Insane Clown Posse, Coal Chamber and Biohazard have announced dates for

a joint 23-date rap-metal tour slated to kick off July 8 in Philadelphia.

The tour will make a semicircle around the East Coast and the South, making a

few Midwest stops along the way. It will go west to hit Los Angeles on July 27,

then turn back to tackle the Midwest in earnest. The rock and rap acts will play

the trek's finale when they turn up for a second time at Nautica Stage in

Cleveland on Aug. 14. The Insane Clown Posse spin-off act, Twiztid, also will

be along as the opening act.

Coal Chamber vocalist B. Dez Fafara said the lineup creates a distinct package.

"I think it's unexpected," Fafara said Tuesday (June 15). "We've never toured

with the Clowns, and we heard they were nuts, and we need that kind of thing

surrounding us; otherwise, it gets boring."

Insane Clown Posse comprises the rapping clown-faced duo Violent J (born

Joe Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (born Joey Utsler). They will be promoting

The Amazing Jeckel Brothers (1999), an album about good and evil

that's centered around the characters Jake the Just and Jack the Sinister.

The ICP record debuted two weeks ago at #4 on the Billboard 200

albums chart and currently sits at the #14 spot. It features such songs as "Rize"

(RealAudio excerpt) and "I Stab People"

(RealAudio excerpt) and includes guest spots

by Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Ol' Dirty Bastard and the Jerky Boys.

Meanwhile, Biohazard, the rap-influenced metal quartet, will be out behind their

fifth and heaviest-sounding CD, New World Disorder, featuring the title

track and "End of My Rope."

"I think Biohazard adds a definite, legitimate flavor [to the bill]," Fafara said.

Coal Chamber will preview songs from their forthcoming album, Chamber

Music, the follow-up to their 1997 self-titled debut, which contained the

single "Loco" (RealAudio excerpt).

Due to hit shelves Sept. 7, the new effort finds the band

teaming up with heavy-metal icon Ozzy Osbourne on an unlikely cover tune:

Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey."

While all the bands on the bill have merged rap and metal into their sounds,

Fafara said Coal Chamber steered toward a pure metal format for their new

album. "We just wanted to jump off the moving train in the dark," he said. "So

many people are doing this [rap/metal] thing right now that a couple of us

coined, and we're going to leave it to that."

Fafara said he bought an ICP T-shirt after seeing the pair in a magazine two

years ago, but he hasn't met the duo.

Rapper Kool Keith (born Keith Thornton) initially planned to fill the slot on the

bill now occupied by Biohazard, but he pulled out of the tour on fans' advice,

according to manager Jeremy Larner.

"Kool Keith wants to give his fans what they want for the new millennium,"

Larner said. "The fans on his website said he wouldn't be good on that tour

because ICP is wack. He doesn't want to be on a tour of which his fans

[disapprove]."

Keith insulted ICP on First Come, First Served, his recent album released

under the name "Dr. Dooom." He plans to launch a solo tour Aug. 11 in

California, to promote his forthcoming album Black Elvis/Lost in Space

(Aug. 10). Those dates will be announced soon.

ICP/ Coal Chamber/ Biohazard Tour Dates:

July 8; Philadelphia, Pa.; Electric Factory

July 9; Pittsburgh, Pa.; IC Light

July 10; Toledo, Ohio; Toledo Sports Arena

July 11; Columbus, Ohio; Brewery District Pavilion

July 13; Cleveland, Ohio; Nautica Stage

July 15; Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Allen County Memorial Coliseum

July 16; Louisville, Ky.; Louisville Gardens

July 17; Atlanta, Ga.; Masquerade Music Park

July 18; Tampa, Fla.; Ice Palace

July 22; Houston, Texas; Bayou Place Theatre

July 23; San Antonio, Texas; Sunken Garden Amphitheatre

July 24; Dallas, Texas; Artists Square

July 27; Los Angeles, Calif.; Shrine Auditorium & Expo Center

July 28; Phoenix, Ariz.; America West Arena

July 30; Morrison, Colo.; Red Rocks Amphitheatre

July 31; Amarillo, Texas; Amarillo Civic Center

Aug. 1; Belton, Texas; Bell County Expo Center

Aug. 4; Milwaukee, Wis.; Eagles Ballroom

Aug. 5; Minneapolis, Minn.; Target Center

Aug. 6; Maryland Heights, Mo.; Riverport Amphitheatre

Aug. 7; Bonner Springs, Kan.; Sandstone Amphitheatre

Aug. 8; Chicago, Ill.; Aragon Ballroom

Aug. 14; Cleveland, Ohio; Nautica Stage