November 2022

many times this year and I like them better with every iteration. They play thrash grass music and always put on a great show. And Meshuggah, Helmet, Gwar … more music than your brain can fully absorb. Leading up to Slipknot, the massive power of Lamb Of God combined with Mastodon was enough to shake the earth. In This Moment cap- tivated the audience with dark fantasy displays of confinement and strange nightmare creatures, further attenuating the cognitive disarray before the metal menagerie of Slipknot hit the stage. The rafters shook on that one as the day drew to a close. Day 3. Saturday is the exception – I was there for the headliner. I had not seen Kiss since I don’t know when. They are one of the earliest pop metal bands I ever listened to so they made a formative impact on my psyche. They played a massive set of seventeen songs, including ones I really like. My favorites are obscure, so hoping to hear them was unreasonable. Kiss was great. I had just seen Alice Cooper at Blue Ridge Rock Festival, but I could not catch his entire set there because I had to dash off to another stage. Here I got to see the whole show, and Alice delivered like he always does. I am still getting used to not seeing Nita Strauss in the traveling band. While her absence was definitely noticed, the Alice Cooper Show was fantastic. The other set I liked especially was a surprise to me – Jerry Cantrell. Doing double duty at the festival by appearing with Alice In Chains as well as on stage performing a solo set, Cantrell was mesmerizing as his laid-back self. I was off to the side for it and maybe that made some difference as I was mainly hearing it and not picking up on any visual clues. The Cantrell-Cooper-Kiss arc is an unexpectedly strong combination and made Day 3 the best day for me at the festival. Day 4. Sunday is sometimes a slow day. Walk- ing through the gates after three previous days of standing up for 10-12 hours, you have to reach down for whatever energy and stamina might be left in the tanks. I am looking forward to the return of three-day festivals, if it ever happens. Sure, I get the economics of it and the fact that the fourth day is a massive cash cow for the pro- moter and vendors, particularly with the ability to spread the enormous fixed costs over an ex- tra day. I am not sure how much fans are getting out of it, although the record-setting attendance numbers would seem to indicate approval. Mark me down in the minority position once again. There was a strong vein of four bands running through the Sunday line-up that made the day for me: Action Bronson, Jelly Roll, The Struts, and Dirty Honey. I never miss an opportuni- ty to see the Struts or Jelly Roll – two acts that couldn’t be more different given the flamboy- ance of The Struts and the super laid-back nature of Jelly Roll. And still they both speak strongly to me. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are a huge band with legions of fans, and they gave a good per- formance, even with it being cut short by about twenty minutes for undisclosed reasons. It was a weird note to go out on for the festival, but the weekend was a great time overall. The Danny Wimmer Presents festivals are always run well. This year in Louisville, they continued their strong showings. LouderThan Life has already announced its 2023 return. Situated in the middle of the country and featuring some of the biggest bands in the world, this festival is sure to be a major destination for years to come. 17