On the last night of SXSW this year, Fat Mike took the stage at Emo’s Annex as his alter ego Cokie The Clown to perform a harrowing and macabre spectacle for a small group of (mostly) oblivious fans.
Much has been made about the fact that he tricked members of the audience into drinking his own urine, with the venue banning him from ever performing there again and issuing this statement: “Emo’s does not condone Fat Mike’s actions, and we do not encourage or condone any acts of stupidity that Fat Mike may perform.”
Sure, that was the highlight (or lowlight, depending on your perspective) of the performance, but after watching the entire show, I’m inclined to think that it might well be one of the most powerful things I’ve seen in quite some time. The urine incident was merely the icing on a troubling forty minutes that saw Mike airing a lot of dark, dirty laundry. You can watch the performance below:
[bliptv AYHQkFkC]
According to a Pinpoint Music article on the event, “Damian Abraham, lead singer of the band Fucked Up, later described this Cokie set as the most depressing and fucked up thing he had ever seen.” Indeed.
