Cover Story
Tagged! Graffiti Is Gaming Our City
For more than two years taggers have kept hitting the back of Jennifer Williams’ Main Street building. She painted over it a couple times while facing violation notices from the city and a $300 fine in April, but they struck again and again. The latest tag, spanning the building’s third and fourth floors, is visible…
10 Things To Do Under $5 This Week In Louisville (1/20)
MONDAY, Jan. 20 January D&D Meet Your Legislators League of Women Voters of Louisville Free | 5:30-7:30 p.m. And… they are off! This year’s legislative session has begun. Join freshman state legislators from Jefferson County for dinner and a discussion. The panel, moderated by Republican Rep. Jason Nemes, includes Rep. Tina Bojanowski, D-32, Nima Kulkarni,…
In-Person Over YouTube: J&B Magic Shop Is Teaching New Tricks In Old Ways
J&B Magic Shop and Theater in downtown New Albany isn’t hidden in a back alley or veiled in mist — none of the hackneyed genre tropes usually attached to places where the arcane arts can be uncovered. You’d drive right by it if you were, say, sifting through Spotify for the newest Selena Gomez single.…
5 Things To Do In Louisville This Weekend (1/17)
FRIDAY, Jan. 17 After Hours at the Speed Speed Art Museum $20 adults, $15 seniors, children 4-17 | 5-10 p.m. After Hours, but make it ‘20s themed. This latest soiree at the Speed Museum features a tintype photographer, roaming CirqueLouis artists, a free screening of the 1927 film “Metropolis,” music from Small Time Napoleon and…
Record Review: Scary Black — ‘Are You Afraid Of The Dark?’
The dream of the ‘80s is alive in Scary Black, an unwavering homage to goth and new wave bands. This is the kind of music that would show up on grainy VHS tapes, recorded from late-night MTV viewings. With Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, singer/songwriter Albie Mason taps into the same bloody vein as…
Record Review: Pocari Sweater — ‘Close Encounters’
On their debut album Close Encounters, Pocari Sweater pays homage to slacker rock giants such as The Replacements or Pavement through hook-heavy, jangly rock with more than a hint of Gram Parsons-esque Americana. The four piece band uses big, strutting riffs that shuffle and swirl, with lyrics that often reflect the halcyon days of the…
Record Review: Legs Akimbo — ‘Smash Yr Heart Against the Rocks’
There’s a lot of versatility from Legs Akimbo, a band that falls somewhere in between slick indie outsiders such as Pavement or Guided By Voices and brain-burning post-punk weirdo innovators like Talking Heads or Television. On their third album, the band really flexes that range sonically, bouncing from foreboding to breezy with ease and agility.…
Record Review: Hazelfire — ‘Daytime Television Pt. 2’
In 2019, the trio Hazelfire released three full-length albums of original music that blurred the lines between horror punk and grunge, but they also released a covers record called Daytime Television, which paid tribute to The Doors, The Misfits and a song from “Regular Show.” Now, they’ve released the second installment, and Daytime Television Pt.…
Southern Gothic Sound: The Legendary Shack Shakers’ J.D. Wilkes On The Past And Present
Since the mid-1990s, J.D. Wilkes and his group the Legendary Shack Shakers have been helping to forge the Southern gothic sound. In addition to ripping on harmonica and banjo as the band’s wily frontman, the Paducah native is also a Kentucky Colonel and author of two books steeped in Kentucky folklore (“The Vine That Ate…
Three Concerts To Catch This Week
Greensky Bluegrass Thursday, Jan. 16 Old Forester’s Paristown Hall A quick-rising, versatile Michigan band that rode last decade’s newgrass wave, Greensky Bluegrass is one of the leading modernizers of traditional music. With one foot holding steady in the past and one wandering toward the future, Greensky Bluegrass merges rock tropes into classic structures. They write…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best And Most Absurd (1/15)
Thorn: It Might Have Been A Crime The Courier Journal keeps hammering on Gov.-reject Matt Bevin’s egregious flurry of pardons and sentence commutations (there may be a P in this for the paper). Uncovering yet another bad decision, it reported that many drug offenders were released despite having had probation violations. The corrections spokesperson refused…
Kentucky Senate Priorities: Purposeful or Political?
Kentucky Republicans started the 2020 legislative session last week with a less-combative governor, albeit a Democrat, and under the shadow of a looming budget crisis that threatens services and cities statewide. So, what does the state Senate pick as its priorities? Bills that focus on immigration, voter IDs and election scheduling. The priorities, especially the…
What’s Bhaji Pav? Honest Indian’s New Delights
Way back in 1975, when hardly anyone around here knew what Indian street food was, Vijay Agrawal took his first steps toward culinary success when he added bhaji pav — a popular Mumbai veggie curry dish served with white rolls — to the selection of his outdoor chaat (snack) cart in downtown Ahmedabad, India’s fifth-largest…
Craft Beer Gems in Germantown
We have to admit, when we drink, think or talk beer, we have a bias toward breweries. However, we also have a weakness for trying as many different beers as possible, and that means occasionally removing the blinders and visiting (non-brewing) craft beer bars. Next to Baby Yoda, there are few things that delight us…
Louisville joins other cities suing JUUL, claiming e-cig maker misled public
Louisville Metro Government has joined other state and local governments in filing a lawsuit against JUUL Labs Inc., the largest manufacturer of e-cigarettes. “In Louisville, when the health of our residents is threatened, we respond as we have to the opioid epidemic in our city and so many other challenges,” said Mayor Greg Fischer at…
If We Lose The Rule Of Law, We Might As Well Tear This Capitol Down
This is from a speech Marc Murphy delivered at a Frankfort rally last week as the General Assembly opened its legislative session. This is a beautiful building. [Looking around the Capitol Rotunda] You all made your way through security to get to see the marble, the amazing skylights, the panes. And when you came in…
Savage Love: Sub Space
Q: I’m a 26-year-old bisexual woman with a history of self-harm. It hasn’t been much of an issue for the last few years, but my sex life has improved a lot in that time. I realized that I am quite submissive and masochistic, and I have found a wonderful Dominant partner who I’ve gotten to…
Ask Minda Honey: He Kept His Out-of-State Kid A Secret — Deal-breaker?
In a relationship or life jam? Send your questions to: AskMindaHoney@leoweekly.com or reach me on Facebook.com/AskMindaHoney Hey, Minda! I have started seeing a new guy, who has been amazing, but it has not been very long at all. We matched on Hinge, but I realized we had some mutual friends after seeing his Instagram. I…
‘The Wolves,’ Authentic, Intricate
It’s hard to go into Sarah DeLappe’s “The Wolves” with low expectations, considering the play was a 2017 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for drama. You may, however, go into the show wondering what exactly it’s about. A brief description of the premise tells the story not of actual wolves in the wild but of…
Therapeutic Humor: A Q&A With Comedian Eric Dowis
A bipolar cruise director might seem like a strange launch pad for a professional comedian, but so far, it has worked for stand-up comic Eric Dowis. The Georgia-born funnyman uses common sense and the charm of a Southern drawl to tackle topics such as race, religion and how being bipolar makes life unpredictable. “You’re making…
Can Greg Fischer Really Deliver For Louisville As ‘America’s Mayor’?
When I first met Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer after his primary win in 2010, I offered help. I visited his campaign office on Lexington Road and met with his campaign manager, Brandon Coan. Coan and I reminisced about the time we’d spent at the University of Michigan. I shared with him my brief stint in…
It’s Capital B ‘Black’ At LEO
LEO has changed its style so now you will find the word “Black” capitalized on these pages when referring to a group of people, culture or ethnicity. It’s the right and long overdue thing to do. Society and culture evolve, and how we all communicate with each other should, too. At LEO, the issue first…
