Louder Than Life 2021

Here’s Some Advice From a Man Who Never Quite Did It Right: Clockwise Circle Pit’s Guide to Maximizing Your Good Times at Louder Than Life

/ Rev. Joel / 5 Comments

NOTE: This post has been updated to add one very important FAQ, which I only realized last night (8/11/25) that I’d overlooked. You can find it immediately following the Simpsons meme. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

I’ve written a lot about Louder Than Life since I started this blog, and I’m gonna write a lot more about it in the future, and surprise, motherfucker, the future is now! I was writing about Day Three recently when it occurred to me that I’ve never seen a comprehensive guide of tips and tricks intended for first-time attendees, so I decided to create the world I wanted to live in, and here we are.

Thankfully, this future isn’t here yet. It sure feels nigh as fuck sometimes, though.

I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty fuckin long. WordPress estimates a 35 minute read time. Clockwise Circle Pit cannot accept any responsibility for falls caused by your legs falling asleep if you try to read the entire thing in one toilet-sitting. I can be very long-winded when I’m passionate about the subject, and I will not apologize for that. I understand completely if you don’t wanna proceed any further. Thanks for your time, and feel free to check out some of my other posts, both here at Clockwise Circle Pit, or at my old blog Stay Heavy. I haven’t posted anything there in a little over 5 years, but it still gets more regular traffic than this site. Anyhoo…

Some of these tips may seem obvious to you, and many of them seem obvious to me, but if I’ve learned one thing in my 47 years on this plane of existence, it’s this: you can’t assume anything is obvious to anyone else, even if that same thing is blatantly obviously to you. Being a member of several LTL fan groups on facebook has confirmed that statement to be 100% factual. Many of these tips will apply to any outdoor festival experience, but some of them are specific to Louder Than Life. Without further ado…

Q: What the heck is Louder Than Life?

Louder Than Life is a four-day music festival held in Louisville, Kentucky in late September. It’s put on by a company called Danny Wimmer Presents, and they do a fuckin great job every year. I’ve never attended a multi-day festival put on by any other production company, but I’ve read many times over the years about how festivals put on by other companies pale in comparison to DWP festivals (*cough* Blue Ridge Rock Fest *cough*).

The first iteration was held in 2014 in Champions Park (also in Louisville, KY), and after it was cancelled in 2018 due to flooding, it was moved to its new home at the Highland Festival Grounds in 2019, where it has been ever since. It was cancelled in 2020 for some reason, and the second day was cancelled this year (2024) due to dangerously high winds from Hurricane Helene. Otherwise, it goes on rain or shine, and it’s a blast. The lineup is always a mixed bag, but if you like hard rock, heavy metal, punk rock, hardcore, and/or hip-hop, you’ll almost certainly find at least a few things to enjoy. It gets bigger and better every year. For me personally, 2024’s lineup was the best I’ve seen so far, and I’m still stoked that I got to be there.

Q: Who, exactly, are you, and why should I care what you have to say?

That’s a really good question. I’m just a dude who, when he is not actively attending Louder Than Life, is looking forward to attending the next Louder Than Life so much he can hardly stand it. I do not profess to be an expert, but I have attended every day of the fest for the past four years (plus one day in 2019) so I could certainly call myself a veteran “Loudmouth” at this point, even if I don’t sport the telltale neon lime green that many of the self-professed Loudmouths wear. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes over the years, and I’ve learned a thing or two along the way, so I figured I might as well put together my own comprehensive guide to help answer questions you may have about attending Louder Than Life. You’re welcome.

A quick note: I decided halfway through writing this to present it in the form of a FAQ, because I thought that would be funny, and I think I was right. You might disagree, and that’s okay. There’s still plenty of good advice here.

I have to assume I would also be this.

Q: Should I wear earplugs?

Good lord, yes. It’s not called Louder Than Life because things happen at a reasonable volume. I use Loop brand, but there are lots of quality options available that are designed specifically for concert settings, which is to say that they are designed to dampen the volume of the music without muffling it/making it sound shitty, and they allow you to have a conversation without having to remove them or scream absurdly loud to be heard. I didn’t know how they work, exactly, but I assume it’s your standard combination of science and magic.

At the very least, get some cheap foam jobbies from CVS or wherever. I’ve attended hundreds of live concerts over the past 31 years, and I very stupidly only started wearing earplugs on a regular basis about 10 years ago, and I promise you tinnitus is not a fun thing to deal with.

Q: Should I drink plenty of water?

Yes, you should drink plenty of water every day that you’re alive. This should absolutely go without saying, yet every year, people have to go to the medical tent to be treated for dehydration. You can bring an unopened bottle of water inside with you, and they have “hydration stations” located throughout the grounds. There’s no reason to not drink water. If you don’t wanna bother with carrying a water bottle in, I recommend bringing a couple of bottle caps in your pockets, because if/(hopefully)when you buy a bottle of water, they will take the cap off before giving it to you. I’m not 100% sure why they do this, and I’ve read a few different possible explanations, but all that really matters is that they do do it. (Haha, I said “do do”.)

Q: Should I pace myself?

Yes. Don’t get drunk too early. Get plenty of rest. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. This is especially true if you’re in it for the whole weekend, but even if you’re only going for one day, if you plan to be there for more than a couple of bands, it’s a very good idea to pace yourself and make time to rest.

Q: Should I bring a whole bunch of shit with me?

I don’t even know how I would express myself if the Simpsons didn’t exist.

I recommend travelling as light as possible. Clear backpacks are allowed, as are fanny packs under a certain size, and lots of people use those. I’ve tried both, but I ended up feeling kinda burdened, so I just wear cargo shorts to carry things I need on my person, including glasses case/sunglasses, beard comb, ink pen, Sharpie®, lip balm, and one or two bandannas. I say if you don’t need it, leave it outside the gates. If you might need it, get a clear backpack or a small fanny pack, or rent a locker on the premises. We did that for the first time this year, and it made things much easier, especially when the rains came.

I asked the missus if she had anything to add, and she recommended tissues, feminine hygiene products, hand sanitizer, deodorant*, and sunscreen. This is where the clear backpack and/or fanny pack and/or locker would come in handy. If you’re using the portajohns in GA, some wipes would probably be a good idea, too. A portable phone charger could potentially come in handy as well. I’ve taken one in before, but I didn’t need it, as I don’t really use my phone that much while I’m inside the gates. If you get a locker, those are equipped with chargers

*Please fucking wear deodorant.

Q: What kind of shoes should I wear?

I highly recommend close-toed shoes or boots, preferably waterproof. I had a pair of Merrells that served me well every year since 2021, but I had to retire them after surviving through this year’s fields of filth. Which reminds me, I’d also recommend a spare pair of socks, especially if rain is the forecast. You will almost certainly regret wearing flip-flops or sandals, especially if you’re attending more than one day.

Q: What will the weather be like?

Every year that I’ve attended (before this year), the temperatures have ranged from very warm to hot-as-balls, with minimal cloud cover. This year, the rain started falling toward the end of Day One, and it didn’t completely stop until well into Day Four. September in the Ohio River Valley tends to be extremely humid.

Speaking of September in the Ohio River Valley, if you have seasonal allergies, plan on suffering. I mean, take your medicine and all, but know that it will likely not be as effective as usual.

Q: What’s the scoop on shade and/or seating?

There’s not much shade available in the General Admission area, aside from the drink tents, and a bunch of selfish dickheads are definitely gonna be camped out in whatever little shade there is pretty much all day, so plan accordingly. You can hang out inside the big drink tents, but good luck finding anywhere to sit or put your drink down for a few minutes. Basically, if you need to sit down and you have GA passes, you’re most likely gonna have to sit on the ground, in the sun (you can bring a towel or a light blanket). There are picnic tables around, and the larger drink tents have tables and seating, but people in general are awful, and they won’t let you sit in the empty seat next to them, because their friend is just over at the main stage for 40 minutes, and that seat is for them when they get back.

There’s a big tent in VIP that provides a lot of shade, but people are even worse about claiming seats in there. I think many of them forget that everyone in VIP paid extra to be there, and I assume the rest are just assholes. Top Shelf has an air-conditioned tent and a double-level elevated seating area that is mostly shaded. We’ve never had a problem scoring a place to sit inside that tent, but seats on the elevated seating area can be harder to come by.

Q: Should I wear a hat?

Yes, you should absolutely wear a hat, or a bandanna, or some damn thing. Just make sure you cover your noggin. It would be wise to keep your ears covered as much as possible, too. Skin cancer likes earlobes. I used to wear a big dumb straw hat with a lanyard, so I could keep the sun completely off my big ol’ John Cougar Melonhead, and when the sun went down, I could just let the hat rest on my back. That sucked for a few reasons:

  • It’s a pretty dumb-looking hat.
  • It could pretty easily block the view of people behind me, and I try to be conscious of that.
  • Having the lanyard tugging on my neck while wearing the hat on my back got uncomfortable very quickly.
  • It’s too big to do anything with it besides wear it.

I got a new hat this year, and it looks kinda dumb too, but not as dumb. It’s much more practical, comfortable, and convenient. It’s a cooling bucket hat from a company called Mission. I receive no compensation from Mission, but I highly recommend you get a cooling bucket hat from Mission, and here’s why:

  • They come equipped with UPF 50 sunblock protection.
  • They come equipped with chemical-free cooling technology. Just get it wet, wring it out, and wave it in the air briefly, and you can experience cooling effects of up to 30° F (-1.1° C) for up to 2 hours.
  • They’re very lightweight, so the lanyard doesn’t tug on your neck as much when you’re wearing the hat on your back, and you can also fold them up and stuff them in one of your cargo pockets (or your clear backpack and/or fanny pack).
  • They’re machine washable.
  • They’re quite affordable, and they also come in handy for yard work, nature walks, outdoor parties, etc.
Here’s me and the Missus. You see why I say my hat is kinda dumb-looking. Damned if isn’t practical, though, and as comfortable as a hat can be.

Q: Should I research the lineup and try to learn about some new bands?

Fuck yes you should, bud! After the lineup drops, absolutely take some time to research the bands you’re not familiar with. We’ve discovered some new favorites just by checking out every single band every single year we’ve gone. We’ve also discovered some bands we do not want to be in the vicinity of at all, and that’s good knowledge to have as well. As I mentioned in a previous post, after the lineup gets released, I’ll make a list of all the bands, and on Saturday nights over the next few months, we’ll spend a chunk of time havin some drinks and watchin videos from all the bands. We’ll usually start with either the newest song or the song with the most plays on YouTube, and we’ll work our way through the lineup over the course of a month or two.

When we’ve made it through all four days, we’ll go back through and watch a second video of each band, this time focusing on older songs when possible/as needed. After we’ve finished a second run-through, we’ll go through the whole list once more, this time watching live performances from each band. We each assign a grade to every song, using the standard A-F grading scale used in public schools in the US.

After all three run-throughs, we’ll average out the grades, and anyone who averages a B- or better makes it onto our short list of bands we want to watch. In addition to learning about new bands and helping us make decisions, it also helps maximize our Louder Than Life-related excitement throughout the year.

The real challenge comes much closer to go-time, after the daily schedules get released. That’s when you find out that, for example, two of the bands you wanna see on Friday start at the same time on two different stages, and a third band from the short list starts playing on the other stage halfway through those sets. It can be a gut-wrenching experience. That leads me to my next tip…

Q: Should I brace myself for possible disappointment?

Oh my goodness, yes. You’re almost certainly gonna have to miss at least a couple of bands you wanna see, due to scheduling conflicts. It’s just the nature of the beast. When I have to decide, I take a couple of factors into account:

  • If I’ve seen one of the bands before, I’m usually gonna go with the one I haven’t seen. There are a few bands that don’t fit that scenario for me (I’ll always watch Clutch when they’re playing), but I cross that bridge when I come to it.
  • If a band is from another country (especially if they don’t tour the States often), they’ll almost always take precedence.

In addition to schedule-based disappointment, bands cancel every year, sometimes as late as the day of their scheduled performance. As discussed above, there’s also the possibility of weather-based cancellations and delays. All disappointing. All things you have to learn to be okay with.

Q: So how do the stages work?

There are a total of five stages. Main Stage 1 and Main Stage 2 are side-by-side, and while one band is playing, the next band is setting up and sound-checking on the other stage. There’s a five-minute break between bands. No main stage bands will ever play at the same time, and no other band will ever overlap with the main headliner.

What used to be the “second stage” became two side-by-side stages a few years ago. This year, they were the Decibel Stage and the Revolver Stage. They work the same way as the main stages.

The third stage area/fifth stage (known as the Loudmouth Stage this year) is a single stage, so the breaks between bands are a bit longer.

This should help it make more sense.

A lot of people like to complain (imagine that) about such-and-such band being on one of the smaller stages because they think it’s not fair to that band. For example, Sum 41 headlined the Decibel Stage this year, and people are still bitching about it (“they did Sum 41 dirty, they should’ve been on the main stage, blah blah blah”). There was a huge crowd watching Sum 41, and I would definitely call their set a rousing success. The thing is, the crowd has to be spread out a bit, and having bigger bands headline the “second stage” while the #3 headliner is on the main stage is a great way to do that.

Speaking of complaining, and headliners, don’t complain about the headliners. It won’t do any good, and it makes you look like baby.

If you haven’t watched Wanderlust, you should change that ASAP. But only if you like to laugh.

Q: What about food?

I love food. There’s a lot of awesome food available for purchase inside the gates, and the portion sizes are often very large, but the prices are usually even larger. Think about the beloved brewpub in your town that charges 20 bucks for a sandwich, but that sandwich is big enough for two meals if you don’t gorge yourself. A lot of the vendors are like that, except that you won’t have anywhere to safely store your leftovers until you’re ready to eat them. There was one vendor this year who had a baloney sandwich for something like $25.They can go straight to hell with that nonsense, and frankly, I hope they went out of business.

My advice is to eat a big meal before you enter the gates for the day, so you won’t have to eat as much once you get inside. If you’re anything like me you’ll want to time it out so that you can empty your bowels before you get inside. I live my life trying to not use a toilet outside my home, especially if I’m not getting paid for it.

Q: Speaking of toilets, what’s the deal with toilets?

Easy there, Seinfeld. Portajohns are all you get in GA. They’re in the sun all day, and as you might imagine, they get progressively worse as the day goes on. The VIP area has air conditioned restrooms, and Top Shelf VIP has even nicer air conditioned restrooms, but you’ll still be sitting on a toilet that thousands of other people have sat upon and shat into (and sometimes upon).

Q: How much walking should I plan to do?

You should plan to walk a lot while you’re there. I recommend walking as much as possible every day, just in general, but I’m not your doctor or your father. If you don’t already walk much in your day-to-day life, it’s best to start doing it well before the festival begins so you can build up your strength and stamina. Why not start today? I’m not sure how big the festival grounds actually are, but I personally walked/danced for approximately 34 miles plus over the course of this year’s LTL, and as I mentioned above, one whole day was cancelled due to one of those famous Kentucky hurricanes. If I didn’t already walk 5-8 miles a day at my job, I almost certainly I would’ve been able to manage that.

Q: Where should I plan to sleep?

The City of Louisville is lousy with hotels and motels (it is a city, after all). There are several options located within walking distance of the festival grounds, but we always stay at the Galt House downtown, which is our preferred hotel anytime we’re in Louisville. Be advised that hotels are already filling up fast, and they are also charging a lot of money for that weekend, because capitalism. There are also a lot of hotels across the river in Indiana (New Albany, Jeffersonville, Clarksville, etc.), and I assume they don’t charge quite as much, but will have to drive or use a rideshare (more on that in the next FAQ).

Airbnb is also an option, I guess, but after my single experience booking an Airbnb, I’ll never do that again. I do know that a lot of locals leave town and rent out their houses/apartments for the weekend, so it is technically an option, but I’d rather not pay hotel prices to clean up after myself.

We spring for a suite, which includes a mini fridge and a wet bar. Having the extra space to spread out before we leave for the day and after we return for the evening really makes the weekend more enjoyable.

Camping in the campgrounds adjacent to the fest is also an option, but we’ve never done that, because Sheila doesn’t like to camp, and if I slept on the ground, I wouldn’t be able to stand fully upright. I do know that the campsites sell out very quickly (I think they’re already sold out, in fact), but you can also sign up for a wait-list.

I talked to a guy in 2021 who was sleeping in his car in a parking lot, and I’ve read accounts from others about doing that, but your safety and well-being are important to Clockwise Circle Pit, therefore, Clockwise Circle Pit can neither endorse nor recommend that solution.

Q: What about parking and/or transportation?

Parking is available on the property, and I think it costs 30 or 40 dollars per day. Yes, that is a lot of money to park your car for the day, but know that DWP does not set the prices for parking. I personally can’t imagine driving to and from an event like this, especially not four days in a row, but I’m not here to tell you what to do. Wait, that’s exactly why I’m here.

Other options are walking (if you’re staying close enough), renting one of those terrifying Lime scooters (if you’re staying close enough), or Lyft/Uber/other rideshare (we paid $30 for an Uber to our hotel about 8 miles away in 2019). The best option, in this asshole’s opinion, is getting a shuttle pass.

For the past 3 years, we’ve purchased a shuttle pass through Pegasus Transportation, and they pick up at the Galt House and the downtown Marriott and drop off about 100 yards from the gates. When you’re ready to leave, they pick you up at the dropoff point and take you back to the Galt House and the Marriott. When I was purchasing our package this year, all the hotel options I saw had an option to add a shuttle pass, and Pegasus Transportation was not mentioned in the description, so I’m not sure exactly how it’ll work, but it does seem like a shuttle could be an option for many of the hotels this year.

Q: Will some asshole take advantage of the situation and steal my phone/wallet/other stuff?

There’s a very good possibility of this. Assholes are everywhere, and people ruin everything. Based solely on my experience browsing Reddit and the facebook LTL fan pages, reports of phone thefts were lower this year than in 2023, but I plenty of people still got their phones swiped right out of their pockets (front pockets, even). I personally haven’t had an issue with that yet, but I also don’t generally pack into the deep crowd in front of the main stages, which is where I assume most of the thefts happen (more people = more opportunities to be piece of shit thief).

Q: Should I take advantage of the situation and steal someone’s phone/wallet/other stuff?

Of course not. Don’t be an asshole.

Q: How are the mosh pits?

I can’t answer this one with a lot of experience, because I’m too old for that shit, but I’ve been next to plenty of pits at Louder Than Life (especially at the smaller stages), and from what I’ve seen, people in the pits have generally respectful. Mostly push-pits and classic circle pits, with hardcore karate-style pits when appropriate. People seem to understand the cardinal rule of pits, which of course is if someone falls down, pick them up. Occasionally, a pit can get dangerous with surges and whatnot. This happened during Korn’s set on Day Four this year. The band had to stop playing for a bit, and the crowd was asked to take a few steps back so people would stop getting crushed. That happened after we left, but a lot of people were talking about it.

I was right next to this big ol’ lovefest in 2019. Andrew W.K. puts on one hell of a fun show.

The main things to remember while you’re in the pit also apply to everyday life:

  • Have fun.
  • Don’t be an asshole
  • If someone falls, help them up.
  • Don’t pull someone in if they don’t wanna be there.
  • Stay hydrated.
  • Nazi punks fuck off.

If you are in the pit and need assistance, or see someone who needs assistance, cross your arms in an “X” above your head. The first time I saw Sevendust (LTL2K21), they stopped their show because their singer, Lajon, saw someone making an “X” and told security about it, and they were able to get the person to safety. “X” marks the spot, friends.

Crowd surfing is commonplace and generally accepted, but a lot of people don’t do it right. If you insist on crowd surfing, the safest way to do it is the “Jesus Christ Pose”: arms out to the side, feet crossed. Don’t flail around like you’re having a seizure unless you want to increase the chances of kicking someone in the head, and your chances of getting dropped.

Speaking of “don’t”, don’t assume everyone will help you stay up once you go up. You paid good money to be there, and as long as you’re not hurting or harassing anyone, you should get to have fun in your own way. Likewise, everyone paid good money to be there, and they should also get to have fun in their own way, and if watching the bands they came to see while not getting kicked in the head while helping you crowd surf is their way of having fun, that’s something you need to be okay with.

The other side of that, of course, is not getting bent out of shape over crowd surfers if you plan to ride the rail directly in front of the stage. It’s not like you don’t know there’ll be crowd surfers, I just told you there will be. Some bands even encourage it. When we saw Anti-Flag (RIP) in 2022, they told the crowd they wanted us to make the security guards earn their paychecks, and holy shit, the number of bodies I saw being passed to the front was staggering.

If you’re deep in the pit area and you’re not crowd surfing, and you hear someone near you yell “heads up!”, this means a crowd surfer has been spotted in your area, and you should expect them to pass near you very soon, possibly directly overhead. Act accordingly.

One final thing about crowd surfing and pits (and day-to-day life in general): say you’re deep in the pit area, and you’re not crowd surfing, and you hear someone near you yell “heads up!”, and you look behind you and see a scantily clad lady coming your way, and you think to yourself “I like touchin butts, I think I’ll pass her forward and cop a feel”, fuckin think again, motherfucker.

I cannot believe this is a thing that ever has to be said, but I know it does, and it’s just one more example of, to quote Slipknot, “People = Shit”: DO NOT EVER TOUCH ANOTHER PERSON IN ANYTHING EVEN RESEMBLING AN INTIMATE WAY ON PURPOSE WITHOUT THAT PERSON’S PERMISSION. NOT A CROWD SURFER, NOT A MOSH PITTER, NOT A STRANGER ON THE STREET, NOT EVEN IF YOU’RE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, NOT ANYONE, NOT ANY TIME, NOT EVER. If you insist on copping a feel on that scantily clad crowd surfer, don’t be surprised if you leave with fewer teeth than you came in with. Speaking of scantily clad crowd surfers…

Q: Should I expect to see people in various states of undress?

You should expect to see pretty much everything short of people having sex, and frankly, I’m a bit surprised I’ve never seen that. I’m absolutely sure it’s happened.

This year, it seemed like butts finally replaced boobs as the preferred skin for purposes of exposure, but unless you (or your child) are blind, you (and your child) will see asses and titties in all shapes and sizes. Don’t be such a prude, it’s just the human body. We all have one. And to reiterate from above: it doesn’t matter how much skin is exposed, and it doesn’t matter how drunk/high you are, and it doesn’t matter how horny you are, and it doesn’t even matter if you’re a former/future president of the United States, DO NOT EVER TOUCH ANOTHER PERSON IN ANYTHING EVEN RESEMBLING AN INTIMATE WAY ON PURPOSE WITHOUT THAT PERSON’S PERMISSION.

Quick side note: you’ll also see t-shirts and flags and banners and other things that may offend you, but no one cares. That’s also good advice for life outside the festival grounds.

Q: Is VIP/Top Shelf worth it?

I see this one asked a lot in the facebook fan groups and on reddit, and since I have experience with GA, VIP, and Top Shelf VIP, I feel like I’m qualified to answer. The “thing” about this question, though, is that phrase “worth it”. No other person can really know how much value you’ll find in something, but I can try to help you make that decision.

I’ve already covered a few of the downsides of General Admission, but all in all, it’s a fuckin great value, especially if you don’t drink alcohol (or don’t drink much alcohol) and you take my advice and eat a big deal before you enter the gates, and especially especially if you’re young and in relatively good shape. When we went for the one day in 2019, we got GA passes and by the end of the day it honestly felt like we might not make it. Temperatures topped out near 100° F (37.8° C), and being the first year on the new grounds, things were very open and exposed to the sun. Dust clouds erupted every time a pit broke out, and every single inch of shade was occupied all day. Also, the hand washing stations outside the portajohns were completely out of water, soap, and paper towels before the sun even went down.

We went the GA route again in 2021, and we both agreed afterward that if we were ever gonna go back, we’d have to upgrade to VIP so we could have access to shade, seats, and cleaner bathrooms.

We did just that in 2022, and I’m here to tell you, the fuckin joke was on us. The only real perk to VIP ended up being the better restroom facilities, because as I mentioned above, people are the worst, and no one would give up their precious chairs to anyone, for any reason, ever. I saw a pregnant woman walking around in the tent looking for a place to sit, for Chrissake, and not one person offered her any of the empty chairs at their tables, because they were saving them. There are a few food vendors inside VIP that are not available anywhere else, but there’s no shortage of food in GA, either. There’s also a dedicated viewing area to the left of Main Stage 1 which can get you some decent views of that stage, but for the most part, people line up along the rail and stay there all day, just like they do in GA.

After our VIP experience, we decided to give Top Shelf VIP a shot. Within minutes of being inside the Top Shelf area, we agreed there was no way we could go back to GA or VIP again. I will say this first: Top Shelf passes are not cheap. The price went up substantially this year, but we still got em within minutes of the Early Bird pre-sale for previous year ticket holders. We know there’s gonna be a ton of bands there we wanna see, and we barely have to travel to get to Louisville, which is a city we love, and were already visiting several times a year before we started going to Louder Than Life. We don’t take traditional vacations because Louder Than Life is our vacation. We are privileged to be able to make it happen again this year, and I’m glad, because there really is no going back. If I ever found myself in a strange hypothetical position where I can’t quite swing Top Shelf, but I could easily snag GA if I delivered pizza for my buddy Jim for a couple of months, I think I’d rather stay home and pretend like there aren’t a ton of bands I wanna see, and Louisville is much to far away for convenient travel, and I never liked that city anyway, and as a matter of fact, I ain’t ever even been there, truth be told, I’ve never even heard of Louisville, than not have the air-conditioned tent and the ability to poop comfortably. Your mileage may vary.

First of all, the very idea of an air-conditioned tent being available if we needed it made it seem worth it, but here are the other perks of Top Shelf:

  • All alcoholic beverages inside the Top Shelf area are included in the price of admission. Angel’s Envy has been the primary sponsor for Top Shelf every year since they’ve offered it, and as such, Angel’s Envy bourbon and rye are the well whiskies inside Top Shelf. They also have all the other major spirits available, along with Budweiser products. Considering drinks can cost as much as 20 bucks or more at some of the tents in GA, you can see how quickly you could burn through a hefty amount of money in a day. If you don’t enjoy alcoholic beverages, Top Shelf might not be worth it for you.
  • Renowned local chef Anthony Lamas (who you might know from TV’s Bar Rescue, with that insufferable prick John Taffer) and a crack team of cooks and food runners prepare small bites throughout the day, and those are included in the price of admission. We’re both vegetarian, so we haven’t tried everything they’ve offered, but everything we have tried has ranged in quality from very good to oh-my-fucking-god-that’s-incredible. They alternate cold and hot food, and they always have things like potato chips and trail mix available. We’ve had things like Strawberry Caprese Salads, Cheese Enchiladas, Falafel Balls, Spring Rolls, and French Fries, and some of the omnivore options we’ve seen include meatballs, Salisbury steak, and bratwurst. If I had one complaint about the food, and I do, it’s that sometimes there are no vegetarian options at all. This happened at the last service of Day Four this year. It was disappointing. At any rate, as I mentioned previously, food is expensive inside the festival grounds, and having the option to pop into the tent and have snacks throughout the day saved us a lot of money over the course of the weekend. If you don’t like delicious food, Top Shelf might not be worth it for you.
  • The restrooms are flushable and air-conditioned, and that’s a real nice perk. If you have no qualms with potentially not being able to wash your hands after using a portajohn that’s been sitting in the sun all day, Top Shelf might not be worth it for you.
  • That air-conditioned tent is fucking awesome, and it’s outfitted with TVs and a sound system that play whichever band is on the Main Stage at that time, so if you’re outside watching it and you wanna grab a beverage or a snack or even just rest your feet for a few minutes, you don’t really have to miss the action. I would never stay in there all day, because if I was all I wanted to do, I’d just stay home in my own air conditioning and watch YouTube, but it’s a wonderful option to have when you need to get out of the sun (or rain). And outside of feeding times, there is no challenge whatsoever in getting a place to sit. If I had one complaint about the tent, and of course I do, it’s the volume at which they play the Main Stage performances. I know the word “louder” is literally the first word in the name of the festival, but as a dude who can easily suffer from sensory overload, it would be cool if the volume was just a bit lower, so that regular conversation could happen (not to mention how much easier it would be to talk to the bartenders). If you don’t care about chairs, shade, and cooling off, then Top Shelf might not be worth it for you.
  • Top Shelf wristbands also give you access to the VIP area, and, of course the GA area as well.

Q: Should I talk to strangers?

Yes, absolutely. I know that answer runs counter to everything I’ve said here about people, but I stand by what I said: People (with a capital “P”) are the worst, and they do ruin everything. On the other hand, people can be pretty cool sometimes. I’m a very awkward and introverted person, and the idea of talking to someone I don’t know goes against my very nature, but the answer is still a resounding “YES!” You’ll meet some awesome people from all over the world, and almost everyone you interact with will be friendly, as long as you don’t ask to use one of the empty chairs at their table.

In my day-to-day life, I’ve been known to cross the street to avoid the very possibility of having to talk to another person. At this Louder Than Life this year, I made a bee-line toward a stranger holding a “FREE HUGS” sign and I gave him such a hugging, and it was fuckin awesome.

Q: Is Louder Than Life a cashless event?

Yes, Louder Than Life is a cashless event. I still bring cash in for tipping bartenders, but no place inside the festival grounds accepts cash as payment. They have those newfangled reverse ATMs on the grounds, where you can put in cash and get a prepaid debit card with the amount you put in, so if you don’t have a debit/credit card, or just don’t wanna bring it in with you, that’s an option.

The wristband that gets you inside the gates can also be linked to a card so you can pay with that, but I tried that in 2021 and forgot the PIN I set up for it (plus I accidentally wore the wrong bracelet anyway), so I don’t bother with that myself.

Q: This long-winded thing has been extremely informative and entertaining. Thank you so much for taking the time to put it together. What if I have other questions about things that aren’t covered here?

Thank you, that’s really nice of you to say. It took a very long time to write, and on more than one occasion I almost flung my Chromebook into the sun.

If you have further questions, the official website has a much more comprehensive and less long-winded Info page that covers a lot of the things I mentioned here, and much more. If you have a question about something that you don’t see covered on the links there, there’s a good chance you’re not looking hard enough or reading carefully enough, but in any case, you can email them at info@louderthanlifefestival.com. They’re very friendly, and they will get back to you.

Alright, I have to stop here. Holy shit this is long. If you made it this far, thank you! If you have any cool friends with half an hour to kill, you should tell them about it.

Somehow It’s Already Been a Year: A Thing About Louder Than Life (and Also About Death)

/ Rev. Joel / 5 Comments

Howdy. I have many things to say about the Tenth Anniversary of Louder Than Life (September 26-29, 2024), and I’ll get to all of them eventually (likely not as soon as I’d like; we’ll see), but I’m gonna start at the beginning(ish), which is to say, 2019 (well, 1995 if we’re being technical).

Let this picture of me from the Welcome Party the night before Day One of this year tide you over until I get around to writing about it.

Sheila (aka Mrs. Circlepit) and I both attended our fair share of one-day festivals in our younger days, back when we were shadows of each other’s lives. My first was X-Fest ’95, followed by Lollapalooza ’96, followed by several iterations of the Van’s Warped Tour (between 1998-2001). She attended Lollapalooza ’94, Ozzfest ’98, and the 2002 Sprite Liquid Mix Tour. More recently, we attended Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival together in 2018, six days before my sweet, sweet mother passed away.

In 2014, my homeboy Dustin scored free tickets to days two and three of Rock on the Range (now known as Sonic Temple – also produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, the folks behind Louder Than Life). That was my first experience with a multi-day festival (even though we only ended up attending one day), and you can read my write-up about that on my old blog here.

I don’t wanna get too much into our first two years at Louder Than Life, because I’ve written about them before as well, but just for some background, Sheila and I attended Day Two of LTL 2019 (the day after the burial of her sweet, sweet paternal grandfather), and all four days of LTL 2021, which, while not directly related to us, had something in the neighborhood of 800,000 US covid-19-related deaths coloring our experience.

We also attended all four days in 2022 (about which I wrote very little, and which I’ll cover directly) and again in 2023 (about which I wrote a little more, but still not a lot, because I got lazy and never got around to finishing the project). I’m gonna cover both of those a bit more before I dive into this year’s fest.

After almost dying in the heat on that one day in 2019, and struggling to find a single sliver of shade that we could both hang out in over the four days of 2021, we decided to upgrade to VIP status in 2022. The promise of a shaded tent, air-conditioned restrooms, and shorter lines for some food vendors was too much for us to resist, but it turned out to be (mostly) a bust. The VIP section seemed to be oversold, and as I mentioned briefly in an old post, many of the dickheads who arrive when the gates open will claim every empty chair, and absolutely refuse to let anyone else use those chairs for any amount of time, even when all 8 of their friends are off wandering around for one reason or another, leaving all 8 of their chairs vacant, except for their backpacks, and the remaining friend’s big fat dumb feet.

Our good friends Mitch and Amanda decided to join us, and we went all out by upgrading to a fancy apartment-suite at the hotel, which is almost certainly the nicest hotel room I’ll ever stay in. It was pretty awesome. Among other things, we were on the 3rd floor, with escalators only steps from our room, so we only had to wait for an elevator when checking in and checking out!

Here’s what was not pretty awesome about Louder Than Life 2022: my dad passed away at 7:42 AM on Day One. In fact, it was the exact opposite of awesome.

Here’s a list of the things that went through my brain upon receiving this news, mostly in order, but not necessarily verbatim:

  • This fucking sucks. I can’t believe both of my parents are gone.
  • I have to go home and talk to my brother.
  • I don’t wanna go home and talk to my brother.
  • Tough shit, pal. Sometimes we gotta do things we don’t wanna do.
  • If Sheila goes with me, our friends will have nowhere to stay, because the hotel is in her name.
  • Shit, the hotel is in her name!
  • We spent a lot of money on this trip…
  • If I don’t get the opportunity to let out some of the aggression and angst that have been building up inside me since LTL 2021, I’m not sure I’ll make it another year myself.
  • Dad is already gone, so it’s not like I can do anything to change the circumstances.
  • Aside from Dad, the only immediate family I have left is a brother and a sister, and none of us really get along with each other.
  • Dad would absolutely not have understood the amount of money we spent to attend a music festival, but he would definitely not have wanted us to waste that money.
  • Maybe I can just go home for a few hours, and return to catch part of Day One, then I’ll play the rest of the weekend by ear.
  • Yes, that’s what I’ll do.
  • Here I go, then.

And so off I went, driving 2 hours back home to hang out with my brother for a while, and discuss arrangements. I stopped by our house first, to try and rest a moment, check the mail, and make a few phone calls. I eventually told my brother I was going back to Louisville for the weekend to be with Sheila and our friends (I honestly don’t know what he thought/thinks about my decision, because I’m one of the only men in my entire family who ever shares his feelings with anyone). I also told him that when our sister arrived and they went to the funeral home, I trusted his decisions, and that he could feel free to speak for me. I got back on the road, drove like hell back to Louisville, got to the hotel, changed into my festival clothes, happened to catch a shuttle that was just about to depart, got inside the gates, bought 2 Budweisers, and found my crew in front of the Disruptor Stage with less than five minutes to spare before HO99O9 took the stage and blew my mind. It was a very strange and surreal juxtaposition.

This was recorded from approximately 10 feet in front of us. As you might imagine, it was cooler in person.

Ministry almost made us permanently deaf immediately after, and we tried to watch Tenacious D‘s set after that, but the crowd was too big to really be able to see it, so we headed to the VIP section while Bring Me the Horizon played, so we could rustle up a spot for Day One headliner Nine Inch Nails. They’re one of Sheila’s favorite bands, and I’m not necessarily a huge fan, but I do like plenty of their songs, and I’d never seen them live before, so I was certainly looking forward to it. It ended up being an incredible set, and when they played “Hurt”, I cried for the first time since learning about my dad’s passing, and it felt good, even though I was sad.

I should interject here and mention that my dad and I were never particularly close. He was a very quiet man, raised to keep his feelings and emotions inside, and we didn’t have all that much in common, so we just didn’t talk much. He had a ridiculous sense of humor, which I was lucky to inherit, but aside from that and a love of Clint Eastwood westerns and silly action movies, our common ground was blood, almost entirely. That’s not to say we didn’t love each other; more like we didn’t really understand each other.

He would’ve moved heaven and earth to help me if needed. When I moved to Austin, Texas in 2003, he led the caravan on the 18-ish hour drive and helped unload all of my stuff. And when I split from my ex-wife three years later, he rented a van and drove back down to help me load it all back up and come back home. After my oldest sister died, we started to say “I love you” to each other on a more regular basis, and after my mom passed, we said it every time we talked. I was able to tell him toward the end that I appreciated all the things he’d done for me in my life, and he thanked me for saying so. But the truth of the matter is, I was always closer to Mom, and I had more time to mentally prepare for Dad’s passing, so his death didn’t have the same kind impact on me.

Anyway, the next morning, as I was approaching the front desk to ask for more coffee pods, I got a call from my brother telling me I had to come to the funeral home and sign some insurance papers, as I was the sole beneficiary on his life insurance policy. I went back to the room to share the news, then made the 90-minute drive to Bedford, Indiana, signed the papers, and drove back to Louisville again, arriving just in time to join my crew for lunch at Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen. The lunch was delicious, and we went back to the hotel afterward to catch the shuttle to the festival.

We entered the gates to the sounds of Amigo the Devil, which was the first act of the day that we were hoping to see. We watched In Flames, followed by Clutch, then hauled ass over to the Revolver Stage to catch Helmet, which is always a good time, then watched the beginning of Baroness, headed back to the main stage to the last song from Mastodon, then were treated to an incredible performance from Lamb of God. We went back to the Revolver Stage to watch a little bit of GWAR, and were planning to hang around for Slipknot‘s headlining performance, but all the driving and walking back-and-forth that day and the day before had wiped me completely out, so Sheila and I decided to call it a night, and left the grounds to the sounds of Shinedown (I’m apparently a poet, and didn’t know it).

I didn’t make this meme, but I like it very much.

The next morning the four of us had breakfast at Wild Eggs, which we had to reschedule from Day One (and which has been a Day One tradition for Sheila and me since we started attending the full weekend), then we headed to the venue in the early afternoon, arriving in the midst of a pretty electrifying performance from Airbourne on the main stage. We watched them for a few minutes, then headed back to the Revolver Stage to watch what we learned was the first ever US performance of New Delhi, India’s Bloodywood, who were absolutely incredible. They gave very Roots-era Sepultura vibes, and it was powerful.

We rested a bit, then made our way back to the main stages to watch Sevendust, Jerry Cantrell, Ghostmane (which I hated a lot)(the guy seriously kept yelling “MOOOOVE!” at the crowd while fucking beeping noises were coming from the stage), Chevelle, and as much Alice Cooper as we could possibly watch without cutting into Body Count‘s headlining set on the Disruptor Stage, way back on the far end of the grounds (right next to the Revolver Stage).

Sheila and I were fortunate to see an Alice Cooper headlining show in the fall of 2019, otherwise that would’ve been an impossible choice to make. We arrived with a few minutes to spare, secured a primo spot right on the edge of where the pit ended up being, and had our lives changed by Body Count. I was high as a kite by the time their set ended, and it was all adrenaline (plus probably some bourbon and beer). Rob Zombie conflicted with Body Count, back over on the Loudmouth Stage (aka Main Stage 2), so the only thing I got to see from his set was a full-length trailer for The Munsters, which was released 3 days later, and “Dragula”, which, due to issues which seemed to plague that stage all weekend, did not sound good.

KISS was the headliner that day, and I’ve never been a KISS fan, but they’re obviously a legendary organization, so I was still looking forward to screaming along to a bunch of their dumb songs for a while. My anticipation disappeared moments after they started playing “Detroit Rock City”. According to what I wrote in my journal afterward, “Paul Stanley sounded like he was being strangled while yelling for help.” I stand by that, but I would also add that he sounded like a cat being stepped on. I probably could’ve dealt with it and enjoyed myself a little bit, if not for the fact that Body Count had just ruined live music for me for at least the next 12-14 hours.

On the last day, we caught The Native Howl, Oxymorrons, Anti-Flag, Joey Valence & Brae, and about half of Bad Religion (we coincidentally left while they were playing “Walk Away”) before trying to wrangle some quality spots for Alice in Chains. I never got a chance to see them with Layne Staley, but I fucking love their old albums, and everything they’ve released since they re-formed with William Duvall on lead vocals has also been great, so I was pretty pumped about their performance. What I hadn’t anticipated, until it started happening, was the sheer volume of tears that would fall from me when they played “Rooster”. If you don’t know, the song was written by Jerry Cantrell, about his Vietnam veteran father, and my dad was also a Vietnam vet. Seconds into the song, I started crying. By the time it was finished, I was absolutely sobbing for the first time since my mom’s death, and my voice was almost entirely gone from singing along. It was the culmination of the entire roller coaster of a weekend, and it was exactly what I needed.

This kinda sounds like ass, on account of all the people singing along in and out of every possible key known to music, but trust me when I tell you it sounded perfect when it was happening.
Here’s the studio version, if you need a li’l palate cleanser.

Red Hot Chili Peppers finished off the night, and they were even more boring than I thought they’d be.

I’m fully aware that I haven’t talked about this year’s festival yet, but like I said last week, I can’t really write about this year’s fest the way I want to without writing about some things from the past two years that I haven’t written about yet (at least not for public consumption). I’ll get there eventually, and I’ll try to make it as entertaining as possible, but it needs context to really make sense.

To be fair, I’m not sure how much sense any of this has made yet.

As for last year’s LTL, I’m gonna write less here, since I already made two full posts about it, plus a bit of a recap of the remainder of it earlier this year (all linked above), but I need to mention that, like every year since 2019, death was intertwined with the fest, although last year it was an imminent death rather than a recent one.

My mother-in-law Susan passed away in early October last year. Susan was a fantastic human being, and she would’ve given you the shirt off her back if you needed it. Since the day I met her, she was never anything but kind to me, even when I didn’t really deserve it. She loved to feed people, and she had a great sense of humor (even if she did refuse to give Futurama a chance). She was courageous and strong through her struggle, and I never heard her complain once. Her presence in this realm is, and will always be, missed.

She was diagnosed with cancer of the endometrium in January 2019, and doctors were able to remove her uterus, and she was fine and seemingly cancer-free for almost five years, then she started having pains in her hip and leg in late fall 2022. Thanks to the wonderful for-profit medical care in this country, she was getting her pain treated, but no doctor and no amount of botched biopsies could figure out what was wrong with her until she was sent to a hospital in Louisville, where she was given the diagnosis we all knew was coming: her cancer was back, and had basically started filling up the space where her uterus used to be.

A stage four diagnosis came soon enough, she was given a relatively short amount of time to live, and we all began to wait. Every free day we had was spent visiting her, because we expected every visit to be our last. She kept on trucking, even staying alive while Sheila and I did our best to enjoy last year’s Louder Than Life. One of the last semi-coherent things she said to us was “I want you to go and have fun. You spent so much money on drugs. No, wait, you spent money on tickets. I’m on drugs.” Hilarious to the very end.

Her funeral service was beautiful and moving, and I’m sure I won’t be able to listen to Led Zeppelin’s “Tangerine” or Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” without crying ever again.

Having the inevitability of Susan’s death hanging over the festival made us feel weird about enjoying ourselves, but we did our best, assuming every day that we’d get a phone call telling us she was gone. Sheila and I both bawled like babies when Green Day played “Wake Me Up When September Ends” near the end of their phenomenal set that closed out Day Four last year. We drove from the hotel straight back to the in-laws’ house the next day, and every free day afterward. Susan’s body held on for 13 more days until she passed peacefully in her sleep.

During the early days of her diagnosis, an album called Stage Four by a band called Touche Amore came into my awareness. I’d heard of the band before, but I hadn’t really thought about them one way or the other until I happened upon a reddit post that encouraged me to check them out. After a particularly shitty day at work, I decided to listen to Stage Four while I drove across town to get a Culver’s veggie burger basket with cheese curds and a root beer, because I needed to eat my feelings. By the time I got home, I was approximately 3/4 of the way through the album, and I could tell it was on the way to becoming one of my favorite albums of all time.

Released in 2014, Stage Four was written and recorded following the death of singer Jeremy Bolm’s mother, Dorothy. She, too, whipped cancer’s ass once, only to find it back and metastasizing. The album is so fucking catchy and good, and it’s simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting, and I’ve listened to it well over a hundred times since that drive home by way of Culver’s, easily. In addition to dealing with Susan’s illness, it also helped me deal with all the other recent losses I’d experienced. I’ll write about it more at some point.

All of that is pertinent to this year for a few reasons:

  • This was our first Louder Than Life without the grim specter of death hanging over it.
  • Susan found a way to be there with us this year, and it was fuckin rad.
  • Touche Amore was announced as one of the bands on Day One this year, and I was finally gonna get to sing along with them.

Spoiler alert: I did, and it was amazing, but I’ve written enough for today. I’ll do a full write-up of Day One soon (along with the pre-party that was part of our package)(alliteration!), and unlike last year, I will actually finish writing about the whole weekend. Here’s some footage of a different performance from Touche Amore. I wish I could’ve seen them in a crowd like this one, but at least I got to see them.

It was time this whole time.

Thanks for reading.

Plant-Based Adventures in the Derby City: A Sort of Review of Louder Than Life 2021, Part 2

/ Rev. Joel / 4 Comments

Welcome to the “long awaited” second and almost-certainly final installment of my review of the 2021 Louder Than Life music festival in Louisville, KY. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, you should start there, then come back here and continue. I’ll wait…

Okay, welclome back. As I mentioned in Part 1, Day Three was always the weakest day of the lineup. Nine Inch Nails was slated to headline, and I was excited about that, as I’ve never seen them live, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about their live show from people whose opinions I trust, Mrs. Circlepit included (she’s seen them thrice). Snoop Dogg was scheduled to offer direct support, and I was obviously into that, because regardless of how I might present myself (both in my writing and in my day-to-day life), I do enjoy having fun. Several other artists and bands ended up cancelling between the lineup announcement and the beginning of the festival, and I’m pretty sure the largest percentage of them were scheduled to perform on Saturday.

So anyway, NIN and Snoop were the only two we were particularly stoked to see, and both of them cancelled. NIN was replaced with Disturbed, which is fine, but not really for me (and is certainly not a proper replacement for Nine Inch Nails), and Snoop was replaced by Machine Gun Kelly, who had previously been scheduled to perform immediately before Snoop. MGK was replaced with something I didn’t care about, although I probably would’ve liked it more than I would’ve liked MGK, but long story short, we decided not to attend on Saturday, because the only band we were interested in seeing was Suicidal Tendencies, and quite frankly it just seemed like a lot of hassle to ride the shuttle to the festival grounds, stand in line to get in the gate, walk all the way across the festival grounds to the second stage to watch ST play for 30-40 minutes, walk all the way back across the festival grounds to the shuttle, then ride the shuttle back to the hotel. I’ve seen ST live a few times and they put on a great show, but I’m a middle-aged man, and I was tired.

We started our day with a vague plan that did, in fact, include a shuttle ride to the festival to watch Suicidal Tendencies. We took a white-knuckle drive to the Highlands to eat lunch at Havana Rumba, an absolutely kickass Cuban restaurant owned and operated by a very nice family, followed by a mostly much-less-stressful drive to visit Mrs. Circlepit’s grandma and aunt, followed by a white-knuckle drive back through the Highlands (strictly to avoid festival traffic on I-65, which is a shitty and terrifying drive on the very best day) to the hotel. We returned, the missus decided to take a nap (Havana Rumba will not let you leave hungry), and I sat on the couch to read. Next thing I know she’s waking me up to tell me it’s 6:00, which means we have less than 40 minutes to get our shit together and catch the shuttle before ST takes the stage, which means that without a series of small miracles, we will miss at least a few minutes of ST’s set, which means we decided to stay downtown on Saturday.

We walked a few blocks east to Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen, where we were given a table outside, which allowed for pretty magnificent people-watching (lots of varied events in the city that weekend). We ordered drinks and an appetizer, and perused the vegetarian options (mostly listed under a section titled “Plant Based”), among which was a sandwich called the “Fake A$$ Chicken Sandwich”, which is an objectively dumb name, but which sounded like it could be a pretty good sandwich. The menu describes it thusly: “southern fried vegan chicken, crispy vinegar slaw, vegan garlic aioli, pickles on a kaiser bun”. I asked our server what the “chicken” is made of, and she replied, “it’s plant based.” I said, “I know that, but I was wondering what it’s made of.” The missus added, “like, is it tofu, or seitan, or…” and the server said, “I’m not sure, but I’ll go find out.” She returns very quickly and said “my manager said it’s plant based, but it doesn’t contain any soy”. “I was just curious about what it’s actually made of,” I replied.

That determined and almost-certainly underpaid server, god bless her, said, “I’ll go ask the kitchen. I just asked the front-of-house manager the first time.” A full 4-5 minutes passed before she came back outside. Her face did not indicate good news. “I’m really sorry, but all any of them will tell me is that it’s plant based.” I tried my very best to maintain my cool (and was successful, I think), and said, “That really isn’t a good or proper answer to my question, but it’s not that big of a deal, I’ll just get something else.” The server said “I know, I’m sorry, they just kept saying ‘it’s plant based'”. The missus then said “do you know if it’s made in-house, or if it’s something you buy pre-made?” She said, “I know we don’t make it in-house, and to be honest, I’ve heard people say it’s kind of bland and not really worth the price.” “That’s perfect,” I replied, “I’ll have one of each taco instead. I’m really sorry for the hassle.”

The tacos were great, as was everything else (the service included – we tipped her very well), and I’d go back in heartbeat, but the first thing I’ll always think of whenever I think of that place is that every dipshit working in the kitchen that night thinks both that server and I are complete idiots, because we can’t seem to understand the words “plant based”. That’s enough of Day Three.

Day Four was a big’un. Lots of bands we were interested in checking out, both old and new. Metallica was headlining again (rumors abound that they were gonna play “The Black Album” in its entirety), and Judas Priest, Pennywise, The HU, Ayron Jones, Badflower, Sabaton, and Fozzy were all on the Sunday lineup as well. We got off the shuttle as Ayron Jones began his set, and thankfully the lines moved quickly thought the gates, so we got to actually see the majority of his set, which sounded great, and was delivered with a lot of energy. Fozzy was next on our agenda, but they weren’t really a necessity so much as a performance I just wanted to check out, since I had the opportunity to do so. I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling for most of my life, and Chris Jericho was always an entertaining wrestler, so I figured I owed it to myself to finally check out his band, given that all I had to do was walk maybe 50 yards from where we stood for Ayron Jones.

The verdict, re: Fozzy? Entertaining stage presence, enjoyable songs, but nothing special. Regarding the band, Mrs. Circlepit said “it looks like Chris Jericho walked into a Hot Topic and said ‘I’m starting a band, and we’ll probably play a lot of hard rock and metal festivals, who’s in?'” That was as apt a description as I could’ve mustered. I joked that they could call themselves Chris Jericho and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Stereotypes. There was the Guy Who Could’ve Been in a 90’s Pop Punk Band (with Ska Tendencies) on either bass or guitar (I can’t remember which), the Guy Who Could’ve Been in Creed on guitar, the Guy Who Could’ve Been in Some Band Like Buckcherry on either guitar or bass, and the Guy Who Could’ve Been in a New Wave Band on drums, all fronted by one of the most entertaining men to ever hold a microphone in a wrestling ring, The Man of 1,004 Holds himself, Chris Jericho. I’ll definitely watch them again if they’re at a festival I’m attending, but only if their set doesn’t conflict with another band that I’d rather see.

Speaking of bands I’d rather see, The HU were up next on the other main stage (I’ve forgotten which was which), so we made our way over there and promptly had our minds blown by their absolutely unique mix of Mongolian folk music and thick-ass metal grooves. Seriously, if you get a chance to see The HU live, do not miss it. They were fantastic.

Seriously, holy SHIT!

Badflower was next on the other main stage, and they were very good. We made it a point to check out several of the bands we’d never heard of in the weeks and months leading up to the festival, and Badflower was one of the bands that piqued our interest. They’re a bit melodramatic, and they definitely cater to a younger audience, but I enjoyed them, and I’m pretty sure if I was 20 years younger, I’d be a legitmate fan. At one point, their singer asked the crowd how they were doing, or some such trope, and there were some cheers and whatnot, then he said to a guy (presumably) in the audience, “who said ‘fuck you’? Did you mean that? Jesus Fucking Christ, that’s so mean”, and I thought that was pretty funny. Anyhoo, as they finished up their set, we walked back over the other main stage to catch Pennywise.

“What’s up, Louder Than Life? We’re Pennywise, and we’re already drunk. There’s no hope for us.” So said Pennywise frontman Jim Lindberg, kicking off a raucous, super high-energy 40-ish minute set filled with classics and funny stage banter and a cover of the Beastie Boys’ classic “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)”, as chosen by the crowd (the other option was a Nirvana cover, probably “Territorial Pissings” based on past setlists). Pennywise was an important part of my life when I was in my early 20’s, and I’d seen them twice before (both times on the Warped Tour), but this set was the most I’ve ever enjoyed them. The band was obviously having fun, the crowd around me was having a blast, and The HU seemed to be thrilled to join Pennywise on stage for perennial show closer/tear-causer “Bro Hymn”.

This is not my footage.

Seether and Breaking Benjamin were next on the main stages, and not for us, so we got some fuckin delicious iced lattes and checked out Sabaton, who were headlining the second stage. They were tight as hell and super entertaining, and I’d definitely check them out again. We followed our iced lattes with dinner from a food vendor called Tickle Pickle (based out of Cincinnatti, OH). It was the best food I’ve ever had in a festival or concert environment. I got the “Pearl Jam” burger (jalapeno jam, caramelized onions, tomato, and goat cheese) with an Impossible patty, and the missus got “God’s Mac and Cheese”, which was some dope-ass mac-n-cheese topped with crushed up Grippo’s BBQ chips. I’ll definitely check them out next time I’m in Cincinnatti.

Judas Priest took the stage and rained molten metal all over everyone. Rob Halford fucking nailed those high notes, and the band was tight as tourniqet (to steal a line from Pink Floyd). Rob moved around on stage a bit slower than he used to, but he was moving faster than I do when I wake up the morning, and he’s got almost 30 years on me. Speaking of dudes in their 40’s, you may have heard about Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner (at 41 years old, the youngest member of the band by at least 10 years) coming very close to death on stage. I can say with full confidence that Richie Faulkner was the only person in attendance that night who had any idea that Richie Faulkner was in any kind of pain. Watch this footage and have your mind blown as you realize that Richie Faulkner’s chest cavity is filling up with blood while he absolutely shreds his “Painkiller” solo…

That’s him in the thumbnail there, in case you don’t already know. This is also not my footage.

Earlier in the evening, a visibly excited Kirk Hammet joined the band on stage for a ripping version of “The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)”.

Once again, not my footage.

And speaking of Kirk Hammet, Metallica followed the mighty Priest with aplomb, and kicked off their second headlining set with a great rendition of “Hardwired” from their most recent album, the pretty good Hardwired…to Self-Destruct. “The Four Horsemen” and “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” were dope, and then a very early-90’s-MTV-production-style video about the band’s juggernaut album in a year chock-full of juggernaut albums played on the screens, leading directly into the band performing 1991’s Metallica (a.k.a. “The Black Album”) in its entirety, but from back to front, which was a fun twist on the album, and had the added effect of helping us not feel weird about beginning our journey toward the exit (via the shitters, which were only used for peeing, because after 4 days, they nasty) toward the end of the album. I mean, “Enter Sandman” and “Sad But True” are fuckin cool songs, but I didn’t need to pay close attention to them at that point, and the stream of people who seemed to have the same idea as us was pretty sizeable.

We stood nearer the gate and watched them close out their set with shit-hot versions of “Blackened” and “Creeping Death” (it was the first time they’ve ever closed a show with “Creeping Death”, but it seems like it was created for the task). While “Creeping Death” was in full swing, a couple of dudes were walking past us toward the exit when one of them fell to his knees and started to clutch his chest. Mrs. Circlepit sprang into action to offer assistance, but the man assured her he was just having an acid reflux flareup. She offered him some Tums from her purse and he accepted, standing up almost immediately upon swallowing and indicating that he felt much better. He then asked us if we’d like come to his buddy’s house and party with them. He lived real close by, apparently.

We politely declined, and made our way to the entirely-too-hot, far-too-crowded, way-too-intoxicated shuttle back to the hotel and very quickly fell asleep. Our adventure was over, and like the last time, I was filled with a strange mix of relief and sadness. The Missus said the next day that she wasn’t sure she could do that ever again unless we were to spring for VIP tickets, and like last time, we bought tickets shortly thereafter, as soon as I confirmed that I could take that time off work again.

We won’t know who’s playing for another few months, but based on past lineups, I can’t imagine there won’t be at least one headliner we’ll wanna see (probably at least two), and they always stack the rest of the lineup with at least three or four kickass bands/artists (usually more), and the people watching is always entertaining, plus this time, we’ll have access to a dedicated merchandise booth (which will only take 30 mintues instead of 45 minutes), shade (where dickheads will still prop their feet up on a chair and put their backpack on another chair) and air-conditioned restrooms (that a bunch of dumbfucks will no doubt still piss all over).

Should be a great time, and I’m sure I’ll relate the experience here (or somewhere, anyway), but hopefully I’ll get back to this at least a few times before then. Work is finally getting to a point where I can be places other than there sometimes, and that’s neat. At this rate, if people would stop fucking staring at us while they wait for their food, start complying with the local mask mandate/our policy without being little bitches about it, and stop standing in a cluster at the end of the bar where they block the servers, food runners, and bussers, I might even stop vaguely wishing for a quick and merciful death for 6-10 hours a day.

I’m only kidding, it’s no more than 2, maybe 2-1/2 hours most days. It’s called “the rush”.

Oh! I almost forgot: I mentioned in Part 1 that there would be “more on Island Noodles later”, and wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m a goddamn liar. At some point early on Day 4, I noticed that the line for Island Noodles only had like 15 people in it, so I queued up and waited in gleeful anticipation to try this life-changing food. Here’s my official “hot take” on Island Noodles: it was thoroughly okay. The noodles were cooked well, the vegetables were fresh and crispy, and the sauce was salty but tasty, and it was definitely the healthiest food I’ve ever eaten at a non-food related festival, but I just can’t imagine anything living up to the hype I’ve seen about them on LTL-related social media. I’d buy it again, but I wouldn’t stand in one of the typical 40-deep lines to wait for it.

Thanks for reading. If you liked what you read, why not tell a friend? If you didn’t like what you read, I dunno, thanks for giving it a shot, I guess? Maybe you’ll like something else I’ve written. Maybe not. Until next time, remember to keep one foot in the gutter and one fist in the gold.

I Couldn’t Think of a Clever Title: A Sort of Review of Louder Than Life 2021, Part 1

/ Rev. Joel / 4 Comments

I started writing this last Tuesday (9/28), the day after we got home from LTL, then I worked every day since, until today. I decided to go ahead and publish this part, which covers the first two days, and then finish up another time, so that I’m at least getting something out there. I’ll probably finish it next week, but we’ll see – I can be very lazy. Enjoy! Y’know…if you want.

Louder Than Life 2021 is in the books, and I am very sad/glad it’s over. Let’s back up a bit, though, and start from the beginning(ish)…

In the olden times (April 2019), Mrs. Circlepit told me that if Guns ‘n’ Roses were coming anywhere near us on their Not in This Lifetime tour, she’d like to try to attend. Her 40th birthday was coming up later that year, and we’d already skipped out on the first leg of the tour, and we were both experiencing some regret from the decision. Less than a week later, G’n’R was announced as the Saturday headliner at Louder Than Life, so we snapped up tickets immediately. The day was later announced to include Ice Cube, Suicidal Tendencies, Melvins, Anti-Flag, Andrew W.K., Red Kross, Dropkick Murphys, and Stone Temple Pilots (with their Scott Weiland look-and-sound-alike), along with some bands we’d never heard/heard of. Seemed like a no-brainer. We ended up not getting to see Melvins (they played at the same time as Ice Cube, and Ice Cube (with WC!) (of WC and the Maad Circle!) was definitely more of a “once in a lifetime” kinda thing), and we missed Red Kross (I forget why), but everything we did see was great, and the people-watching…

I’ll back up a bit further now: we’d planned on getting single-day tickets in 2018 for the Sunday lineup, which included Nine Inch Nails, Clutch, Ice Cube, Deftones, Primus, Billy Idol, The Sword, and Monster Magnet, along with some other bands we’d never heard/heard of. That also seemed like a no-brainer, but then one week prior to the show, the entire festival was cancelled due to flooding. The team at Danny Wimmer Presents went to work securing a location that could not be completely covered by the Ohio River for the 2019 fest, and now they have a dedicated space at the fairgrounds/expo center, adjacent to Kentucky Kingdom amusement park, right over there near the airport. If this space is ever completely covered by the Ohio River, we’ve got much bigger problems than a cancelled music festival.

Anyway, back to 2019: we got our tickets, and we had a very good time, but with the venue being newly created (along with a miserable dry spell/heat wave), the day was hotter than Hades (if I remember correctly, the temperature topped out at something like 180 billion degress, but the sun might have damaged my brain, so I could be off a bit), and every time a mosh pit broke out, a mini Dust Bowl would immediately spring to life and engulf the crowd. By the end of the night, when Guns ‘n’ Roses finally went on (a full hour late, naturally), we were so exhausted and dehydrated that we just sat down on the gravel and tried not to pass out until we couldn’t stand it any longer. We made our way to the Uber/Lyft pickup area while the band played “Paradise City”, paid 30-40 bucks for a ride to our hotel less than 2 miles away, and passed out. The next day, we agreed that while we had fun, we were gettin too old for that shit, and that was that.

Me too, Roger…me too.

About a month later, Metallica was announced as the Friday and Sunday headliner for 2020, and we bought weekend passes as soon as they went on sale. Not long after, they announced that Metallica wouldn’t be able to perform, as the show dates conflicted with some rehab commitments that James had. A short time later, a fourth day was added to the festival, with Metallica then announced as the Thursday headliner, with all weekend passes to include Thursday admission. We were already on a rollercoaster, but we figured we were strapped in safely, so we’d just go along with the ride. We of course had no idea how long and steep those hills were gonna end up being.

The pandemic (or “plandemic” if you’re an idiot) obviously shut down last year’s fest, but we were given the option to roll our passes over to this year, which we did, scoring a pretty cool free t-shirt in the process. When the lineup was announced for this year, it was a real mixed bag. Metallica headlining on Friday and Sunday with direct support from Jane’s Addiction and Judas Priest respectively (fuck yes!), Nine Inch Nails headlining Saturday with direct support from Snoop Dogg (my god, yes!), and Korn headlining Thursday, with direct support from Staind (a polite no thank you from us, especially re: Staind), along with a whole lot of other stuff (some good, some bad, some we’d never heard of), much of which I will get to in due time.

A few weeks ago, Nine Inch Nails cancelled all their 2021 tour dates, citing COVID concerns, and they were replaced with Disturbed, which I’d rather hear/see than Staind, but which I’m still not interested in. Someone else on the Saturday lineup cancelled (I can’t remember who anymore) and they were replaced with Suicidal Tendencies, which was pretty fuckin awesome news for me. I’ve been a fan of ST for years, and their performance at LTL 2019 was one of the highlights for me. At this point, ST and Snoop Dogg were the only reasons I was interested in going on Saturday, although I wouldn’t have minded seeing Ice Nine Kills, mostly just because of the horror movie stuff they fuck with. Last week, Snoop cancelled, leaving a 40-minute set from Suicidal Tendencies as the only real reason I had for entering the festival grounds on Saturday. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We arrived in town on Wednesday afternoon, checked into our suite at the Galt House (this trip was a celebration of our 10th and 11th wedding anniversaries, plus 2 birthdays apiece on account of 2020, so we decided to stay in comfort), and tried to relax and rest up. We weren’t planning on getting there too early on Thursday, but we’re old, and we knew we needed to be prepared in order to enjoy ourselves to the maximum possible extent.

Thursday afternoon, we got on the shuttle to the park ($40 bucks for a weekend pass with unlimited rides to and from our hotel vs. $40+ for an Uber or a Lyft per trip (not to mention the wait time) or $20/day to park and deal with that bullshit traffic – thanks, Pegasus Transportation!) along with one other festival-goer who flew up from Puerto Rico for the weekend, and were dropped off pretty much at the festival gates by a guy who may as well have been a cartoon character (imagine Ed from City Slickers as a cartoon). Fun side story: we were all talking about the many events going on in town that weekend, as well as about events we and the other passenger had either missed or had rescheduled on us due to COVID, and talk turned to Motley Crue, at which time the Cartoon Bruno Kirby told us that Motley Crue were staying at the Galt House, and that Pegasus was transporting each of them to the shows in separate cars. “Are they playing at the Yum! Center?” asked the missus, all of us genuinely confused as to how we hadn’t heard about Motley Crue playing the same two nights as Metallica in Louisville, KY. At that moment, I realized he was almost certainly mixing up the two bands, and then he responded “No, at this festival, same as youse are goin to,” at which point I whispered to the missus “He thinks Metallica is Motley Crue,” and the three of us just said “huh”, and let that conversation die quietly. It did provide us with a pretty steady source of laughter the rest of the weekend, imagining that guy talking to Lars as if he were Tommy Lee, maybe asking him about his sex tape, or how he feels about Machine Gun Kelly portraying him in a movie about his band, or maybe even just telling him how much he loves “Girls, Girls, Girls”.

Anyway, we arrived on the grounds at around 3:00, got the lay of the land, then got a beer and found a shady spot under the Jack Daniels tent and checked out Sevendust on the main stage. Sevendust isn’t really her thing, and I don’t really know their music, but I’ve enjoyed them well enough when I’ve heard them, and I knew that Lajon has a good singing voice, and I wanted to hear it live. Turns out his voice sounds even better live, though the only Sevendust song I know, still, is their cover of “I Am (I’m Me)” from the album Twisted Forever – A Tribute to the Legendary Twisted Sister. It’s a great song, a very good cover, and cool album.

Don’t take my word for it…

I digress. After Sevendust we walked around and listened to a little bit of Wage War’s set and partook in some people watching, not surprised at the lack of face coverings, and not surprised (but seriously fucking annoyed) by the amount of cigarette and weed smoke being blown directly into faces and crowds by inconsiderate jackasses. Even in non-pandemic times, if you don’t at least try to blow your smoke up into the air when you’re in a crowd of strangers, you’re an asshole. The buzz on the LTL facebook groups is that the food from Island Noodles will change your life (I was half-expecting a handjob from all the hype I’d heard and read, which did not happen; there’ll be more on Island Noodles later), but the line was way too long for me to wanna stand in it, so we had some okay pizza from Pie Baby Wood-Fired Pizza instead (it was as good as thin, floppy pizza can be) while we waited for Anthrax to start. This was my 5th or 6th time seeing Anthrax live, but my first time in a crowd this big, and I was excited about that, but I also was expecting their abbreviated set to be more or less a “greatest hits”-type thing, and they delivered exactly what I expected, while sounding fan-fucking-tastic doing it, which I also expected. I was hoping for collaboration with Cypress Hill on an epic cover of “Bring the Noise” (a hope brought on solely by my imagination), but alas, that did not happen.

Beartooth played after Anthrax for some reaon and they were enjoyable enough, then Cypress Hill (featuring DJ Lord from Public Enemy!) delivered a 100% flawless one-hour set absolutely stacked with classics, closed out by an incredibly high-energy cover of “Jump Around”, the whole thing covered by cloud of smoke thicker than I’ve ever seen at a live show. Sen Dog introduced B-Real as “the highest man in the world”, and I feel like that might be true. A lady who looked like an elementary school teacher I know was dancing and rapping along with “(Rock) Superstar” like her life depended on it, and that was awesome to see. After Cypress Hill, we hit the portajohns and headed for our shuttle, our curiosity regarding Korn overshadowed by our desire to hear and see as little of Staind as possible. Seriously, Aaron Lewis is a jabroni, and at two-and-a-half songs on our way out of the venue, I heard plenty. Our early departure rewarded us with a shuttle all to ourselves, a luxury we would not be afforded again.

Friday had more stuff we wanted to see/hear, but we still didn’t have to get there too early, so Mrs. Circlepit treated herself to a manicure at the hotel while I read a book and listened to some Killswitch Engage songs. They’re a band I’ve never really bothered to give a chance, but my buddy D-Lo is a megafan, so I felt like I had to check them out, and I wanted to familiarize myself with a bit with their discography before hearing them live.

Our shuttle ride in was dumb. Aside from us and one other relatively quiet guy there were Five Loud Dipshits who kept yelling about how good Staind was the night before and this Insufferable Hipster Couple who took every possible opportunity to let us all know that they live in Chicago, as if anyone could have possibly given a shit. At one point, Girl Hipster said “Is anyone actually excited about Jane’s Addiction?” at which point every person on the shuttle (except for the driver) raised their hand (this was the only point during this particular trip where I did not want to smack the dumb faces off all those Loud Dipshits, especially the one sitting directly behind me), and it was the only time Girl Hipster was speechless the entire ride.

Regarding the matter of Killswitch Engage, the jury (i.e., me) has reached its verdict, and it is unanimous. “What say you”, you ask? I say I like their songs well enough, they sound fuckin great live, they bring a fantastic amount of energy to the stage, and if I was 10-15 years younger, they’d almost certainly be one of my favorite bands. Their lyrics are insightful and inspirational, and their riffs are heavy as shit, but I already have a stable of bands I turn to when I need a lyrical pick-me-up and/or to be bludgeoned into submission by riffs. I still wouldn’t necessarily call myself a fan, but I like them more than I did that morning, and I’d definitely check them out live again.

I decided to hop in the merch line during Gojira’s set, knowing it would take a while to get to the front, but also knowing that I’d be able to hear them loud and clear while I waited, and assuming I’d be able to catch at least a few minutes of the end of their set. I naturally chose the slowest-moving line, and at one point the two women at the front were taking so long I wondered if they were trying to buy the entire goddamn festival. “Just pick a fuckin shirt and get out of the way, for fuck sake!” I shouted, and everyone around me agreed, even the drunk 20-year-old in front of me who seemed mere seconds away from vomiting and passing out. They finally finished their transaction and talked a lot of shit while they exited the area, and I finally got my Anthrax and Judas Priest shirts about halfway through Rise Against’s second song.

Gojira sounded great, by the way. So much heaviness coming off that stage. Rise Against is another one of D-Lo’s favorites, but aside from a song or two, my familiarity begins and ends with their first album (2001’s The Unraveling), when they were pretty much 88 Fingers Louie with a different singer. They did not play any songs from The Unraveling, and I was not surprised by that. They sounded amazing live, but I’d have absolutely shit my pants if they’d played “Six Ways ‘Til Sunday”.

It almost makes me shit my pants when it comes on a mix I’ve made. I can’t even imagine hearing it live.

Rise Against finished, and Jane’s Addiction came out to the opening strains of “Up the Beach”, and we made our way down to the pit area (where we were essentially the only masked people, although if all the shitheads blowing smoke in our faces on Thursday didn’t give us COVID, probably nothing ever will), and Jane’s Addiction blew our minds apart. Such a weird, fun, magical, heavy experience. Tears flowed during “Jane Says”, my head banged during “Mountain Song”, my ass danced itself nearly clean off during “Stop”, and my mouth gaped during “Ted, Just Admit It…” The band was fucking brilliant, and Perry’s banter was fucking hilarious, and we were surprised to learn the next day that a loooooot of people in that crowd were offended and/or disgusted and/or completely flummoxed by “how much of magical weirdo Perry Farrell is”, to quote my better half.

How do you not love that guy?

The crowd rippled with anticipation waiting for Metallica’s first set to begin. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, the house music faded out, and “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)” by AC/DC blared over the PA, followed by Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold” from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, followed by Metallica, blasting out as furious a version of “Whiplash” as they could possibly manage at this point in their lives and careers. They continued to tear through a varied (and very solid) set spanning almost their entire LP discography (minus St. Anger, Load, and Metallica (a.k.a. “The Black Album”), though the latter will be touched upon later. It was all killer and no filler, even including the songs I don’t know all that well, like “No Leaf Clover”, and the songs from Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, and the songs I know better but don’t care that much about, like “Fuel”. What I’ve learned in my now three times seeing Metallica live is that they even make the songs I don’t care about sound badass live.

“You wanna get some whiskey and make some bad decisions?” asked the missus, and I advised her that I did. “Moth Into Flame” caused me to mosh like Scott Ian as we made our way toward the Blackened Whiskey tent, and I was reminded that I had an open water bottle in my pocket as water spilled all over my leg and shorts, but my good time was undeterred. We got some whiskey and sat down in a significantly less-crowded area (sitting for only the second time that day, in fact) and enjoyed the rest of the show from the comfort of some really uncomfortable folding chairs. While there, I saw a guy with a hand truck banging his head and singing along while he delivered some cases of soda to a food tent. On his way back, he left his hand truck in the field and proceeded to rock his balls off while the band played their hit “Whiskey in the Jar” from 1998’s Garage, Inc. covers album.

Go man, go!

After kicking off their encore with “Battery”, James said in a very sincere-sounding voice, “Louisville, I have something very important to tell you..GIMME FUEL GIMME FIRE GIMME THAT WHICH I DESIIIIIIIRE, OOH!“, and then they played “Fuel”, and I’ve been giggling about that for a week. We headed toward the gates as “Seek & Destroy” began, and boarded the shuttle for the ride back.

The “shuttle” this time actually ended up being a full-sized passenger bus filled all the way up, and included the Insufferable Hipsters from the ride in. Pretty lame, and decidedly less comfortable than the smaller shuttles we’d been on up to that point, but still better than paying surge prices for an Uber, or having the fat Loud Dipshit behind me again.

We went to bed exhausted but happy, which is the best way to go to bed. Saturday – with its razor-thin lineup – was nigh, and Sunday – with its relatively stacked lineup from open-to-close – was…slightly more nigh. But those’ll have to wait until next time, because I have other shit to do. Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed it…

I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from the festival grounds. Be sure to check back for the “exciting” conclusion, coming soon(ish) to a toilet near you!