Insane Clown Posse

Insane Clown Posse's Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope speak loudly and carry a big shtick. Although they lost their most recent major-label deal back in 2000, they still draw big numbers as a touring act -- hence their two-night run at the Ogden, with Wolfpac. But music ain't the reason for their continuing popularity; after all, discs such as 1997's The Great Milenkohave held up about as well as the recorded oeuvre of Pia Zadora. Yet the Clowns' cartoonishly gory lyrics, painted faces and overt theatricality endear them to fans known as Juggalos, who won't allow any aspersions to be cast on their heroes' character, or characters. In February, self-described Juggalo Jacob Robida, age eighteen, used a hatchet to randomly attack several people in a Massachusetts gay bar, and after the Village Voice published an article about the case, the paper was inundated by responses from ICP lovers, who defended the group as fervently as any supporter of Hezbollah. Insane? Maybe. But their loyalty has spun gold out of a shticky situation.