This year's Gathering of the Juggalos was by far the biggest and best one yet. When you have over eight thousand Juggalos crammed into one place, the Peoria Civic Center, there are many opportunities for disaster and chaos. One such event did occur during the Gathering when a riot occurred shortly after police tried to stop Juggalettes from showing what their mothers gave them. Soon tear gas bellowed down the halls of the center and mass confusion set in. But this did not spell doom for the Gathering. Immediately assessing the situation, Jumpsteady and Alex Abbiss arrived on the scene and began negotiations with the police and the Juggalos present. It did not take long for the two dons to quickly bring things back to order. This however was one of the only bones that the Gathering witnessed; the entire three day event went crazy-smooth and almost everyone present had the best time of their lives.

The Gathering hosted the highest attendance record ever, and why wouldn't it? There was so much going on that even the veteran Juggalos were dazzled by the awesome display. One of the freshest happenings at the Gathering was Juggalo Court. The judicial hammer of Judge High Bone came crashing down (sometimes literally) on all those who held a weak case against their opponent. And how did justice punish the guilty? Those accused of stale tactics spun the Wheel of Bone. Some had their heads shaved; others were placed against a wall and fired upon by egg throwing representatives of law and order. It didn't matter if you won or you lost in court, either way all present got schooled by the Psychopathic Judicial System.

Much energy was released in other challenging events. If you were ready to take on the world (or another Juggalo), you had several avenues to take in order to vent out your inner power. X-Box brought to you the devastating first-person shooter, Halo, in an arena-style, free-for-all, shoot-em-up that allowed up to sixteen Juggalos to go postal on each other with simulated hot lead and explosions. Bouncy Boxing and the Jousting Championship brought a more personal level to getting rid of your excess heat. What better way to let off some energy than pummeling your opponent with oversized boxing gloves or gigantic padded sticks? But the biggest draw of all these and more was definitely the Dodge Ball event. Hundreds of Juggalos waited for their turn to have the chance to whip a thick rubber ball at another Juggalo's nugget. There was no lack of activities for the Juggalo with a competitive spirit.

Many artists, including everyone here at Psychopathic Records, have started at the bottom and have worked their way up to the mad levels of freshness that they currently hold. Can you do the same? Well, many Juggalos had that once in a life time opportunity to have their flavor on a CD� courtesy of Psychopathic Records. It was the Good, the Bad, and the Down-n-Ugly present at this big draw but they all schooled their flavor, even getting the masses watching to join in.

And what Gathering would not be complete without Faygo? The people of Peoria may never have heard of this drink before but now it is burned into their minds forever. The Faygo Drinking Competition is the culmination of this truth. Juggalos were spraying the stage with bile and whatever they had recently ate in order to prove that they were the Master Faygo Consumer.

There were seminars were Juggalos could listen to and speak with their favorite Psychopathic artists. Each of them was outstanding but the most powerful and moving seminar of all was the ICP seminar on Sunday. Emotions ran high as Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope spoke to the packed seminar room� spoke to the Juggalos for the first time in person since they had went into hiding. Many cried and even the hardest Juggalo present could not ignore the lump in his throat because the reaction to their return was so devastating. The Wicked Clowns were back and there was no denying it.

But what Gathering would be without wrestling and live performances? Juggalo Championshit Wrestling was in the house, schooling their fresh tactics in the first hexagon ring ever used in the United States. Bodies were crushed and limbs were smashed to a pulp in an unprecedented display of wrestling carnage; all for the enjoyment of the Juggalos present. And then there were the shows. Unbelievable. There was so much flavor and energy being pumped out at each show... the only way you could truly feel the impact was if you were present.

In all the Gathering of the Juggalos 2002 event was the best three days you could have possibly imagined. It was mind-bending. It was devastating. It was level ten thousand freshness. It was the most pivotal event for Psychopathic Records to date and if the only knowledge you have of the occurrences of those three days is this review, then you got the bone. When the Gathering comes around again you have to be there. Even if you were schooled by it this time, as impossible as it sounds, the next one will be even more off the hook!

Does that mean there is going to be a gathering of the Juggalos 2003? Have you been reading this review? Of course we are! We are already in the works preparing for the next Gathering. We are laying out the game plan; looking into the next location of the greatest annual event ever, checking up on what can be improved, and putting the lock down on some new and improved fresh flavor to make this next Gathering totally off the chain. Without a doubt, ninja, we are coming back again and it is going to be totally psychopathic!


We want to hear what you have to say about it all, so we threw together this survey so we could get some more detailed feedback and know what to keep from this year, what to bring back from previous years, what went well and what people weren't feeling, all so next year's Gathering will be even MORE off the hook! So hit that up and let us know what you think!!