How do you describe something that, unless you were there, is basically indescribable? Let me just start by saying this was my first time attending a No Comply event and it far exceeded my expectations! This was literally the most interesting music festival I’ve ever attended! There really is nothing else quite like it.
What is No Comply? The short answer: a “small” simi-local music festival held in a very unconventional place; the Dave Armstrong Extreme Park in Butchertown near downtown Louisville. The longer answer: named after the skateboarding trick, No Comply is an annual DIY, all ages, pay what you can, cross-genre, mostly local artist showcase that combines music with freestyle skateboarding and BMX biking – similar to what the Warped Tour used to do back in the 90’s before it became just another corporate festival – but locally-focused and on a much smaller scale. No corporate sponsorship, no advance ticket sales, no major label bands; just the Louisville scene celebrating the Louisville scene.
Now in its fourth year, No Comply has already gained legendary status in the Louisville music scene with previous years reaching estimates of over 1,300 people coming out to watch bands such as White Reaper, Belushi Speed Ball, Anemic Royalty, Deady, Shitfire, Thee Tabs, and Sunshine, (among many others), play this rather unorthodox festival.
However, this year’s crowd more than doubled the previous festivals – with estimates placing the number of attendees around 3,000 people.
But by far the most interesting thing about No Comply is that it doesn’t just take place on the grounds of the Extreme Park, but literally IN the park – as the bands play at the bottom of an enormous 11-foot tall concrete bowl that is normally used for skating and BMX tricks. The crowd can either stand or sit at the edge of the top of bowl and look down on the bands, or get in on the action by going into the bowl.
Getting into the bowl was a challenge unto itself. The only “official” way in was through a short, 6-foot tall tunnel that ends in a roughly 75-degree angle, 5-foot drop down. Thankfully the No Comply team had laid out a carpet for traction, as well as a secured rope to help the climb down/back up. From there, you had to walk through a 24-foot tall concrete pipe that leads into the open floor of the bowl.
Or you could take the unofficial way in and sit at the top of the edge of the bowl and slide down into it on your back or on your butt, which several people did. Luckily no one that I saw entering the bowl this way got hurt, and honestly it looked like a lot of fun.
The thing about being in the bowl is it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder during almost every band’s set, and the sides are rounded at the bottom then curve into a 90 degree angle about 4 feet up. So rather than to have to push their way through, many took to the sides and attempted to walk the curved slopes in an effort to bypass the crowd. This successfully worked maybe 5% of the time, the other 95% of the time ending in slipping and bowling over those unfortunate enough to be standing next to where friction lost the battle to gravity.
Keep in mind that this is a pay what you can event, and admission was only being asked for when you entered the bowl, not to get into the park itself. To get into the park was completely free, (as always). You just walked right in. So this was still very much a fully-functioning skate park even while this event was happening. Non-professional skaters, BMXers, and even people using Razor scooters were there by the dozens doing tricks and riding around in the other bowls and taking advantage of the park’s many features while pedestrians walked, milled and mingled alongside them with nothing in place to separate the two. But honestly, the only people I saw get hurt were those attempting to do skateboarding/BMX tricks, failing, and eating shit because of it. I saw quite a bit of that, actually. It’s amazing how these under-25 year old “kids” can wipe out hard on solid concrete with no pads or protection whatsoever, get up bleeding and battered, and go right back at it – usually with the exact same result – and do it over and over again. Meanwhile if I sleep in the wrong position and pull a muscle, I’m out of commission for a week.
The festival lived up to its name with the predominately teenage crowd. There definitely was a fair share of teenagers not complying laws or safety measures there. But it was great! Kids could just be themselves and have fun without overbearing parents ruining it. Ok, so my teenage daughter, two nieces and their friend didn’t really have that luxury because I was there with them, but I kept my distance, lest I ruin their “Rizz”, (used here solely for the cringe factor).
But the great thing was that there was no fighting or jock mentality within the crowd. The kids all seemed to be very understanding and accepting of each other and their behaviors. Even I, one of the oldest people at the show, (I did see a couple guys who might have had me beat in age though), was treated with respect, or at the very least indifference. No one there was fucking with the old guy for a laugh, nor did I overhear any shitty comments about why an old guy was at an all-ages show. This is important to me because while I love going to see and hear live music, I always feel uneasy being at all ages shows; kind of like as if I’ve unintentionally crashed a party that I’m not welcomed at. Not that I’ve ever been made to feel that way at an all-ages show, it’s just what’s running through my head the entire time.
Being that it’s October and Halloween is just around the corner, costumes were encouraged; and damned if the attendees didn’t come through in spades! From Elmo in the mosh pit to a detailed Art the Clown scaring the hell out of my niece several times, they were all there. Lost costume parts and accessories took flight in the bowl as objects such as a costume panda head, beach balls, even a rubber chicken were gleefully being thrown around during and in-between band sets.
Oh yeah, there were bands at No Comply 4 as well! Seven of them to be exact, as well as the host/emcee of the event: the mad professor himself; Louisville music scene’s most valuable asset; the one and only Señor Diablo, who was dressed in full costume as Dr. Azmentis, (I’m not quite sure who that is, but he was quite the sight – basically a skull with some rotting/burnt flesh on it, googles, giant mouth with enormous teeth, lab coat, black rubber gloves and boots). Diablo immersed himself in the character while introducing bands, bringing an even deeper level of surrealness to an event that was already pretty damn surreal to begin with. Actually Diablo, (Beau Kaelin), was a man of many hats at No Comply 4, taking care of several behind-the-scenes details as well as immediately jumping into his role as cameraman as soon as Dr. Azmentis was finished introducing each band. Check out his YouTube channel for videos of full bands sets at No Comply 4: youtube.com/c/SenorDiablo
Kicking off this year’s fest was Suncage, a sludge metal band whom I believe are out of Lexington and sound a bit like what I think Bush League in their prime would’ve sounded like playing songs by Dystopia. I got there just in time to catch the last few songs. I would’ve liked to have gotten there earlier, but I had to wait on four teenage girls to get ready first, which is not by any means timely.
Once in the festival, we headed for the top of the bowl. Standing on top of the bowl three people deep was not how I planned on watching the show. A better viewpoint was desperately needed, so into the bowl we went, (the proper way, not by sliding down the side).
Once inside, I got to catch most of the set from the second band to play, Louisville’s own Crop Rot. Their sound is more of a cross between garage punk and post-hardcore; noisy at times with liberal use of feedback to their advantage. I say that based on listening to their demo recording on Bandcamp and not on their live set because, as it turns out, music being played in a large, open concrete bowl doesn’t really have the greatest acoustics. But a small price to pay for the opportunity to be able to say you got to see a music festival inside a skate bowl.
Following Crop Rot’s set, I met up an old friend who was there with his teenage son and some friends, so that gave me an opportunity to let my crew go be on their own without me hovering over them. Louisville’s Gunkus was up next and I literally couldn’t make out much of anything of what they were playing. I had listened to them beforehand, so I knew what I was supposed to be hearing, which was a mix of electronic noise rock, punk and hip hop with live guitar and vocals over programmed beats. But all I could hear of their set was just noise and a little bit of programmed beats from my spot at the back of the bowl. The guitarist and vocalist were there physically, but I couldn’t make out anything specific they were playing/singing/saying. But they looked cool though and had the crowd going.
The sound got a little better for Bowling Green hardcore/crust punk/powerviolence band Black Forces. To put it in basic terms, the pit lost its collective shit during their 20-to-30 minute set. This is an intense band with a powerful message that I am both looking forward to and absolutely terrified of seeing again. This is music that physically hurts you, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Local grunge punks Deep Above played next for what I’d say was the largest crowd of the night. I’ve seen this three-piece band a few times now and am always impressed by their live sets. Their songs just hit way harder live than they do in recorded versions, and the pit during their set would attest to that. As far as sound, imagine Nirvana, Helmet, and Melvins all getting together and jamming out some songs. They were joined on stage by no less than three Michael Myers’ in full matching masks and body suits, one of whom crowdsurfed – and if a crowdsurfing Michael Myers doesn’t win people over, nothing’s gonna!
Next up were the undisputed tag team champions of Louisville rap: Why DOMS, who took to the stage in full WWE Dudley Boyz gear, and with their own personalized Why DOMS No Comply 2024 World Tag Team Champions belts, then proceeded to put a guy through a table before launching into their set. From there they proceeded to pound the crowd into submission. A pit is definitely not something you’d expect to see during a rap band’s set, but Why DOMS isn’t your normal rap band; which they proved halfway through their set by doing something a little unexpected: bringing out a full band. Why DOMS’ rappers Why Mark and J Doms also make up half of the punk/nu metal band Dig, who did a few original songs before ending with a cover of Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff” that the crowd went ballistic for.
And then the headliner: The Little Michael – part musical group, part cult, all fun. If you can describe their music, you’re a better person than me. Their debut album, the recently released Michael Hits the Fan is a 35-song, one-hour and 19 minute opus paying tribute to all things Michael. And not only does the band touch on every genre of music possible, but they also revel in just how many times the name Michael can be used in their lyrics and song titles. This isn’t a band, it’s a movement! The vocalist, who I assume is The Little Michael himself, (if I am wrong, may I be sacrificed to Michael), was dressed in the finest sparkly gold jacket, pants, boots, gold leaf crown, and of course wearing sunglasses at night. He arrived in style on a golden palanquin being carried by two servants before the band, (which consists of seven members plus numerous guests), inexplicably launched into the 1985 Dire Straits’ hit “Money for Nothing,” (with altered lyrics to glorify Michael). From there, things didn’t get any less bizarre. At one point the “Blue Man Group” attacked the band and fake blood was sprayed/thrown on the crowd, (they warned you beforehand that if you were in the bowl, you were going to get drenched). I’m not even going to attempt to describe it past that, just watch the video on Señor Diablo’s YouTube channel.
Needless to say, I’m already looking forward to the next No Comply. And hats off to each and every person that made this and the previous three No Comply festivals happen. I can’t imagine the difficulties in just putting on a music festival, much less one inside a concrete bowl at a skate park. These are all local people doing it out of love of the scene without any corporate sponsors or big money backing them, and without a major payday at the end of it all. What these people have been able to accomplish is simply astounding! Thank you all! And for fucks sake, keep at it!
For more on No Comply, check out nocomply502.com and instagram.com/nocomply502
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This article appears in Oct 23 – Nov 5, 2024.