Cover Story
Behind the scenes
The Louisville Palace is so over-the-top opulent, you might call it “Hollywood Gaudy Baroque.” And that’s a compliment. The historic theater has been an epicenter of entertainment in Louisville for the better part of eight decades. After falling into disrepair and sitting dormant for a portion of the late 20th century, the theater was restored…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: EAT PRAY LOVE 2010; $28.95, PG-13 Yawn. Wretch. Urp. Who the hell decided that this boring puddle of estrogen was somehow a movie? Snooze. Snore. Zzzzz. Julia Roberts divorces her husband to pay for a ’round-the-world journey to “find herself.” Men. Bad. Boo. We could have saved her the trip: Hey,…
Pyramid of the Sun
Jerry Fuchs’ handprints left positive impressions on every band he worked with. To be sure, his influence is a strong presence in the rubric adopted by Maserati’s surviving members in the months after his untimely death. Completing Pyramid of the Sun became a fragmented process, but the outcome is everything you’ve come to expect from…
Jerry’s kids
After repeatedly kicking Louisville’s homeless in the gut, the city has agreed to pay Wayside Christian Mission $145,000, admitting Metro officials erred when they refused to permit the shelter to relocate hundreds of women and children to the former Mercy Academy building on East Broadway. “We feel they’re finally correcting the situation,” says Nina Moseley,…
Light of a Vaster Dark
Dawn McCarthy is at it again. If you’ve a yen for historical re-enactors, or if you love school holiday pageants but wish the music was more daring, dig in! This song cycle celebrates simple joys and responsibilities, including a few that don’t get much coverage these days: housekeeping, milling flour, motherhood. Lead singer McCarthy’s fetish…
Absolute Dissent
Killing Joke’s latest is the first album in 27 years to feature the original line-up of singer Jeremy “Jaz” Coleman, guitarist Kevin “Geordie” Walker, bassist Martin “Youth” Glover and drummer “Big Paul” Ferguson. The four reunited at the funeral of former bassist Paul Raven (Ministry, Prong), who died from an apparent heart attack in October…
In search of the city’s best doughnuts
Who doesn’t like doughnuts? There’s something comforting about these fried spheres of goodness with a hole in the middle, and most doughnut lovers have strong opinions on the subject. Louisville boasts many local bakeries and doughnut joints. But not all doughnuts (or, if you prefer, “donuts”) are created equal, so I set out to try…
Extra helpings now. Change later
Gentle reader, I’m aware that much of our time together is spent investigating, or at least fruitlessly brooding on the grievous places where our culture is failing, has already collapsed completely, or is just shaking very violently and making an awful racket. I’m a big-picture man, and, for good or ill, my focus is often…
Unforgivable Things
Full disclosure: I met Shadwick Wilde at a picnic in the backyard of a friend’s place on Derby Day earlier this year. He was playing some songs on an acoustic guitar hooked up to a little amp. I had never seen him before, but his songs were catchy, nicely balanced by his breathy and dramatic…
Book: Griftastic
Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That is Breaking America By Matt Taibbi. Spiegel & Grau; 272 pgs., $26. It’s been almost two years since the nation’s housing market bubble burst, giving way to the worst financial crisis in modern times. And the chances are pretty good that you (and everyone you’ve…
Opera: A whole new world
In 1904, Giacomo Puccini stood with one foot in the Old World, and one foot in the New. He had become the acclaimed successor of Rossini and Verdi, the new maestro of Italian opera. But like so many around him, the dapper and worldly composer was also a man stepping forward from the 19th into…
Bar Belle: Bourbon soup for the soul
I thought I could handle it. I thought I was prepared. I grew up on sappy love songs, “very special episodes” of sitcoms and John Hughes movies. I saw the pain of heartache when John Cusack hoisted the boombox above his head in “Say Anything.” I heard the pain of heartache when Joey McIntyre sang…
Strychnine Dandelion
For every buck Paul Westerberg made singing for The Replacements, give Greg Cartwright $20. No, make that $100. Consider it penance for leaving Cartwright’s anguished vocals and authentic garage-rock presence undiscovered in favor of another spin of Let It Be. As frontman for The Reigning Sound, authors of the near-perfect Time Bomb High School, Cartwright…
Inbox — Nov. 17, 2010
Applaud Bravery I was so impressed by the bravery of Geoff and Amy Lawson and Zach Nord for telling their stories of depression (LEO Weekly, Nov. 3). My family was touched by teen suicide in the 1970s, when people didn’t talk about it within their own families, much less in public. Too many people think…
Fish out of water
Minnow, the five-year-old punk-rock supergroup featuring Rob Pennington (Endpoint, By the Grace of God), Douglas Maxson (Your Food, The Dickbrains), Carrie Neumayer (Second Story Man) and Rebecca Lindsay (Red Nails) release a new album, Hello Hubris, on Nov. 20 via Noise Pollution. Maxson, a bit of an anti-guitarist who wrote most of the music for…
Dealing with Thanksgiving, gay-style
The holidays are upon us, y’all. The leaves are falling, squash is in season, and there’s no doubt about it: It’s Thanksgiving time. Or, if you prefer, ye old time to hang out with the family. I like to think of myself as a kind of Thanksgiving expert. First of all, I have been doing…
Web Exclusive: Review of ‘A Christmas Story’
A Christmas Story Presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville. Directed by Sean Daniels. Continues through Nov. 28 in the Pamela Brown Theatre, 316 W Main St. For more information, call 584-1205 or visit www.actorstheatre.org. I walked into the Pamela Brown not really knowing what to expect. I’ve seen the film “A Christmas Story” like everyone…
Plugged In
Readers are strongly encouraged to call ahead to verify these listings. To get your club, comedian, musical act or karaoke listed, please send e-mail to mherron@leoweekly.com with PLUGGED IN in the subject line. The deadline is NOON THURSDAY the week before the show happens. We do not accept listings via social networking sites. Wed. Nov.…
The Grape Escape: Generic Chianti rates two thumbs up
What’s your stand on store brands and generic products? Great bargain or second-rate stuff? The debate rages across a range of products from canned tomatoes to prescription meds. But wine? Nobody makes store-label, generic wine … do they? Well, actually, yes. Wine is a competitive industry, and both technology (think screw caps) and the marketplace…
Staffpicks
Nov. 17-21 ‘Measure for Measure’ U of L Playhouse 1911 S. Third St. • 852-6814 $8-$12; 8 p.m. (plus 3 p.m. Sun.) Hear ye, all ye Shakespeare fans and non-fans alike whose minds need a blowing — U of L Theatre is digging up a delightful one with the last of the Bard’s comedies. As…
What Democrats can learn
In 2008, the Republican Party was pronounced all but dead. The party had taken years of hits from all sides. We all remember the names: Jack Abramoff, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, George Allen, Trent Lott, Mark Foley … the list goes on. A man even apologizes to Dick Cheney after Cheney shoots…
The lost decade
Over the last decade, Louisville’s job market has been bleeding. From January 2000 to January 2010, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics shows the city shed 34,600 private sectors jobs. Those losses represent a 5.5 percent decrease that was under way before the recession of 2008 nearly tanked the nation’s economy. Beyond depressing job statistics,…
Fast car
Maserati has never had a problem making your feet move. Since its inception in 2002, it has unloaded a steady barrage of motorik rhythms too danceable to be considered post-punk, but melodious enough to avoid dance music’s occasional sterile clichés. For Pyramid of the Sun, a companion album to last year’s “Pyramid of the Moon”…
Not Music
Recorded primarily during the making of 2008’s Chemical Chords, before the band took a self-imposed hiatus, Not Music is adorned with the quirky pop gymnastics Stereolab is known for. Led by Laetitia Sadier’s French-infused vocal lilt, “Everybody’s Weird Except Me,” “Supah Jaianto” and “Leleklato Sugar” (perhaps a nod to the 1918 Hungarian sci-fi movie) expose…
Performing Arts: Va Va Vixens revive burlesque
It’s been a long time since adult entertainment has garnered respect in this community, but thanks to the burlesque troupe Va Va Vixens, that might be changing. Burlesque, once a viable form of entertainment in the early 20th century, is making a comeback. Nationally, the much-anticipated Cher/Christina Aguilera film “Burlesque” hits theaters Nov. 24. Locally,…
