Juggalos and the Tweedy Nation

If there’s anything stranger than thousands of indie-country-rock fans mingling with the minions of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, it must have been the previous night when the mix was even more shocking; the face-painted teen-age freak Juggalos crossing paths with the hardened old-school punk Social Distortion fans.
Colfax Avenue (NOT longest road in America, by the way) is home to the Filmore Auditorium and the Ogden Theatre, which sit just two blocks apart, setting the stage for incredible co-minglings.
I rocked out (failing to pair it with the requisite cock out) as Wilco ran through one hell of a show. Two encores, close to two and a half hours, covering nearly every stage of the catalog of a band that has become unquestionably one of the top American bands today, and indeed one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest.
The opening “Misunderstood” was a treat and they hit my favorites from Summerteeth (“Via Chicago, “Shot in the Arm”) and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (“Jesus, Etc.” and “Poor Places”) as well as much of the new album. “California Stars” and “At My Window Sad and Lonely” in the second encore were a particular treat.
The pleasantness of the late-fall cool outdoors was broken by the shock of running into thousands of Insane Clown Posse fans just up the road. There wasn't anything upsetting about it, just the opposite. Freakshows are always a sort of eye candy. They're like sour gummy worms.
Face paint is a strange thing. I can’t fathom how a piss-poor rap duo of white guys in clown makeup can inspire untold legion of fans. Perhaps anyone who says “fuck” enough and adheres to a club-like marketable rebelliousness can inspire teen-agers. And these kids are weird. For those who can’t get quite enough of a release from reality out of a pro-wrestling, there is the ICP.
But Wilco fans are a mild-enough batch in general. I’m sure the night before some 40-year-old punk with tattoos older than the average ICP fan was itchin’ to pound a Juggalo or two.
Just how divergent can two post-show crowds get? Celine Dion and Megadeth? The Dead and the Wu Tang? Toby Keith and Cat Stevens?