Cover Story
Louneyville ’16: Bevinland, basketball scandals and Amiri King’s trolls
This issue used to be called Loserville. But we at LEO mellowed in our older age and renamed it Louneyville. Mostly, we’d like to think we do not live in a city of losers. But who among us is not a bit loony? And as any journalist will tell you, the truth is always loonier…
10 things to do under $5 this week in Louisville (12/12)
MONDAY Movie Snuggles with Jerbear Against the Grain Brewery Free | 8 p.m. Jerry Gnagy (aka Jerbear) is the cofounder of Against The Grain Brewery (a brewery so popular some get the logo inked into their skin). But when he isn’t running AtG, he’s watching movies. And this week he would like to watch movies…
LEO Podcast #43: Forecastle Lineup
Scott Recker, Nik Vechery and Michael Powell talk about the initial release of the Forecastle Festival lineup, how the 2017 selections are more exciting than those of the previous two years and second-wave hopefuls. Suscribe to the LEO Podcast on iTunes, and follow us on Soundcloud and Twitter.
Early Listen: Stream the first single, ‘Am·I·King?’ from Kaleidico’s forthcoming album
Kaleidico’s follow up to Zoetic — one of the best albums to come out of Louisville in 2015 — is Afro·brain, the band’s forthcoming third record. Afro·brain will be released Thursday, Jan. 26. But, right now, give a listen to the first single from that record, “Am·I·King?” — a dreary, atmospheric, captivating piece of psychedelic…
5 Things To Do This Weekend in Louisville (12/9)
FRIDAY Va Va Festivus Headliners $20-$30 | 8 p.m. The Louisville born burlesque troupe, Va Va Vixens, are putting on a Festivus show because nothing screams holiday cheer like a “tantalizing mix of classic striptease, circus, uproarious comedy, variety acts and stunning group dance sequences.” SATURDAY $20 Art Show Copper & Kings Free | 9…
Is UofL’s Tom Jurich blackmailing the city, replacing Ramsey as the university’s face of disgrace?
Is it extortion? UofL Athletics Director Tom Jurich has threatened the city and, by extension, UofL fans, saying over the weekend that the Cardinals basketball team should leave the KFC Yum! Center and build its own arena on campus. “If they don’t want us in there just tell us — we’ll leave,” Jurich said on…
Sufis show mystical side of Islam
At a signal from the sheikh, two figures in tall brown hats and flowing white robes began to whirl, their skirts unfurling as they spun. Turning around them was a circle of about 50 people, holding hands and repeating the core tenet of Islamic belief: La illaha il Allah, there is no god but God.…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst & Best
Lack-of-confidence man | Thorn Our very own Elaine Chao, labor secretary under President George W. Bush, was nominated as transportation secretary by President-elect Donald Trump. One would think that her husband, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, would be her top supporter, right? Well, all he was able to muster for his wife was that he is,…
Girls Rock Louisville releases its first compilation
This past Saturday, Dec. 3, a not-so-small feat was accomplished at Guestroom Records. In a matter of just three hours, a locally-produced album outsold every 2016 release at the record store on Frankfort Avenue, including international blockbusters such as Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ The Getaway, and Metallica’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct. That…
Forecastle 2017: LCD Soundsystem, Weezer, PJ Harvey announced
Forecastle Festival — which takes place July 14-16 — is going big in 2017 for its 15th anniversary, with Tuesday’s first wave announcement of the lineup including LCD Soundsystem, Weezer, Odesza, Cage the Elephant, PJ Harvey and Run The Jewels. Last year’s headliners — Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams, etc. — took a more populist approach,…
Top 10 of 2016, pt. 1
When Leonard Cohen sang “You want it darker,” he was probably referring to his own music and mortality, but I’ve come to believe that those four words are the ultimate representation of music, culture and politics in 2016. My article from two weeks ago really gives the full intro to this year’s top 10, but…
George Lucas biographer to speak ?at library
Want to put something under the tree that might inspire a dreamer into becoming a doer? Consider the new biography “George Lucas: A Life.” Award-winning writer Brian Jay Jones — whose own path took him from U.S. Senate researcher to biographer — will talk about his filmmaker subject this week at the Louisville Free Public…
‘Va Va Festivus,’ an extravaganza, with pasties
“Do we want to practice spanking-train scenarios?” a dancer calls out to the room from on stage. And somewhere amidst the blacked-out floor a disembodied voice responds: “I love practicing spanking-train scenarios!” Exchanges like this and much more are all in a day’s work for the Va Va Vixens as they prepare for their latest…
‘Creditors,’ action in a way we’ve never before experienced
The plays of August Strindberg have never been very popular with American audiences. And because they’ve never been very popular, they’re not often produced. And because they’re not often produced, they’re not very well known. And because they’re not very well known, they’re not very popu… Well, you get the idea. So why, you might…
Fat Lamb will get you in a good mood
When you think about a place named The Fat Lamb, if you think about it at all, you would probably imagine a temple of carnivorous delights. And just as you would expect, Louisville’s new Fat Lamb offers some of Chef Dallas McGarity’s appealing takes on lamb, pig, cow, chicken, a bulging net full of seafood…
Happiness at the Levee
A few years ago, I was in the Tampa Bay area on business, and some colleagues took me to a small restaurant with a name I’ve long since forgotten. But when I arrived to find a sign trumpeting “Oysters on the half shell, 50 cents each,” I was beside myself with glee. You don’t get…
Husbandry
Q: I’m a 37-year-old gay man who just got out of an abusive relationship. We were together five years, moved to Portland together, got married three years ago, yada, yada, yada. He suffered a traumatic injury earlier this year, which led to PTSD, which led to a nervous breakdown, which led to our savings being…
America’s most-important son
Driving through the city at night with my soul-sister-supreme sittin’ copilot, up to nothing in particular, Kid Congo Powers on the stereo as we try to pick between White Castles and the Waffle House, my brains sorta’ kinda’ thinking about this column, my unchallenged thoughts, so to speak — me saying what’s what in this…
That fire, repeated
It’s been a tough year. We’ve experienced heavy losses of treasured cultural icons. There are days when I think I will never recover from Prince’s death, or Bowie’s. They felt like family — always there and relevant. And now, on top of the deaths, we are facing the outcome of an election that was unexpected…
Why not a West End VA?
In recent weeks, the chorus for building a new Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center in West Louisville, instead of The East End, has escalated to a riotous symphony. They can add me to their list of advocates. The new hospital should be built at 30th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, the site of the failed FoodPort…
Your Voice
on editor’s note: gli, get lost immediately And I thought GLI was short for Giving Louisville to Indiana. ? — Chip Sobel Why waste money planting trees when billions of dollars have just been spent paving downtown — heatwave city and visually hideous! The best way to have prevented urban heat would have been to…
