Cover Story
This weekend, the Kentuckiana Pride Parade and Festival will celebrate 15 Years of Pride.
Hide, or they might out you. Pretend to be someone else, or they could fire you. Don’t speak up, or they will harm you. For many in the LGBTQ community, this is what life was like living in pre-fairness ordinance Louisville. There was no talk of equal rights, marriage equality or acceptance of transgender people.…
A review of and photos from the Derby City Comic Con
[photos by Nik Vechery] Comic book conventions have become big business over the years, with events like the San Diego Comic Con serving as the launch platform for marquee movie or television properties, while playing host to a variety of comic industry professionals. These conventions are a meeting ground for nerds of all stripes, be…
Christopher 2X, Master P and Lil’ Romeo discussed the impact of gun violence on a community at the Ali Center
On Friday, June 19, The Muhammad Ali Center hosted a panel discussion about the challenges facing today’s youth, particularly when it comes to gun violence. The panel included Percy Miller (aka Master P), his son Romeo Miller (aka Lil’ Romeo), Christopher 2X (of Let the Kids Grow), Donald Lassere (President and Director of the Ali…
LEO Playlist 6/22
1) “Amish Paradise” by Weird Al Yankovic, who will be at the Louisville Palace on Wednesday, June 24. 2) “Illegal Smile” by John Prine, who will be at ROMP Festival this Saturday, June 27, in Owensboro. [The next three acts will all be performing at Waterfront Wednesday (June 24) on the Big Four Lawn. It’s…
Visually Speaking: this week’s art news and events (6/22/15)
[The above image is “Without Land We Must Grow Up Not Out” by Neil Goss.] Art news Louisville Visual Art and Kroger have announced a mural program with Louisville artists Ashley Brossart, Carrie Neumayer and Clare Hirn. Each mural will be located in the café section at Prospect, Springhurst and Middletown, and in the produce…
A Q&A with comedian Ron Sexton about his alter-ego Donnie Baker and his friend Tim Wilson
Donnie Baker is a rude, wacked-out, overzealous nitwit — and he’s the brain child of comedian Ron Sexton. The character of Donnie was hatched as a series of phone calls on “The BOB & Tom Show,” but proved so popular with audience members, they eventually took him to the stage. Sexton will be be bringing…
LEON: Facing extinction, hipsters challenge yuccies to counter-culture battle for cultural dominance
A cultural wave sweeping across America’s trendy, self-gentrifying, urban neighborhoods is threatening to completely eradicate the generation of non-conformists that preceded it … but not without a fight. Hipsters, the once proud assemblage of peaceful, free-loving, poorly-groomed counter-culturalists born out of the ‘70s, are being threatened by a new breed of cultural rebels — the…
LEON: Pitino extends contract extension
University of Louisville coach, Rick Pitino, signed a contract extension to his contract extension, making him one of the most extended coaches in the country. The previous extension came just before the start of the 2012 season, and extended him through 2022. Now, with the new extended extension, he will be coaching through the 2025-2026…
LEON: Humana Inc., Louisville’s link to Kevin Bacon
With the rumors of a possible acquisition of Humana Inc., LEOn began investigating how this could affect the community. Should Humana have to leave Louisville, and take the tens of thousands of their employees with them, Louisville could lose their six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. After extensive research, the apparent link between Mr.…
Agent of chaos: A conversation with Sean Garrison
For many, Sean Garrison is a legend. Garrison served his time with some of the finest in the Louisville punk scene, first as a member of Maurice, half of which went on to form Slint. Garrison’s formative years were spent with the mighty thrash metal band Kinghorse, who informed a generation of musicians, bridging the…
b-sides
Osaka’s own Shonen Knife share a bill at New Vintage with C.J. Ramone, who was the Ramones’ bass player from 1989 until the band called it quits in 1996. C.J. Ramone Ramone (aka Chris Ward) is touring in support of his 2014 solo album, “Last Chance to Dance,” and reportedly will play originals with some…
A7A – Hong Kong
(self-released) The surprise release of “Hong Kong,” the newest from JC Denison’s A7A serves as a slight stylistic departure from the hyper-kinetic “APTSONATAMIX.” That’s not to say that the maximalist features of his previous work aren’t present, but there is a bit more restraint here, with a few more quieter moments mixed in. That results…
Touch AC & Dr. Dundiff – Page of Cups
(self-released) The peanut butter and jelly of hip-hop, Touch AC and Dr. Dundiff combine for the “Page of Cups” EP. Both are on a hot streak lately, and it shows here with a release that brings an infectious energy and demands repeat listens. The flow of emcee Touch AC is flawless, as the rapper is…
Coliseum – Anxiety’s Kiss
(Deathwish) More than just the inclusion of a synthesizer into the fold, there is something entirely fresh about the newest from Louisville hardcore punks Coliseum. Their once unmitigated fury still exists here, smoldering quietly in the margins of every song, now accompanied by a melodic, mid-’80s new-wave punk sensibility. You can hear pre-Fugazi Dischord-era bands…
Maiden Radio – Wolvering
(OK) The third album from the trio Maiden Radio — Cheyenne Mize, Julia Purcell, Joan Shelley — once again dives deep into the roots of Appalachian music, reimagining surviving standards and breathing tradition into striking originals. Each voice in the three-part harmonies is restrained and powerful in all the right places, exceeding the sum of…
Plugged In (June 17 – June 23)
WED June 17th 8Up: DJ Matt Anthony; 7:30 p.m. Baxter 942: Full Contact Karaoke; 10 p.m. Diamond’s Pub (Highlands): Hucci + Ozzie; 9 p.m. Dreamland: Jonah Parzen-Johnson, Connor Waldman; 8 p.m. El Nopal (Crestwood): Nick Nichols Gerstle’s: Kimmet & Doug; 9 p.m. Goodwood Brewing: Open Mic Night; 7 p.m. Haymarket Whiskey Bar: Elle Carpenter Hideaway…
ART: ‘Food, shelter, clothing’…art at KMAC
What do humans need to survive? Oxygen, of course. Food and water. A shelter to shield us from the elements and where we can sleep. Clothing optional (not really). The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft’s latest thought-provoking exhibition, “Food, Shelter, Clothing,” shows viewers how artists reinterpret these basic needs. Curated by Kentucky Museum of…
THEATER: ‘Seminar’ entertains with scathing critique
You could easily staff a good-sized school with fictional teachers. Just think: Miss Jean Brodie, Mr. Chips, John Keating (“Dead Poets Society”), Mr. Holland (who has his own opus), Mark Thackeray (“To Sir With Love”), Jaime Escalante (“Stand and Deliver”), LouAnne Johnson (“Dangerous Minds”). Add in some fictional coaches Syrio Forel (Arya Stark’s swordplay instructor…
BOOK: The Irrepressible Binghams
Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham by Emily Bingham (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 369 pgs., $28) Henrietta Bingham was a different sort of girl. A photograph in the first pages of “Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham” shows her as a child of five or six, a cigarette hangs from her…
Video Tapeworm
THIS WEEKS TWIN PEEKS RIPPER STREET: SEASON THREE 2014; $26.98-34.98; UR This BBC series, much like “Copper,” immerses us in the daily plight of a city police department during a time of societal malaise. In this case the police are in H District, charged with keeping the piece in post-Jack The Ripper (they hope) Whitehall.…
With Roux my English major’s heart is laden
“With rue my heart is laden, for golden friends I had, For many a rose-lipt maiden And many a lightfoot lad.” There! It’s not often that an English major actually gets to bring the fruits of his seldom-used bachelor’s degree into the real world. So how, I ask, could I possibly resist dragging the poet…
There’s a bar at the Tim Faulkner Gallery!
The neighborhood development initiative in Louisville is currently booming, and entrepreneurs and planners are driving to push the barrier between east and west at 9th Street straight into the abyss. Be it lifting the current residents up rather than pushing them out (let’s not turn my booze-soaked column into a gentrification debate), or campaigning for…
My Farewell to the Phoenix Hill Tavern
The Phoenix Hill Tavern holds an extremely special place in my heart. It is uncommonly known, but many of the women who made a splash in the world of pageantry got their start on the Deck Bar at Phoenix Hill Tavern. I am one of those women, and I’m forever grateful to PHT. At 19,…
The curious cases of Caitlyn, Rachel and black men
The curious cases of Caitlyn Jenner and Rachel Dolezal have reignited questions about identity in America. How do we define who we are? Are we who and what we are born as or do we get to choose? Is Caitlyn forever “Bruce” no matter how she sees herself? Is Rachel Dolezal forever a white girl…
Following in his footsteps
I have often joked that the biggest mistake my parents made was letting me watch “Blazing Saddles” at too young of an age. In truth, they probably shouldn’t have let me watch “Spaceballs,” “Airplane,” “Major League,” “Bull Durham” or “Caddyshack” either. In modern parenting terms, this is the equivalent of letting your three-year-old watch “Family…
Inbox – June 17, 2015
Irony or duplicity in the outcome of King v. Burrell Remember Bush v. Gore? That was the controversial U.S. Supreme Court case that essentially decided the 2000 election in favor of President Bush II. One of the key factors in that decision was a legal concept known as the “safe harbor principle.” The essential question…
