Every good circus is a bit smelly and there’s always the chance something will go horribly wrong. The same thing goes for Rock ‘n Rave.  Joost van Bellen tells us about how he decided to pour a full bottle of wodka over his head, which seemed like a good idea to him at the time. See video above.

“At the end of my set, I have to sing ‘I Did It My Way’, originally by Frank Sinatra. Of course I can’t sing, so that was a bit of a problem already. On top of that, I kept forgetting the lyrics. “I did it my…?” Oh, right. “Way!” The whole act is completely over the top. All limits are gone and everything is beyond any shame. I love that, so at the grand opening in the Melkweg I decided to go all the way. At the end of the song I noticed Monsieur Plastique standing in the corner with this full bottle of wodka in his hand. I grabbed the bottle, opened it and poured the whole thing over my head. It looked great! But it hurt like hell. I was blinded for a full 15 minutes.

Even when Boemklatsch put a net around me and dragged me of stage, I couldn’t see a thing. So I stumbled backstage, fell over and decided to lay there and rest for a while. I must have been on the floor for more than ten long minutes before somebody even noticed me… They probably didn’t recognize me in my dress and with my make-up running down my face. The next day, In Utrecht, I did it again. Yes with wodka, because you have to keep it real. And you know, 7-up would be even worse because that is some nasty sticky stuff!”

Foto door Marc Deurloo, bewerkt door Bas Kosters

Joost van Bellen, proprietor of the Rock ‘n Rave Circus, has been vomiting next to his sink for days now, because tonight the spectacular opening of the circus will take place. It will be the first edition of a tour which will have nine shows in total. The Dutch Circus Inspection wanted to know whether all mandatory aspects of a well organized circus have been met, and forced Joost to fill out this form.

Prove you’re a good circus proprietor. Describe your relevant experience in the circus industry.
As a child, I used to organize circuses in my back yard in the summer holiday. I made the tent with sheets and clothes lines. Then I would steal dogs that were waiting outside the mall for their owners to come back, and had them jump through burning hoops. I love circuses because it’s a huge spectacle, full of sensation, and very over the top. I like that.

In short, describe what your circus has to offer.
Lots of music, craziness and special effects. There are two live acts, and I will also be singing myself. I will sing I Did It My Way in Sid Vicious-style. He could sing just as well as me. Bas Kosters designed all the costumes and cut, ripped and stained Diesel clothing. It all looks amazing. And then there’s Boemklatsch, who will be our team of trapeze acrobats. Until now, nobody knew they had it in them.

Are there any problems you expect to happen in your circus? Are there things that could be of some trouble?
Out of safety considerations we decided to skip the flea theater. Those fleas were just terrible. During repetitions yesterday, our master of ceremonies Monsieur Plastique was being a bit of a diva, so to punish hem we amputated one of his arms. We hope he’ll be a bit calmer from now on, otherwise we’ll have to take off his other arm too, which would be a problem because of the microphone. I think there’s nothing else that could go wrong, unless ShiiiChiii the Clown will explode in somebody’s face.

Because of what skills did you select your circus dynasty? Was there a special ritual the artists and performers had to go through?
First of all, everybody has been selected for their talent. Furthermore, it’s really important that we’re a family, so we don’t want any bad vibes or diva behaviour. Our team is made of gold. I know that because after we all read the script for the show, we had an amazing night of drinking. And I have to admit I was one of the first to fold. Also, we don’t do group hugs and prayer is forbidden.

What rules do you have as a circus proprietor for your team?
Everybody is as free to do exactly what I tell them to.

How are you planning to keep them healthy? What are you feeding them? Is there a training schedule?
Let’s not forget this is the Rock ‘n Rave Circus, so there’s no such thing as ‘healthy’ here. Our team consists of some of the most annoying kids in school. You shouldn’t tell them what to do, you should just let them screw around.

Every great circus has a sponsor. How would you describe your relationship with your sponsor and how did it come to be?
Together with my partner Sander I’ve been making the scores for Diesel fashion shows for six years now. Sometimes they have eight a year. Around these shows, there are usually parties I’ll DJ at, so there’s quite a strong connection. We’ve done the craziest things, and Diesel always supported and inspired me in that, because we could always go further than we thought we could. So it’s only natural Diesel is our partner here. We call them our partner, not a sponsor with a big bag of money. I also believe many other sponsors or partners couldn’t really handle us. In our original sponsor presentation we had a picture of a microphone stuck inside the ass of Bastiaan from Aux Raus. Nobody liked that, but we refused to change it. Diesel, however, didn’t think it was a problem at all. On the contrary!

The costumes of the circus artists have all been designed by Bas Kosters. What were your demands and how did it all turn out?
We didn’t have any demands, just inspiration: old fashioned circuses, forgotten glamrock stars, beasts, rock opera’s like Tommy, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Jesus Christ Superstar. Unlike any other, Bas understands what the circus is about. When we asked him, he immediately had a tsunami of ideas.

How often will you change outfits during the show?
Three times! From circus proprietor to glamrock king to god himself.

What do you expect from the audience?
We’re hoping for a lot of moustaches and circus outfits. But no special outfit wouldn’t be a problem too. Everybody should just have a good time. We’re planning on destroying every venue we’ll get to.

Who is the biggest clown of the circus? This is a very important question because of permits.
Well, that’s not very easy. Clown Bassie is very kranky and vicious, but he does have the best big red shoes, size canoe. Clown ChiiiShiii is very small but is able to blow up to two meters in diameter.

Are you planning on topping this huge circus tour with a new crazy idea next year?
Next year I want to do more music making than thinking of all that comes with it. I want to make more sound scores for fashion shows and work on my own mash-ups. This circus is a one time thing, it will never come back! So the time is now to come and see it.

During your 25 years of being a DJ, you’ve created quite a name. Which means you have to live up to quite some expectations and always keep proving yourself. How do you live with this?
You can’t live with that.