Clown 1, Clown 2(Louis Cole) and DJ Driver
On February 22, 2023, the musical duo, Clown Core, came to Brooklyn’s Elsewhere, a live music venue full of charm and weirdos, like me. Clown Core is a band that defies definition or categorization, but if one had to compare their music to a genre, jazz is the first that comes to mind. Better yet, it is as if the punk band, the Ramones, went to a music school and played jazz: quick, noisy, and smart.
Dressing as anonymous clowns, the band, consisting of a drummer and a saxophonist, tries their hardest to conceal their identities. The only publicly known member is Louis Cole, a jazz multi-instrumentalist who plays the drums in Clown Core. The music is loud, fast, full of passion, and clearly geared for a specific kind of person; you’re either into it or you’re not.
However, it is important not to get this band mixed up with another clown-based group, the Insane Clown Posse, who are a more rambunctious hip-hop group with a legion of die hard fans. The people at this show were more artsy and seemed to be a kind of post-ironic, where they play their deep enthusiasm as something nonchalant.
The show opened at 8 p.m. with someone called DJ Driver, who I thought was a drill rapper. Turns out he was simply a large man in a ski mask who came out, sat in front of a table, hit play on some machine, and our ears were introduced to a calming, atmospheric type of ambient music called vaporwave; it couldn’t be more different than what Clown Core played. Periodically, DJ Driver would drink out of a McDonalds cup and eat chips with hummus, which was met with cheers from the crowd. To me, it was a deeply spiritual experience as he was bathed in purple light and a ubiquitous serenity filled the room.
After about an hour of this, DJ Driver left the stage. After a few moments, the curtains dropped revealing a large porta potty. The walls of the construction also dropped, this time revealing the clowns themselves. They looked about nine feet tall and were dressed in white, with their respective clown masks on.
The set kicked off immediately, and behind them was a screen which showed everything from universal fractals to war footage. The music screeched across the club as our senses were overloaded. Never in my life have I seen such tremendous technical ability. Soon, a fervor swept over the crowd and people began to mosh, but it was not with ill intent; they were not beating each other up so much as they were jumping around and loving each other.
The music and the accompanying video were totally satanic, which isn’t meant in a pejorative way. This satanic fever that spread through us could only be compared to a Pentecostal sermon. Our bodies had become hosts to the music and if we could have, I’m sure everyone would have been speaking in tongues. We were all not only thrilled about the weird music, but also the weird people who crawled out to see it; we were all there, together, in a moment that can never be replicated.
The set lasted about 30 minutes, as Clown Core’s songs are short. After an encore performance of their song “Hell,” a fast, noise-driven track, the clowns freed us – much to our reluctance. As everyone left and got on the same subway train, we felt a connection and people were talking to total strangers about how great the show was. We can only hope the clowns will grace us with their presence once more.
