Cover Story
When Gonzo Roamed the Earth
This is part of a package of articles on GonzoFest 2019. For more, click here. Like artificial sweetener and Post-it Notes, Gonzo Journalism was born of desperation and error. On a foul spring afternoon in 1970, barricaded in a room at the Royalton Hotel on 44th Street in New York, Hunter S. Thompson stared at…
10 Things To Do Under $5 This Week In Louisville (7/22)
MONDAY, July 22 Architectural Sketching South Central Regional Library Free | 6:30-8 p.m. Learn architectural sketching techniques by drawing the exterior of the Louisville Free Public Library’s stunningly modern South Central Regional Library. Interested? Register quick by calling 964-3515 or emailing elizabeth.magee@lfpl.org. This event is for ages 16 and up. Metal Monday Highlands Taproom Bar…
Some of our favorite local summer beers this season
3rd Turn Brewing Nacho Swoole’ A variation on its seasonal Fruited Kolsch Swooly, the Nacho Swoole’ brings spiced heat. Capped with a soft foam fluff, it has notes of hot peppers at the head, cut by a difficult-to-describe sweetness. You get the heat by virtue of Reaper peppers, blunted by citrus fruits — hints of…
5 Things To Do In Louisville This Weekend (7/19)
FRIDAY, July 19 After Hours at the Speed + GonzoFest Speed Art Museum $20, nonmembers | 5-10 p.m. GonzoFest is Saturday at the Main Library, but on Friday, it’s the Speed that’s gone Gonzo. In partnership with GonzoFest (and inspired by the museum’s new Hunter S. Thompson exhibit), the museum has turned After Hours into…
5th Annual Grateville Dead Festival Returns to Waterfront Park
Are you a Dead Head? Do you long for the days of following a band across the country? Celebrate the Grateful Dead’s legacy at Grateville Dead, a weekend-long festival hosted at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater. On Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27, enjoy classic tunes like “Friend of the Devil” or “Scarlet Begonias” while enjoying…
‘O Duke! my Duke!’
This is part of a package of articles on GonzoFest 2019. For more, click here. (with all apologies to Walt Whitman; for Christopher Coleman) By Heidi Taylor O Duke! my Duke! our strange trip is done; The Shark has weather’d every rack, the dream sought is none. Las Vegas is near, the slots I hear, the…
That Time When Hunter S. Thompson Stopped For A Photo
This is part of a package of articles on GonzoFest 2019. For more, click here. “It never got fast enough for me.” —Hunter S. Thompson. On the July 4 weekend in 1994, I was buzzing across the Nevada desert en route to Aspen, Colorado. After a few abbreviated phone calls, I found myself in Hunter’s…
What To Do, Where To Go During Gonzofest
This is part of a package of articles on GonzoFest 2019. For more, click here. One of the wonderful things about GonzoFest Louisville on Saturday, July 20 is the variety of performances and talks. You’ve got psychobilly rock bands and world music playing with spoken word artists scattered throughout (sometimes reciting their poetry with musical…
McGrath Stumbles
In just 24 hours, Amy McGrath spoiled the Democratic race against Mitch McConnell for any other Democrats who might join the fight. Here’s why her campaign is already over. The path to defeating McConnell is microscopically narrow. It has to run by the perfect Democratic candidate to win on the first Tuesday (after the first…
Listening — The Least We Owe For The Advantages We White Folks Take For Granted
Years ago, when I was a musician living in Los Angeles, I had my first close black friend. His name was Phil. He was 37 when I was 18. He was from D.C. and had lived in LA for a couple of years. He was a brilliant musician and, thankfully, a very patient man. We…
Dear Amy McGrath, WTF Are You Thinking? Pick A Side… Or Step Aside!
Dear Amy, We are in a crucial moment in the state of Kentucky and this nation, so I do not have time for everyday pleasantries. Perhaps at another date we can sit down and grab a latte and talk about our life experiences, but right now, time is of the essence. We are at a…
New Kentucky Laws Begin While Some Are Challenged
Nearly 200 bills were signed into law in Kentucky this year. Most took effect June 27, including one stripping the permit requirement for concealed carry. But others, the three anti-abortion bills, are either tied up in the court system or haven’t begun to make an impact at all. Here’s a status report on some of…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best, and Most Absurd
Thorn: Paving Over Paradise State transportation officials are beginning to plan a connector between Interstates 65 and 71 that could cut through Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. WDRB reported that the plans are being steered by “elected officials and their surrogates, local and state government agencies, chambers of commerce and industrial development organizations.” In other…
Sonic Breakdown: Yellow Cellophane — ‘Warm Bodies’
LEO’s biweekly sonic breakdown column deconstructs a single song from an area musician or band. Hannah Sexton, who performs indie dream-pop under the moniker Yellow Cellophane, wrote “Warm Bodies” as a response to heartbreak. Sadness is an emotion that can bring out the most potent creativity, and Sexton mined hers successfully. Writing the song also…
A Johnny Cash Celebration, Ky Shakes Shines
There’s a fine bit of musical storytelling in the second half of “Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash,” the jukebox musical by Richard Maltby Jr. that opened last week at Actors Theatre of Louisville. As Cash sings the classic road song, “I’ve Been Everywhere,” his life spins into amphetamine-fueled chaos and a collapse…
More Than Just A Number
Story by Class Act Federal Credit Union Wanova Mills looked around Class Act Federal Credit Union’s lobby with a smile, “I feel like I can come here, and everything is okay.” For Wanova, Class Act is more than just a financial institution, it’s a community that she’s been a part of since 2002. She discovered…
‘…While The Dew Is Still On The Roses… ’ Begins With Fantastic, Ends With Tragic
In an interview with Victoria Stapley-Brown for The Art Newspaper, Ebony G. Patterson replied to a question regarding the beautiful aesthetic of her works as follows: “Oh, it’s a trap. It’s a total trap! One, it’s a trap in the sense that I’m interested in using materials [such as pearls or costume jewelery] that we…
Comedian Eliot Chang: ‘Comedy Is Like Sex’
Life as a medical school student or Wall Street stiff did not appeal to Eliot Chang. So, he surrendered all hopes for a normal, stable life and pursued comedy, perhaps not what his hard-working immigrant parents would have chosen for him. “I wouldn’t say they support my comedy, but they tolerate it,” Chang said. “They…
‘Biden-Obama’… Ha Ha!
There’s lightweight, character-based humor. And there’s the absurdity of silver-haired public figures getting into a situation that requires them to behave like action heroes. Combine these, and you have a formula that’s succeeded in getting Andrew Shaffer (who now lives in Louisville) onto many top bestseller lists. Here’s the second of his “Biden-Obama mysteries” —…
Burger Girl Fills Diner Needs For Whenever We’re Up
I got the jingle “two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun” stuck in my head the other day, and there was no way to stave off the crave. So, I blasted off to get one. No, not Mickey D’s. Better. The double bison burger at the new Burger…
New Paristown Hall Adds A ‘Missing Piece’ To Local Music Venues
In the past, artists and bands that draw medium-sized crowds may have performed in Iroquois Amphitheater for a unique outdoor, seated concert in the warmer months. Or, maybe they took over Headliners Music Hall for a weekend, squeezing in fans over two nights instead of one. Or, perhaps, they bypassed Louisville altogether. But now, Louisville’s…
Irish Rover, A Veggie’s Pot O Gold
When I think of Irish pubs, I think of good beer, good whiskeys (some without the “e”), fried pub food and fistfights following a football argument. The Irish Rover nails the first two but also offers veggies and gluten intolerants that much more. The IR has catered to veggies since it opened 26 years ago…
Ask Minda Honey: Shack Up With Hookup Or Find A New Roommate?
In a relationship or life jam? Send your questions to: AskMindaHoney@leoweekly.com or reach me on Facebook.com/AskMindaHoney Hi Minda! My current roommate is fixing to move to Florida, leaving me to decide whether I should find someone else to move in with or try to find a new apartment. The only person I’ve extended the offer…
Savage Love: Deep Cucks
Q: I am a bi, white, married man—35 years old and living in a big Midwestern city. I’d like to know what’s going on in my psyche—from a sex-research perspective. I’ve been hung up on cuckold fantasies with my female partner for years now. I’m a creative person and I’m especially fond of creative fantasizing…
