October's gone, and your neighborhood haunted house is closed for another year. But Cincinnati's Juggalos had one last seasonal celebration Monday night, as the horror show that is the Insane Clown Posse caravan rolled into Bogart's.

        As the ICP would put it, Cincinnati is down with the clown. The show was another sellout for the Detroit rap crew. Juggalos, the group's name for its fans, arrived with faces painted black and white in the styles favored by Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J, Insane Clown Posse's duo.

        The show was an impressive display of marketing and brand loyalty. The three other groups on the bill — Dark Lotus, Blaze and Twiztid — were offshoots of the ICP mothership, and each were built upon the formula of profane raps and prerecorded beats.

        It was billed as an Insane Clown Posse show, but they didn't headline. Instead, in an effort to push one of its franchises, they had Dark Lotus go on last. This didn't phase the fans, who seemed equally familiar with each group's lyrics and chants.

        To call those raps and chants profanity-laced is just getting started. The rappers used swear words like the average speaker uses subjects and verbs. “Die (expletive), die (expletive), die!” was one chant the crowd knew well. “(Expletive) the world!” was another.

        All told, the music had absolutely no redeeming value. Some would say that's what rock 'n' roll is all about. But good rock 'n' roll can be base; it can't be this boring.

        Such opinion, in fact any opinion, holds no water with the Posse. A half hour into Twiztid's set, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope joined the duo on stage, and voiced their view of scribes in song form: “(Expletive) critics, (expletive) your review. Even if you like us, (expletive) you.”

        Their posturing pays off. There isn't a more successful rap group out there so completely shunned by mainstream media that boasts a following as devout and large as the ICP's. Their rebel stance makes them “hard” and “real” in the eyes of a Juggalo. There will always be teen-agers fascinated with cuss words, face paint and haunted houses, so the Posse's place is safe in the marketplace.

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