By Dave OBrien
Record-Courier staff writer
NELSON Some other Ohio town will be feeling clown love as the Gathering of the Juggalos, held in Portage County for the past three years, will not return to Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in 2006.
The Gathering made Nelson its home for three years, starting in 2003. However, Quarry Park owner Evan Kelley confirmed Friday that Psychopathic Records, Insane Clown Posse and their fans, the Juggalos, have not been invited back for a fourth-consecutive year. Rumors about the change began to fly shortly after the 2005 Gathering, when ICPs Violent J reported on a Juggalo Web site that the group was looking to take the 2006 Gathering elsewhere.
More recently, Violent J wrote on www.insaneclownposse.com that the 2006 Gathering will be held in a secret, fresh location near Columbus, Ohio, a move confirmed Friday by attorney Marc Beginin of Detroit, who represented Psychopathic during the past two gatherings. Beginin had no other official comment.
Kelley said that for three years, the majority of the Juggalos were respectful and friendly, but the mood and actions changed over time.
The first year was not bad. The second year was questionable, but I thought Well, lets try a third year and see how it goes. And the third year was terrible, just awful, Kelley said, referring to the five-day festival held July 21-25, 2005
Kelley said Psychopathic Records broke some of the rules set down for the 2005 event, including blasting music all night long.
Neighbors were calling, livid at four in the morning regarding loud music, he said. I was really upset with that, it was flagrant disrespect to the community and myself. I voiced my opinion that I really didnt want it back, so they looked elsewhere.
Drugs, alcohol, nudity, profanity and trash also became serious problems, he said, though the vast majority of the Juggalos were very respectful and really good people.
It was a cool show. If you were a fan, you had the time of your life, he said. I got more thank-you notes, neighbors drove in with thank-you notes they got. A lot of these people were really good folks. But the bad side of this group really screwed it up for the good kids.
The 2005 Gathering of the Juggalos was the sixth such event, and the fourth in Ohio. Previous gatherings were held in Peoria, Ill., where Juggalos clashed with police, and Toledo, where a similar situation unfolded. For three years, Portage County spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of man-hours corralling the Juggalos inside Quarry Park. In 2003, the county sued Psychopathic to recoup police overtime costs.
Kelley, who said the park now will focus more on swimming and camping, said he expects a mixed reaction to the news of the Juggalos departure.
The neighbors will be happy, he said. The hotels, gas stations, little food stores, the hardware store in Garrettsville, any kind of supplies they (the Juggalos) were getting they were buying here, so thats going to hurt. But the neighbors couldnt sleep for five days. It was good and bad, but after the third year it turned a little sour.
We used it (the Gathering) as an opportunity to really better this place, Kelley said. Now its time to cut those guys loose.
E-mail: dobrien@recordpub.com
Phone: (330) 296-9657