Here comes Gathering of the Juggalos post 3 of 6. I told you 7 the other day because there is a 7th post, but I will be posting in a couple weeks or something because it’s not exactly part of this coverage and I wanna get a couple other posts up before I drop it. Anyway we got Gathering Bands today and then one post a day until Monday and then we can all move on with our lives. Deal?

Okay so this could take me forever but I am technically on vacation so I am just gonna do this as fast as possible so it’s gonna be mostly a list of artists I photographed in order with a couple of notes. Also, I only shot the mainstage this year. I am too old to spend 12 hours at a music festival unless I am getting paid way more than I was to shoot the Gathering. Sorry. 

I got there a bit late on Wednesday so the first artist I photographed was Young Mo$h followed by Shaggy the Airhead who I will shout out cause 1) I dig his clothing line and 2) much more important, he came up to me to tell me how much he likes my photography so he and his clothing gets a shout out. He was followed by the Hatchet Man Project, Scum and Insane Poetry, and horrorcore legend Esham headlined.  

Thursday I missed Darby O’Trill accidentally. I did wanna shoot him cause he’s dating my friend but I fucked up. I did manage to catch Mastamind, the Dayton Family and Merkules. ICP headlined with a throwback set to their House of Horrors show in 1998 which is a tour I actually saw them on because my first ever girlfriend really dug them. Shout out Latiffa.

Friday my old friend Zac Amico was hosting the stage so I got some shots of him doing his thing there including getting stapled in the head. Apparently I missed SalamanderX, but I caught Twisted Insane and Ganksta N-I-P. I was most excited about seeing Rakim which was fucking awesome. It was mixed reaction from juggalos. Too many had no idea who he was, but then others were even more excited than I was. I talked to one older juggalo who should know better who had no idea who he was and he told me he didn’t listen to rap which kinda blew my mind. Anyway, Rakim was by far the musical highlight. Kim Dracula was a favorite of the crowd, someone told me they were a less problematic Marilyn Manson which is a great way to describe anyone. My dude Ouija Macc headlined who I am always psyched to see. 

The last night was a shit show for me. My phone got wet and the charging cable stopped working and I drove to a Walmart to get a wifi charger and I missed the first few artists. My goal was to get back in time for DJ Paul but I just missed the beginning of his set so I wasn’t allowed to take photos up close. I pushed my way into the pit and got a couple from the crowd but then it started pouring rain. I went and hid in a carnival booth and just jammed out to Three Six Mafia hits while keeping my camera gear dry. I also helped a carney put away all his stuffed animals which he really appreciated and told me I could stay dry in there all night. My poncho was in the car but a juggalette gave me one which was awesome of her and I stuck around for Static X. Their front man died since the last time they played the Gathering and it was very weird that they just replaced him with like a cyborg version, but at least it was fun to photograph. ICP closed out the night but it was raining hard and I was exhausted and in pain because I am old and my phone was fucked and I didn’t want to get covered in Faygo because I had to go on vacation and I didn’t want my beach clothes to smell like mildew so I said fuck it and went back to my hotel. If you need any photos of ICP, feel free to look at the other two dozen times I have photographed them.

Okay, that’s it. See you tomorrow with a bunch of night time photos and events.

Click here to see all the music from the 2023 Gathering of the Juggalos in Thornville, OH.

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