this little 30-foot island.
Shaggy: Forever! It seemed like 40 minutes.
Violent J: And then he dives in the water. That was such a psychopathic thing, that was so our shit.
—Violent J
Vanilla Ice actually jumped up onstage and tried to calm the situation.
Gathering of the Juggalos 2004
Nelson Ledges Quarry Park — Portage County, Ohio
Key Acts: Ol' Dirty Bastard, Kurupt, Tech N9ne
Nelson Ledges Quarry Park — Portage County, Ohio
Key Acts: Ol' Dirty Bastard, Kurupt, Tech N9ne
Violent J: Ol' Dirty Bastard, he went up there, and that was towards the end of his life. I wanna tell you he schooled it, but it didn't go over very well. The problem was it was getting so big that we couldn't talk to everybody before they went up.
Shaggy: This was still when the Gathering was way less known — before anybody went on, earlier in the day, we sit them down, explain everything, explain what the crowd will be chanting. I mean, nowadays we'll send out A Family Underground on DVD.
Violent J: You know, they say "woop woop" and it sounds like "boo" if you don't know what the fuck it is. We're letting them know that's a call of love. So we talk to the groups and let them know what's up… I read [ODB's] book, called Digging for Dirt, and that was one of the last shows he did, that was like one of the last three he did. And he went up there and they didn't know where they were, they kept saying "Cleveland." "What's up, Cleveland?" And they'll let it slide once or twice but when it's going on all night, Juggalos start getting pissed. 'Cause they're not from Cleveland, they're from all over. People started throwing shit. It wasn't ODB that was pissing everybody off as much as it was his hype men. Vanilla Ice actually jumped up onstage and tried to calm the situation.
Shaggy: We always put it in their contracts, too. If they feel they're in any kind of danger, get the fuck out of there. Not, "You gotta play 45 minutes or you ain't gettin' paid." We don't do shit like that.
Gathering of the Juggalos 2005
Nelson Ledges Quarry Park — Portage County, Ohio
Key Acts: 2 Live Crew, Powerman 5000, Mini KissViolent J: We left Nelson Ledges. Why did we leave? Because we got kicked out. You know, the pressure from the city. They would go down there, my brother and Alex [Abbiss, Psychopathic Records co-founder]. They'd go down there and battle with the city. I'm talking TV-style, the council, the people, they'd come back all amped-up, they were talking about how they would stand up and, "Citizens, this shit is outrageous!"
Nelson Ledges Quarry Park — Portage County, Ohio
Key Acts: 2 Live Crew, Powerman 5000, Mini KissViolent J: We left Nelson Ledges. Why did we leave? Because we got kicked out. You know, the pressure from the city. They would go down there, my brother and Alex [Abbiss, Psychopathic Records co-founder]. They'd go down there and battle with the city. I'm talking TV-style, the council, the people, they'd come back all amped-up, they were talking about how they would stand up and, "Citizens, this shit is outrageous!"
Shaggy: They just wouldn't have it no more. We don't want you guys in our city no more, we don't want you in our county.
Ying Yang Twins got booed off terrible. It was totally unfair, it was totally uncool.—Violent J
Gathering of the Juggalos 2006
Pataskala, Ohio
Key Acts: Too $hort, Digital Underground, Drowning Pool
Pataskala, Ohio
Key Acts: Too $hort, Digital Underground, Drowning Pool
Violent J: We were booked at a racetrack. I believe it was in Michigan. We were booked at a sweet-ass racetrack. It was gonna be the ultimate Gathering. And they kicked us out two weeks before.
Shaggy: Campgrounds are like convention centers. It's a circle of people and they talk.
Violent J: Actually, what my brother told me, fucking people from Nelson Ledges contacted them. They contacted him and they were like, "Don't have it." They kicked us out. And so we found the muddy [location in Pataskala, Ohio]. It was a drought all summer, and then it just poured. It fucking poured rain all before.
Shaggy: It wasn't just one hill like at Woodstock with people sliding on it. The whole fucking however many acres was flooded. They had to try to put all this hay down but it was just sticking into the mud
Violent J: They tried to put hay down, they tried to put gravel down, they tried to put all kinds of shit. We had trucks coming in with gravel. Everything we could do. It was like insanely hot. Like sweltering hot. So motherfuckers were just in the muddy heat, you know. And I'm not gonna lie, it killed my spirits. But Juggalos were still having fun. The hot sun dried up all the mud, and it was dust.
Shaggy: You couldn't follow another car because you'd just fuck your eyes up and your lungs just with dirt.
Violent J: That was the only year in my opinion that has a black eye on it. I couldn't even walk to the Port-a-potty.
Gathering of the Juggalos 2007
Hogrock Campgrounds — Cave-in-Rock, IL
Key Acts: Ying Yang Twins, Mushroomhead, Necro
Hogrock Campgrounds — Cave-in-Rock, IL
Key Acts: Ying Yang Twins, Mushroomhead, Necro
Violent J: Somehow, Billy [Bill, Psychopathic Records CEO] discovered Hogrock, and the guy was mad cool. He's even like part of our shit, now, the guy, Hog Daddy. We have him do part of our wrestling and stuff. Nelson Ledges contacted Hogrock to try to get it shut out of there too. Hogrock was like, "Fuck you, we have festivals all the time." They have a biker festival, so they're not worried.
Shaggy: After the year before, it was just such a relief. The added room. Even till this day, if I go out on my golf cart, I still get lost. Like, dawg, get the fucking map out, where are we going?
Violent J: It's really big, and the thing is, it's a lot better now than it was when we first moved in there. Because they started putting roads in there, they started doing things for us, all year, to get us to come back. They were so good to us, they were like, we don't give a fuck about the controversy, you guys are the shit.
Shaggy: And it's private grounds, not even police allowed on it for shit.
Violent J: And they're just like working with us. We're even gonna eventually put up a cell phone tower, know what I'm sayin'? I think that might have been a little bit of an issue the first year, like how it was so…
Shaggy: …in the middle of nothing. No phones.
Violent J: Ying Yang Twins got booed off terrible. It was totally unfair, it was totally uncool. They didn't deserve it. They did their homework, too, but they went on right before ICP and people just weren't having it. I don't know what was wrong with people. I hated that that happened, because they were so cool. And then when they got off, they said to us, "Tell the clowns it's all love, we understand, it's all love, man."
Shaggy: In my opinion, I think all that shit, his being crazy and shit, I think it was gimmicked-out. Just talking to him, he's a normal motherfucker. He wasn't talking about tiger blood and shit.
Violent J: Or maybe he was different when he was getting all fucked-up. But he was just chilling. Busta Rhymes wouldn't come out, you know, wouldn't get on the stage for a while. He was scared, he was nervous. And when he got up there, and got the reaction he got, he was so relieved that he just had a blast. He was like, "I don't give a fuck what people say, I represent you motherfuckers now, the Juggalos, I represent you." He was so relieved.
Shaggy: After we were done doing our show, we were just wildin' out around on the golf carts doing donuts in the grass. I hit gravel, and my foot got stuck under it. It basically mangled my fucking foot down to the bone. It had gravel up in there. I flew home, and on the plane there was a puddle of blood in the bottom of my shoe. I just had to tough it out. When I got home, I finally went to the hospital, and they kept me in there for a week cause they couldn't find what strain of bacteria was in there. [They] had to fucking dig my skin down to the bone and put a fucking skin graft. If I'm not gonna get hurt at the Gathering, it's weird.
Violent J: Or maybe he was different when he was getting all fucked-up. But he was just chilling. Busta Rhymes wouldn't come out, you know, wouldn't get on the stage for a while. He was scared, he was nervous. And when he got up there, and got the reaction he got, he was so relieved that he just had a blast. He was like, "I don't give a fuck what people say, I represent you motherfuckers now, the Juggalos, I represent you." He was so relieved.
Shaggy: After we were done doing our show, we were just wildin' out around on the golf carts doing donuts in the grass. I hit gravel, and my foot got stuck under it. It basically mangled my fucking foot down to the bone. It had gravel up in there. I flew home, and on the plane there was a puddle of blood in the bottom of my shoe. I just had to tough it out. When I got home, I finally went to the hospital, and they kept me in there for a week cause they couldn't find what strain of bacteria was in there. [They] had to fucking dig my skin down to the bone and put a fucking skin graft. If I'm not gonna get hurt at the Gathering, it's weird.
Gathering of the Juggalos 2012
Hogrock Campgrounds — Cave-in-Rock, IL
Key Acts: Geto Boys, the Game, DMX, Raekwon, Master P, Cheech & Chong
Hogrock Campgrounds — Cave-in-Rock, IL
Key Acts: Geto Boys, the Game, DMX, Raekwon, Master P, Cheech & Chong
Shaggy: [Getting the Geto Boys back together] that's like a dream come true, man.
Violent J: First we got them on the album. We reached out to Willie D, we heard he got out of jail. He did a song, real quick. Laced it and sent it back. We got all three of the Geto Boys on track. We're the first ones in history. We just flat out called all three, how do you guys feel about playing the Gathering? They gave their price. It's the first time they did a concert together in, like, seven years. Where else do we go?
Shaggy: How else could you top it? For us to top that for ourselves, it'd have to be, like, N.W.A reunion. Or fucking Michael Jackson hologram.
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