Cover Story
Man in Fights: a gay wrestler’s story
Ohio Valley Wrestling has its first openly-gay heavyweight champion, and fellow queers, we’ve been missing out. That there are athletes who are gay isn’t unusual, but for a lot of us, this particular, er… sport — a hybrid of showmanship and athleticism — evokes gargantuan, mulleted white men who can barely be restrained, with spittle…
Listen to Brenda’s new song, ‘Xanax Suburb’
The band Brenda has been on a bit of a hiatus lately, but they have a forthcoming album, Hotel Wife, and you can currently stream the first single from it. That song, “Xanax Suburb” is melancholy and dreamy, significantly shifting down the tempo and intensity from the garage-pop on their last record, Nightschool. No release…
10 under $5 – What To Do This Week In Louisville (8/20)
MONDAY Call Me King, The Empty Room, FALL Mag Bar Free | 8 p.m. Start your workweek off right with a rock show at one of Old Louisville’s best neighborhood bars — Mag Bar. The show includes performances by post-hardcore band Call Me King, indie/alternative rock band The Empty Room and melodic hardcore band FALL.…
Jack Harlow wrestles with nostalgia on his new album ‘Loose’
There is an earnest melancholy to Loose, the newest by Jack Harlow that dropped earlier today. Harlow would have you believe that he flexes on people, chin checking a rival to put them in their place. Contrast that with the disdain that he employs on the track “Nun Free,” or his loneliness on “Vacate,” and…
LEO Podcast #66: Sabra Crockett, Britany Baker
Jo Anne Triplett, LEO Weekly’s contributing arts editor, spoke with artists Sabra Crockett and Britany Baker about their recent trip to the Salon conference in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. [Note: We experienced minor audio issues during this podcast, so you may notice an echo sound that begins five minutes in.]
A Q&A with ceramicist Amy Chase
As with most artists, Amy Chase (amychaseceramics.com, Instagram @amyc.ceramics) is a jack of all trades. But the creativity needed for her many roles spring from one thing: ceramics. LEO: What type of artist are you? Amy Chase: I am a ceramicist working primarily with sculptural forms. Surface treatments are a focus of my attention.…
5 Things To Do This Weekend In Louisville (8/17)
FRIDAY After Hours at The Speed Speed Art Museum $18, nonmembers | 5 p.m. What better venue for a party than an art museum? The theme for this month’s party is drag, with drag performances, drag tours, plenty of dancing and live music, and a talk by WFPL’s Strange Fruit podcast cohosts Dr. Kaila Story…
The John B. Castleman and George D. Prentice statues, who or what will replace them?
When Roger Porter heard about the recent decision by Mayor Greg Fischer to remove the controversial John B. Castleman statue from the roundabout just outside of his Highland’s condo, the 45-year-old had one question: What will replace it? “I really hate seeing the horse go. I like the concept of it. To see it empty,…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best & Most Absurd
Mayor does good | Rose Good on Mayor Greg Fischer for a semi-quick decision to remove the offensive John B. Castleman and George D. Prentice statues. We also like that it coincided with LEO’s cover story “Our Bloody Monday” by Kevin Gibson about the anti-immigrant riots of 1855. The mayor was correct to not base…
Speed Cinema’s upcoming ?music movies: Nico, The Beatles and more
Ever since the Speed Art Museum created its wide-ranging cinema program, there’s been an effort to shine a light on music-oriented films. Part of the museum’s expansion in 2016, the 138-seat Speed Cinema shows films from many genres, but support and demand for music-themed films are reflected in the venue’s upcoming selections. They include “Westwood:…
The story of Sheri Streeter’s new protest song, ‘Love in the Time of Hate’
It took singer-songwriter Sheri Streeter time to unpack the horrific events of Charlottesville. The death of counter-protester Heather Heyer left a hole in the activist community that touched many, including Streeter. Her newest single “Love in the Time of Hate,” drops Aug. 17, timed close to the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. “At the time…
Record Review: Jordan Jetson – ‘Black Aria / Black Aria 2’
“Fade,” a slick two-minute track from the second of Jordan Jetson’s Black Aria EP releases, highlights the local hip-hop savant’s strongest assets: the versatility of his vocals, and the depth of his lyrics. What starts off as clever hook about mortality, spins into a burst of ideas and thoughts that form a speeding verse, as…
Record Review: Freedive – ‘Casual Conversation’
This album starts off with a refrain that repeats the word “digital,” which is appropriate. This is a slick-sounding recording, and one that leans into electronic music tropes with unmitigated enthusiasm. Four on the floor, house-style beats are immediately available, tricked out with driving bass, a wash of reverb/delay-soaked guitars and airy vocals. Imagine, if…
Record Review: Foxbat – ‘Rotgut’
Foxbat goes on a quest to conquer every sub-genre of the post-hardcore phenomenon on their debut album, Rotgut. The first single, “Grim Reaper,” sounds like a combination between Alice In Chains and Mother Love Bone, moving between distortion-drenched arpeggios to Layne Staley-style melodic wailing. But it’s not all Seattle sound on Rotgut — tracks such as “Privileged…
Record Review: Dom B + Q-Mystik – ‘Oasis Bluegrass’
Dom B and Q-Mystik blend that ever-cool presence part and parcel to hip-hop with some deft commentary of our culture on Oasis Bluegrass. The thing is, while lesser rappers may still lean on that macho braggadocio, everyone here seems down to earth, tackling topics including mental health and seemingly trying to live the best life…
Satire and American Christianity x2
God and the Devil work in mysterious ways. That, at least, is one possible takeaway from two vastly-different satirical looks at American Christianity that are running now on Louisville stages. “Altar Boyz,” a wildly-popular musical by Gary Adler, Michael Patrick Walker and Kevin Del Aguila is also among the most popular Off Broadway musical productions…
A few words with ?pop-surrealism artist Tara McPherson
Tara McPherson emerged to the front of the pop-surrealism movement in the mid-2000s and has established a royal standing. Her elegant line work, vibrant-yet-haunting painting style and seductive color palette have earned her admiration around the world. McPherson’s work has been displayed in galleries worldwide and has graced the covers and interiors of scores of…
Comedian Spencer James, ‘should we have a guy in the White House who is? attacking people?’
Much like Las Vegas legends of yesteryear, Las Vegas-based comedian Spencer James is not only hilarious, but he also has a background in music and theater. It is his secret weapon if things get squirrelly in the audience. “I’ll sing a cappella onstage if chaos is happening. Like, if someone breaks into a fight, usually…
Book Review: ‘Fly Girls’ Profiles Women who Tamed the Skies
“Fly Girls” by Keith O’Brien (Eamon Dolan/HMH; 352 pages, $28) You don’t have to be a devoted reader of the history of women’s progress in the 20th century, or of the early days of aviation, to be frequently swept up in the tales laid out here by veteran journalist Keith O’Brien. He has five main…
Comic Book Reviews: ‘The Sandman Universe’ and ‘Assassinistas’
‘Assassinistas’ Writer Tini Howard, artist Gilbert Hernandez Review by Meredith Harris, The Great Escape Louisville On the first page of “Assassanistas,” Magdalene Visaggio, writer of “Eternity Girl,” describes it as “‘Kill Bill’ if it was directed by Wes Anderson.” That’s a pretty great description. A perfect combination of grindhouse and domesticity, “Assassinistas” is a six-part…
Fine dining with a view at Portage House
When Portage House Chef Paul Skulas jumped across the river to open Couvillion in Germantown, Chef Dallas McGarity of Fat Lamb added Portage House to his portfolio so quickly that the ovens didn’t even have time to cool down. I’ve already been over to Couvillion and gave it an unqualified rave May 30. Now, I…
Hot tips for sweater weather
We’re still in the sweltering heat of mid-August in Kentucky, but before we know it, we’ll be flitting around town holding Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, admiring one another’s billowing scarves and carving jack-o’-lanterns. Just as I was recently shaken to find that mega-overwhelming home goods superstore At Home already has its Christmas decorations out, barkeeps and…
‘It doesn’t taste like anything’
I was sitting in a local brewery recently, when a mother and her daughter, about 10 years old, stopped in. Daughter played with my dog, Atticus, while her mom sat down next to me and ordered a beer. They told me they had driven down from northern Michigan and were on their way to take…
Savage Love: Secret Perving
Q: I’ve been enjoying consensual nonmonogamy for the past two years, in part thanks to your column and podcast. I have a delightful young lover, and our connection has evolved into a kind of Master/slave relationship. I “allow” her to fuck other men and women, and she delights in asking my permission and recounting the…
Your turn, Mom
[Ed. note: Edna Yarmuth, who is the mother of LEO’s founder, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth and grandmother of LEO Executive Editor Aaron Yarmuth, died Tuesday, Aug. 7. She was 91. This is a Mother’s Day column John Yarmuth wrote in 2000.] I was thinking the other day that I have let nine Mother’s Days go…
New convention center is brutalism, Rand Paul is rotten fruit
It’s LEO Readers’ Choice time of year again. Are you going to recuse yourself from participating? Trendiest word of the year, that; who’d have thought it? When it comes to voting in contests that I have a slim chance of winning, my philosophy is simple: Cheat to win. So my pal Igor has already hacked…
White Supremacy… and Faux Liberals
I’m on vacation and had just exited the ferry from Kure Beach to Southport, North Carolina, in the car with my family. I picked up my phone to check Google Maps, but before doing do so I open Instagram and see a screenshot of a headline: “Forbes: Schnatter allegedly used N-word on conference call.” I…
Don’t occupy Dems!
The only way to replace or even abolish ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, is to elect Democrats this November. In order to do this, we need to pull in the same direction. For Occupy ICE, if that means blocking elevators at immigration courts and building encampments in public parks, that’s OK. It’s OK…
