Photos by Skyler Wendell, Sidelines
Story by Bailey Brantingham
The clowns come out at night. Big red noses and all.
While some festivalgoers at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival opted for the fake-blood fest at Gwar’s 1 a.m. set early Friday, a select crowd trekked to Outeroo to mosh with the circus — formally known as Bonnaroo’s Clown Rave — inside the House of Yes barn.
When the velvet ropes dropped, clowns of all shapes and sizes flooded into the barn’s second themed rave of the weekend. As rainbow afros bobbed to “Sandstorm” by Darude, the flashing strobe lights and twirling disco balls kept the party going into the early hours of Friday.
Not every passerby expected a circus in the barn, but loud music and neon strobes are as magnetic as a balloon in a sewer to any wandering clown crowds nearby. Many attendees skipped the painted-on smiles and bowties and stuck with their usual sweat-slicked concert clothes.
“I saw people dancing on stage, so I was like, ‘What’s going on in there?’” said JC Ford, Clown Rave-goer. “I always love to stop in the House of Yes. There’s always something cool going on.”
The party centered around a free-for-all stage where mischievous clowns could dance — usually provocatively — surrounded by sweaty post-’Roo bodies moshing and head-nodding. The DJ booth overlooked the crowd, flanked by two clown burlesque dancers.
DJ Ultra Violet, a resident at the House of Yes club in New York City, spun the tracks behind the booth. Vietnamese-Mexican DJ Boyyyish followed with a later set.
Carla Lopez, known by her stage name DJ Ultra Violet, traded in her signature hoop earrings and funky shades for a sports bra and spandex in preparation for the annual Bonnaroo sweat-fest. While it’s her first time DJing down on the Farm, she’s no Bonnaroo newbie. Whether in New York or Outeroo, the House of Yes is her domain.
“Every night the genre’s a little different, today’s going to be more techno and hard music,” DJ Ultra Violet said. “But I’m actually really excited for this one. I get to dress up. I’m going to put on a little makeup.”
While many online members of the Bonnaroo clown community hoped for anonymous horrorcore rap duo Clown Core to appear, DJ Ultra Violet and Boyyyish kept the party going for hours from behind the booth.
“I’m a wildcard. I play very intuitively, so, like, with the crowd I go very much off of energy,” the DJ said. “But I also like to have fun.”
While the House of Yes’s themed rave nights continue, Bonnaroo’s clown crowd will trade their striped jumpsuits for cowboy hats to throw down at the DJ duo’s final rave: Sunday’s Techhouse Hoedown. But, with the Clown Rave’s out of the gate popularity, partiers might be able to bust out the white face paint for the Clown Rave again next year.
Bailey Brantingham is the Lead Lifestyles Reporter for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact the Lifestyles Editor, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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