Blood-Thirsty Pit Whore

We’ve grown up adoring Ade’s puerile telly characters, now he’s back once more, bringing over his folk band the Bad Shepherds to deconstruct punk for us

You know him for his characters in classic Brit comedys The Young Ones, Bottom and The Comic Strip Presents, but Adrian Edmondson has always pursued music as a parallel career, be it directing hyperbolic video clips or starring as one quarter of heavy metal spoof band Bad News.
For the past five years he’s fronted the Bad Shepherds – a folk band, right down to the reels and jigs, that covers punk classics.

Friday 18 April. The Thornbury Theatre, 859 High Street, Melbourne
Restrictions: R18
Ticket Information:
Reserved (not inc booking fee): $50.00
Dinner & Show (not inc booking fee): $85.00
GA (not inc booking fee): $45.00

Adrian Edmondson’s celebrated folk-punk outfit The Bad Shepherds return to Australia to celebrate the release of their third album, “Mud, Blood & Beer”. After the rapturously received 2013 tour, Adrian (Vyv from the Young Ones/Bottom/Bad News), along with old comrade Troy Donockley (Nightwish) and new recruit Terl Bryant (percussionist for John Paul Jones and Peter Murphy), hits the road nationally for 12 dates in April.
Mud, Blood and Beer is another beautifully crafted album of classic punk and alternative songs loving reimagined by The Bad Shepherds in their distinctive folk style. Featuring re-workings of classics such as Madness’ Our House, The Jam’s Going Underground and a fabulous rendition of No More Heroes by The Stranglers, this is by far the most accomplished and diverse Bad Shepherds album to date.
This is also the first album to feature original Bad Shepherds material. The lyrics to title track, Mud Blood & Beer were penned by Ade as a homage to all the festivals the band have performed at. The closing track, Off To The Beer Tent, is a furious jig written by the band, which showcases (All-Ireland Fiddle Champion) Andy Dinan and Troy Donockley’s world-class musical talents.

These guys were cool enough to hang around after the show, you could grab a CD for $20, have it signed for free, and I grabbed the opportunity to snap up a photos with the man himself! The theater manager let me take home an even poster home for free too, which now rests up on my party bathroom hall of fame wall.
A comedic legend ADRIAN! Sharing a few drinks and chuckles at a not so local pub-like Aussie theater with a genius I can tell you was the best way to spend a Good Friday.

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Video Highlights

"Anarchy in the UK"

"London Calling"

Here is a slice of an interview with Ade from 'TimeOut, Melbourne':
When did you first pick up an instrument?
When I was about 13 I had my first guitar. I was in schoolboy bands, doing covers of Free and Deep Purple. Then I went to uni and punk came along – and I’d met Rick [Mayall, his longterm friend and his comedy partner in Bottom] by then, and we started doing more comedy than music.

Did you have to scramble around on no money when you first started out?
Yeah, and it was the same when this band started [laughs]. It reminded me exactly of my formative years with Rick. Knocking about, doing anything that came along, just getting better.
I think The Young Ones was responsible for my early music education. Did you have any influence on who’d appear? Were they mates?
Well, yeah we did. We were consulted. I don’t think we’d have Amazulu on now [laughs]. And the band that was in the pilot episode, what were they called… Nine Below Zero. I don’t think we’d have had them on either, but we needed someone and no one knew who we were, so they were the only band that would do it.

Was that depressing the second time around?
No, it was actually rather exciting. I’d gotten so bored with… The last tours with Bottom that we did, we used to do big touring shows, we would do like a week in Leeds and a week in Newcastle and a week in all these big cities and they’re so boring and they were all kind of the same. Then we went touring with the Bad Shepherds and we were playing in towns we’d never been to. Going to little festivals where you kind of wobbled around the crowd and went to the bar. When you do gigs in a theatre in the city you just sit in the hotel, then go to the dressing room. It can be a rather dull and insular life. The Bad Shepherds brought everything out and opened it up.

Get more out of life, go out to a gig!

INSANE CLOWN POSSE

DOWN UNDER TOUR

Send in the clowns! Insane Clown Posse – the self-professed “most hated band on the planet” – on their first Australian tour in over a decade!! The lords of the Dark Carnival bring their psychotic live show, a butt-load of Faygo and a cast of very special international and local guests downunder for the Psychopathic Records 2013 Australian tour!

The band let slip they were returning to Australia at the annual Gathering Of The Juggalos festival in August, with Violent J announcing on stage “In November the Insane Clown Posse returns to Australia, which is awesome, because last time I went to Australia I got laid three times.” The band was last on our shores way back in 2003 following the release of ICP’s eighth studio album The Wraith: Shangri-La, when they played Roundhouse in Sydney, The Arena in Brisbane, HiFi in Melbourne, and Uni Bar in Adelaide.

Support at all shows will come from Boondox and Big Hoodoo.

Whoop Whoop!

Insane Clown Posse tour
Wednesday, December 4 – The Gov, Adelaide
Thursday, December 5 – HiFi, Brisbane
Friday, December 6 – HiFi, Melbourne
Saturday, December 7 – HiFi, Sydney
Sunday, December 8 – Metropolis, Fremantle

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CONCERT GRABS

How much would you normally get from a regular concert that you go to? Lets say that you even if you are lucky enough to be front row center and manage to afford the cost of a ticket to get into an event, you would most likely be lucky enough to collect a guitar pic, that special one out of 2, 000 chance of getting one guitar pic. But this time I managed to grab a big haul!

The Wicked clowns who were dressed in the red and blue ICP jumpsuits threw out bags of feathers throughout the show ( You can see this in the ICP highlight video below during 'Chicken Huntin'), I found one at the end of the concert and that was quite the gem. Once I got home and washed the sack and the remaining feathers, it was to my amazement that it was simply a duck feather pillow cut open to which they would simply cover the audience with. I would have never have thought of doing something so easy.. must have gone to clown college to think of that simple trick.

Empty "FAGO" Bottle. These were of-course bottles of 'L.A. ICE', Down here in Australia Faygo is not sold in retail stores like Detroit. It is sold in Canberra in five flavors, as I learnt waiting in line meeting a sweet juggalette who broke my FAYGO 'Cherry' with a peach flavored can and a smile. And ICP did try to import it, but customs stopped it because they believed they would try to sell the product, so they simply purchased a truck-load of our equivalent and this was one of the bottles that was hand-picked from stage and poured over everyone.

Confetti, stars and Glitter.. This was covering the audience, the entire venue and the strobe-light lit sky above. Shimmering, sparking and adding to the magic that is just there in the air...

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"ICP" SET LIST
I managed to grab this from backstage. I was lucky enough to not only have V.I.P, but also to have the chance to be the only person to be allowed to hang around backstage waiting for the others to be called onto stage for the juggalo soda-shower. I touched props, played with masks and hanged out with clowns. When all was done I nabbed this baby. These guys have a tour to Finnish so I didn't want to take something they would actually miss, I love my family.

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ICP VIP EXPERIENCE

ICP's Austrlian VIP Packages offer you a once in a lifetime experience you will never forget!
The Australian VIP Packages include a Meet & Greet with Violent J & Shaggy 2 Dope before the show so you can tell them what's up, give them props, snag a picture & some signatures, have your time with The Duke of the Wicked and The Southwest Strangla & your fellow VIP's before the show begins and participation in the mind-blowing Faygo Armageddon!

Waiting in line with full anticipation and about to pee my pants, we were all lucky enough to still meet more Juggalos and juggalettes in the crowds to makes more friends, chant and joke around.

VIP fans also got first dibs on all merchandise but there were so much you were still able to purchase anything you wanted after the show. The Juggalo who saw you through to the duo was non other than the current JCW Heavyweight Champion -2 Tuff Tony! (Tony Borcherding). So I didn't miss out on the oppotunity to snap up a photo with him and a great big bear hug.

The time was up and my brother and I were next, I took a deep breath, and met the family. So it turns out that these two guys are actually two of the most awesome guys on the planet. Never short on hugs and were more than happy on getting in on photos when the camera's flash didn't work and they were way behind on schedule. Always there for a fan. I was more than too happy to start using the whole undertaker, stripper line and let them into the world of titty-bars in Melbourne. * my work is done:)

Defiantly would love to meet these guys again, or would even love to work with them in the future, the type of homies that can share a laugh or a few drinks on a night out.

The VIP Lounge was great, it gave us all the chance to have a few drinks before the show, share in the experience in the meet-n-greet and tell the tales of journeys. While all the general admission entry had to wait in line outside while passer-buyers gave evil looks, shout-outs, high-fives, photos and laughs to. I ended up speaking a lot to two guys that travleed all the way from Sydney who's plane got cancelled and ended up on a stressful path to get to Melbourne. We met at the front while waiting to gain entry, but it was so exciting to meet in the VIP lounge to talk about the excitement together and share the butterflies. They grabbed so much attention becasue they had the most amazing face paint on. They passed on a business card from the artist, and since they were the only ones to actually get the time and effort to seek a professional and at only $35, I will spread the word along.

holy shit, they looked amazing! Nice guys too, they were Close to the stage the whole time and seemed to have the most incredible time of their lives. I thought it was the sweetest thing that one of them grabbed merchandise for his girl back home too.. Awww ...Clown love!!! xx

The stage was set, the bottles of soda were ready for the stage and the special guest were ready to perform. It was time to get out of the lounge and join the rest of the ticket holders as they pored through the doors.
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GIG REVIEW
SPECIAL GUESTS

The Australian Juggalo KidCrusher was the opening act. The only thing that I actually hated about this was that I was chillin' out with him in line for ICP on Swanson Street not even knowing who he was. This was the first time that I ever saw him perform so you have to give me some sort of credit here, but I was bummed out that I missed out on a photo but loved the fact that I now have a new artist to love. Over the course of five years KidCrusher has, without the help of a record label or distribution deal sold 20,000 records making him one of the most successful independent artists in the underground, and I can clearly see why.He had a wicked crew of evil female clowns that helped get the crowd excited. They had a little magic show, Christmas show with silly string guns and I even got a beer can kicked at me. This is the new sound of Aussie underground, and the next time he is around I will be there. KidCrusher has released over 12 studio albums and isn't about to stop yet, others better step back and look out because KidCrusher is going to make Australia and Juggalos come alive!

Big HooDoo managed to warm up the crowd again quiet well. He came out on stage in his glowing outfit filled with blasting beats. Especially the part when he said that he was both drunk and high & loved it, as you could not only see but also smell many clouds of smoke appearing from the audience. Security could only walk around in desperation trying to find the main perpatrator, but you cannot stop a family passing around fun all through the night, and sneeking it under so many people. This was another thing about this show, everyone loved each-other.. they came together as equals. One guy behind me acidently pulled my hair and couldn't stop apologizing,.it was no big deal.. hell at a simple 80's reunion concert I almost got into a major punch on with a man because I danced on his foot be accident and before I could say sorry he was already barking at me. and no-one even hated the fact you were from another state, they embraced it and welcomed you. The highlight of the show was "Never Had", if you have listened to his album or not everyone was albe to sing along to it and have fun. I don't think he was on stage long enough but he gave all his appreciation to ICP, was grateful for being there for the night and left us all wanting more. I cannot wait for his next album.

Boondox came out loud and managed to make the crowd scream out, but the set list unfortunately lasted a little too long. I suppose since the whole show was set back an hour in the first place, and another for the VIP meeting, but non the less it was still great to have another special guest on the show. Boondox poured out ice-cold water into the crowd, and it was ice-cold! If you were lucky enough to grab a bottle it was thrown back at him. Boondox did however did actually get to the good songs after about 5 or 6 so at this point the excitement for the music was there, but everyone just wanted to see Insane Clown Posse. So my brother and I just enjoyed the tunes and made the most of it, after all its a live performance and the guy is giving it all he has got. Australia got its taste of redneck Juggalo tunes, and now the stage was all set for the ones they have all been waiting for..

Insane Clown Posse

The curtains were drawn, the bass was drumming and the soda barrels where shelled out. The crowd chanted loudly "Ten Fucking Years!, Ten Fucking Years!". A whole decade had gone by and the nobody could wait any longer.

There was magic everywhere in this bitch, all in the air.
The set list was long and the only time there was a break was two "Faygo Break's" and a small hello to the ausdience, explaining that Violent J's Doctor superscribed a bid dose of Austrlia to them, so you could feel the energy from the end of the venue till the end of the event. It was loud, in your face and non-stop.

There wasn't a time where you felt bored, ripped off or wanting to go home. I honestly believe that all haters should actually go to an ICP concert to know why that have so many fans. Compare that to a Nickleback concert and understand the difference between a real show and something you could just watch on tv.

This really was a lifetime experience, I'm not just talking about the VIP either, if you were back row at this thing you could still experience the fun, the unity of the 'family', and the magic of the whole concept of event. Its just the type of show it is, Insane Clown Posse know how to entertain and keep fans happy. That's another thing, price tags. They don't sell out and do everything for the money. When Peter Gabriel & Robin Williams came out for their Down Under tours they were charging min.$350 for back row allocated seating. ICP was only $55, and I was front row center.

The Soda-Showers were a lot of fun, the only challenge was trying to find something dry to wipe down my camera lens with, so in the end I just gave up. I got the taste for L.A.ICE so much that not only did I drink a bottle on stage, but ventured into stores on the way home in cold drenched clown gear and ruined make-up. It was actually a good look because it made it more scary to roam the streets wet and the word "Neden" seemed to stand out more on the front of my shorts. Many plastic bags and three cameras were used in this event for me, it was however the perfect event for a part time dancer, part-time undertaker as I was ready to keep up with the non-stop energy. So I do have to apologize for the reason why my photos are all in different quality, but I wasn't going to have my big baby in a 'faygo' break.

The family is strong and much stronger than people seem to imagine. I was welcomed with opened arms, hugs and love from strangers. Everyone were equals, friends and joined together as one big family. There was a Juggalo Marshall who carried a large heavy boombox from a suburb far away and when "Homies" played, everyone sang along, danced on the streets as if they knew each-other for years. Juggalette Vicki shared her beautiful talent and applied face paint on fans while waiting in line, even for a passing small child who was fascinated that there were clowns in the city.

All I can say is that the 10 year wait was worth it! Glitter, confetti, feathers and soda-pop showered above from wicked clowns as the crowd chanted together as a family it was all "Pure Muther fuckin' Magic..

BREAKING NEWS!!
Insane Clown Posse has announced a Special Australian
Gathering Festive in 2015. They announced it Durung a show on tour. Thank-you to all the wonderful fans on facebook for leeking out this information. All details of the event have not been released to the general public, so we all have to wait for more information and as to what is actually going to happen as-well. I honeslty doubt it will be a four-day festival, but I'm sure as hell as excited as the next big fan.

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Video Highlights
Please feel free to open in youtube for full-screen
Special guests

KidCrusher

Big Hoodoo

Boondox

INSANE CLOWN POSSE

This is the big one! The only HD footage of Insane Clown Posse Down Under Tour for 2013, (keeping in mind that I was front row center) not only that, you lucky homies get to enjoy it for over twenty minutes. Sadly I had to cut out one song due to technical sound issues. Full-screen this one, and pump it up-Enjoy:)