Come On Feel The Noise

Tag : cloth hat
Friday
7 p.m.
Black Dog
Expo Five
The guys sporting Led Zeppelin shirts hoot and holler when tributeband Black Dog comes on stage for Weaselpalooza at this South Endflea market/concert hall. The faux Robert Plant at least lookssomething like the real deal; he sounds almost like him, too. Can'tsay the same for faux John Paul Jones, who looks like he'd be morecomfortable in Skynyrd -- which the crowd may have enjoyed just asmuch. The band rocks all the classics: "Ramble On," "CommunicationBreakdown," etc. The audience moves in closer for the last song,which, of course, is "Stairway to Heaven." Quoth the guy standingnext to me: " 'Stairway to Heaven' -- nice!" -- Joseph Lord

7:45 p.m.
Merle Haggard
Horseshoe Casino
In a makeshift amphitheater in the parking lot, mighty Merle's bandtakes the stage and plays a few jaunty tunes to get the crowdwarmed up. After about 30 minutes, Hag appears. It's a hootin' andhollerin' and beer-drinkin' crowd of oldsters and Merle lifers,with a handful of stray hipsters thrown in. The "poet of the commonman" runs through his popular songbook -- "Okie From Muskogee,""Sing Me Back Home," "Mama Tried" -- and the crowd sings every wordwith him. The highlight comes when Haggard trades his Telecasterfor an old fiddle. After some kind words for the late, great BobWills, he goes into Texas Swing-inspired tune "I Had A LittleGirl." -- Sean Bailey

8:15 p.m.
Livewire
Expo Five
Livewire's bassist offers the Expo Five crowd a titillating warningshot. "We're going to do a little Bon, we're going to do a littleBrian," he said, referencing AC/DC singers past and present, BonScott and Brian Johnson. "We're going to do a little ofeverything." Livewire opens with "Livewire." Go figure. Faux Bondidn't much look like the real deal, and he wore an AC/DC shirt.That has to be a faux pas, right? -- JL

8:30 p.m.
Gavin DeGraw
Fourth Street Live
As DeGraw and his trucker hat appear, camera-wielding hands shootup to get snapshots of the pop star. Most of these hands sport abig, black Sharpie-imprinted "M," Fourth Street Live code for "noalcohol for this one." "He's so hot," a girl in the crowd squeals,completely beside herself. Later someone tosses a hot pink bra onthe stage. "I'm flattered," DeGraw says, hanging it on his micstand. As he sings his new single, "In Love with a Girl," a host ofscreaming girls clearly wishes that song was about them. He wrapsup the set with a high-energy rendition of his hit single "I Don'tWant to Be," then leaves the stage. The girls, of course, demandmore. DeGraw returns to carry them home with "Chariot." -- Javacia N. Harris

9:17 p.m.
Toys in the Attic
Expo Five
The singer for this Aerosmith cover band has the Steven Tyler lookdown perfectly. White zebra-print jacket and hat. Cloth tied to themic. "What you doing tonight, baby?" he said upon entering. "Goingto take the dog for a walk, right?" This, of course, led to"Walkin' the Dog," a relatively obscure song from Aerosmith'sself-titled 1973 debut album. The crowd wails nonetheless. -- JL
10 p.m.
Loretta Lynn
Horseshoe Casino
It's a family affair as Lynn's son and twin daughters start theshow, to be joined by their mother, who wears a baby blue,rhinestone-adorned dress and sings with the energy of someone 40years her junior. She and her 11-member band launch right into "LetYour Love Flow," followed immediately by "You're Looking AtCountry." She greets the crowd of mostly inebriated butenthusiastic "high rollers" and shares a few stories. We notice thefolks working the merch booths and concession stands scamperingaround as if something is up. It is. After Lynn performs hersignature tune, "Coal Miner's Daughter," the skies open up, sendingeveryone scurrying inside. -- SB
10 p.m.
Nonpoint
Club Oasis
Next door to a Japanese steakhouse and a suburban office park,Oasis is rocking. I can feel the music in the parking lot on my wayin. I pass a few concertgoers hanging around the entrance, smoking.I show my ID and head inside. Save for a single Goth girl, theladies are cleanly dressed in bright summer date wear, while theguys sport varying snarky frat guy T-shirts and enigmatic tattoos.
Nonpoint is on, the last of several openers for Drowning Pool, ametal band that had a hit about seven years ago and can sometimesbe found playing at Wrestlemania. A shirtless, muscle-bound guypaces and poses on stage, baring his Technicolor tattoos. Soppingwith sweat, he shakes some into the energized crowd as the bandcompletes another pounding anthem.
When the set is over, I approach a guy waiting near the stage forDrowning Pool to go on. His name is Andrew Ferguson, and he tellsme he plays drums for a local band called Blackroom.
"What do you like about Nonpoint?" I ask him.
"They're pretty heavy. Not as heavy as Blackroom, though," hereplies with a smile. -- Joanna Richards

10 p.m.
Hambone
The Pour Haus
This one-person blues band (guitar in hand, percussion at his feet)could pass for one of the Jonas Brothers and has a name that isdownright offensive. He attempts to win over the crowd of 13(mostly Muffys and Chads) with some seriously intense guitar facesand self-deprecating comments about the fact that no one is here tosee him. His technique is not completely horrific, but he can'tkeep time and his level of soul power would suggest that he mightbe Jim Belushi's son.
-- Peter Berkowitz
10:30 p.m.
Mr. Goodbar
The Granville Inn
The crowd is mostly college guys in polo shirts and women indresses. Daresay preppie. Blue Moon is preferred over Bud Light,and one girl keeps high-fiving everyone who passes her, drunkenlyshouting, "It's my birthday."
Happy birthday.
The show is billed as a solo Mr. Goodbar performance, but fellowmembers of Skyscraper Stereo also perform. The crowd is small butsupportive, and the songs are catchy and filled with mainstreampop-culture reference -- it takes no time for Goodbar and crew tolaunch into "1 Up," with samples from eight-bit Nintendo games andreferences that video game rite of passage, the Konami Code. -- JL
11 p.m.
Pete Dressman & the
Soul Unified Nation
The Pour Haus
The image: A Red Hot Chili Peppers wannabe band from the SunsetStrip, circa 1991, that is now trying out "that hot new grungesound." Lead singer Dressman wears a stylish black shirt and a tie,which is sweet but sad, considering that the audience has nowreached only 20 people. "This one's on the CD we've got for sale!"he exclaims, which moves no one. -- PB
11:11 p.m.
F.N.M.C.
The Granville Inn
A Caucasian but competent rapper, F.N.M.C.'s lyrics have a certainlevity, until he busts out a tune he facetiously dedicates toPresident Bush with the equally facetious chorus: "Freedom ain'tfree and these colors don't run/I love the president, my countryand my gun." -- JL

11:30 p.m.
The Smacks!
The Nachbar
On the small "stage" near the back door, singer/guitarist BrianManley is in all his rock star glory: sparkly platform boots, tightred pants (a coil of Christmas lights around one thigh) and apurple shirt with the words "Glam Roc." A pink boa, headband andsunglasses in the shape of twin cocktail glasses complete the look.His bandmate, singer/drummer J.T. Dockery, wears an Iron MaidenT-shirt and a costume necklace with an oversized light-up pendant.
The Louisville duo performs with the meticulous abandon andpracticed charisma of 10 years of playing music and just plainplaying together. Smacks shows were for a time my diversion ofchoice after finishing work at various late-night, part-time,low-wage gigs. To underemployed (or just depressingly employed)intellectuals, artists and hipsters who populate dingy-chic barslike the Mag Bar and Lisa's Oak Street Lounge, Smacks shows arecomforting. To witness it, preferably in a state of growingintoxication, is purifying, chicken soup for the striving hipstersoul. -- JR
Midnight
Jonathan's Machete
The Pour Haus
Three completely generic fellows around 22 hit the stage and poundout a tune that sounds like "Fever Dog" from "Almost Famous" but,sadly, isn't. The audience has shrunk back even further.Apparently, the previous act, Pete Dressman & the Soul UnifiedNation, was the "headliner," leaving Jonathan's Machete to mop up.When the singer announces that the second song will be an Incubuscover, I go outside to get some air. -- PB Saturday
2 p.m.
Tamara Dearing
Germantown Shotgun Festival
On a stage-cum-garage on Krieger Street behind Jockamo's, Dearingsits at her keyboard and starts singing after wandering around tofind a spot for a stack of CDs she brought along to sell. Thebespectacled Dearing, a "Louisville is for Lovers" regular, playsseveral of the songs from her albums, including the irresistible"Stream of Consciousness."
"She's good," says an older fella sitting on a lawn chair. -- JNH
5:05 p.m.
Dianogah
Ear X-tacy
A couple dozen hip kids mill around the aisles, thumbing throughthe racks. About 20 stop as soon as this experimental Chicago bandsets up in the front of the store.
The band is oddly composed of a drummer and two bassists, oneplaying distorted leads while the other plays the more commonrhythm roles. (The drummer, Kip McCabe, lived in Louisville yearsago and played in the pre-Endpoint band, Deathwatch.) Dianogahswitches repeatedly between droning and melodic. After the firstcouple of songs, singer Jay Ryan asks, "Any complaints? Concerns?"
"Yeah -- where you been," one audience member shouts, to laughter.
"It sounds really good in here," Ryan says. "You should have showsin here every day." -- JL
6:15 p.m.
Teneia Sanders
and Leigh Ann
Yost
Germantown
Shotgun Festival
These two singer-songwriters have a tough act to follow -- abologna sandwich eating contest. But Yost steps to the micdetermined to get your attention. A 30something white woman, sheintroduces herself and Sanders, a 20something black woman, as Ebonyand Ivory. She says her name is "Shaniqua;" Sanders, she says, is"Heather."
About a dozen people in folding chairs use their hands to shieldthe sun from their eyes. Others stand to the side in the shade asYost and Sanders serve up a blend of bluesy folk and uptempo tunes.A few songs in, Yost and Sanders have attracted a solid crowd.Maybe they were drawn by passionate lyrics or impressive vocals. Ormaybe they came over because Yost randomly broke out into a rap,with Sanders beatboxing into the mic. -- JNH
7:55 p.m.
Strip Mind
The Brewery Thunderdome
Looking and sounding a lot like Dethklok, the hilarious fictionaldeath metal band on Adult Swim's "Metalocalypse," Strip Mind is thefirst band to play here in years. The sweaty, long-haired bassisteven plays a pointy bass that appears to be straight out of hell."It's a little early, I don't know if anyone is drunk enough to befalling down," he says, "but that's the name of this next song."
At one time, the Brewery Thunderdome was one of Louisville's mostpopular music venues. The Baxter Avenue building has had a fewnames and motifs over the years, but it's trying to be a rock clubagain. But word does not seem to have gotten out -- there areperhaps 50 people here, and all wander around at the back of theroom. Then one guy -- just one -- walks up to stand in front of thestage. -- JL

8:08 p.m.
Justin Townes Earle
Ear X-tacy
It's a free show, with a modest crowd of 30somethings and40somethings in trendy glasses (fans of the elder Earle, onesuspects), plus a smattering of younger people and Ear X-tacyemployees with mod haircuts.
The son of the legendary Steve Earle and named for the great TownesVan Zandt, Earle is singing about an ex-girlfriend who was "meanerthan a rattlesnake," in a voice that is twangy and burnished beyondhis years. Both he and his harmonica player, Cory Yount, wear slimcowboy-cut jeans, soiled T-shirts and trucker caps tipped askew.
A little girl in Crocs starts jamming with a toy ukulele, elicitinga smile from Earle. He's singing about the American railroad duringthe Civil War, which seems more his father's milieu, but what thehell: The son has talent. -- Brian Weinberg
9 p.m.
Embertide
The Brewery Thunderdome
More clean-cut than Strip Mind -- shorter hair, less sweat --Embertide's hard rock is no less cutting. The band adheres to theFox 93.1 formula of having one singer with a good voice and anotherwho screams, a la the Cookie Monster.
None have long metal hair like the members of Strip Mind, but threeof them are wearing camouflage shorts. The other thing Embertidehas is a couple of hardcore fans, who squeal when certain songsbegin and repeatedly take pictures throughout the set. -- JL
9 p.m.
Kingdom Worship
Carly Rae's
It's an evening for young adult Christians to kick back together atthis Old Louisville restaurant. The show kicks off with KingdomWorship, and eight vocalists launch into praise songs that get muchof the crowd on its feet. Though the group isn't large enough tofill the smallest of choir stands, the sound fills overflows fromthe venue, prompting passersby on Oak Street to stop and peerthrough the windows. But there's a sense that the audience membersaren't just clapping and dancing because their impressed withKingdom Worship. They're excited about something else. "Jesus!"they exclaim repeatedly during one song. -- JNH
10:11 p.m.
Surviving Thalia
The Brewery Thunderdome
Surviving Thalia dives into an assault of Serj Tankian-style vocalsand double-kick drums. The room is starting to fill out as theiraggressive brand of rock forges on. The hairy guys are starting torock out in front of the stage. Presumably, the Coors is kickingin. -- JL
10:14 p.m.
David Olney and Sergio Webb
Uncle Pleasant's
Singing a wickedly funny tune about Socrates getting incarceratedin Athens, Olney is stomping his cowboy boot on Uncle Pleasant'stiny stage. In his late 50s, the burly bluesman resembles EdMcMahon in a fedora. Alongside is Webb, a smooth-playing axe-manlooking lean 'n' mean in a cowboy hat, Western suit and silk scarf.Olney's voice rolls like thunder, Webb's guitar flashes likelightning.
The crowd is mesmerized. Longnecks are sweating in the humid room,and cocktails are sipped though straws from red plastic Solo cups.Olney has kept good company over his career; he wrote hits forLinda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris and once prompted the late TownesVan Zandt to say that his favorite songwriters were "Mozart,Lightnin' Hopkins, Bob Dylan and Dave Olney."
During a song about a Japanese soldier stranded on a tropicalisland, some guy walks in with a 30-pack of White Castles from downthe street. The odor is something else. His friends look disgusted.Olney happens to be singing a song called "Sweet Poison."
"White Castle," he muses after the song is over. "I've got nothingagainst White Castle. White Castle never did anything to me." -- BW

10:30 p.m.
Squeeze-bot
The Rudyard Kipling
A clever, unique combo that can appeal to the jazz, rock and jamband crowds -- in a good way -- Squeeze-bot sounds like a joke whenyou try to describe it but sounds terrific when you actually get tohear it play. Accordion, banjo, tuba and drums? There's no way thiscan work, but it does, and then they throw in a cover of "Walk ThisWay." Top that! -- PB

11 p.m.
The Slow Break
Lisa's Oak Street Lounge
The back room at Lisa's quickly fills up as soon as the Slow Breakbegins playing its blend of '50s doo-wop and driving indie rock.The band members are in rare form. As is their custom, theyfrequently and energetically switch instruments throughout the set."We got a real good lookin' crowd," says guitarist Matt Fox. "I wasnot expecting this much goodlookingness." By the time the SlowBreak finishes, almost all of the audience is on its feet to watchthe spectacle. -- JL

11:15 p.m.
D. Mawl
Carly Rae's
Roughly half the audience has left by the time D. Mawl starts hisset -- it's a church-going crowd, and Sunday morning is fastapproaching. But this doesn't stop him from giving his all. Knownfor positive, thoughtful lyrics, he tells the audience he wants tohelp resurrect hip-hop. Backed by soulful vocalists, includingCarlis P., a local R&B vocalist, D. Mawl starts with a smoothed outversion of "Muzik Gone Wild," which has received play on localradio. Later, he wows the audience with a rapid-fire delivery ofrhymes. His energy is contagious. Giving the people more than theobligatory hip-hop bounce, he breaks out old-school dances, too.Audience members, even a few of the sleepyheads, can't help butjoin in. Heads are bopping, hands are in the air and someone isdoing the running man. Hip-hop feels alive. -- JNH
11:30 p.m.
Bad Blood
The Rudyard Kipling
A high-octane, full-throttle '60s-style rave-up in the tradition ofthe MC5, these dudes really know how to rock the house. Lead singerAndy Gillooly can belt it out like no one else in town. John Waterswould be wise to have them in his next film, no matter what era hesets it in. I'd love to see them with a horn section. -- PB
11:38 p.m.
Wax Factory
Phoenix Hill Tavern
In the main party room -- a space festooned with chandeliers, discoballs and Fourth of July inflatables -- bouncers sit in elevatedthrones, sort of like lifeguards. They watch closely as a gaggle ofgirls goes berserk to the opening licks of "Sweet Child O' Mine."Wax Factory singer Jason Hobbs is wearing a skin-tight T-shirt thatsays "Whatever." He's writhing around, pandering to the chicks,handling the cordless mic with penile aplomb. Who can blame him?There's a whole lotta highlights and cleavage out there. One girlis wearing a black corset top, white mini-skirt and black knee-highboots -- it's her birthday!
The stage is flanked by gargantuan monitors that provide dizzyingclose-ups as this cover band plays hit after hit: "Summer of '69,""I Want You To Want Me," "Too Hot to Handle." A man circulatesthrough the room peddling roses, but finds few takers. Beforelaunching into "Rebel Yell," Hobbs shouts, "Let's make some f---in'noise!" And the girls do. Hobbs need not buy any roses. -- BW
12:30 a.m.
The Broken Spurs
Lisa's Oak Street Lounge
This is a boozy, bluesy kind of place, perfect for the Spurs, whoplay a classic style of boozy, bluesy rock. Keeping the energylevel up despite the hour, the Spurs begin the set with theiroriginal tune "Give It Your Blood," with its too-good, too-simplechorus of "It's rock and roll!" Frontman Adam Kramer sports aT-shirt stating "You Ain't S---." He repeatedly wades into themiddle of the room as the band plays its Stones-inspired rock."Somebody needs to turn it up," someone yells as women dance nearthe front and guys inch closer to the stage. -- JL
12:30 a.m.
Lucky Pineapple
The Rudyard Kipling
One of the best bands in town, Lucky Pineapple has phenomenalrange, instincts and skill, and can rock it out, slow it downand/or pull it inside-out, at will. It's hard to pin down wheretheir ideas come from, but I'd have to start with exotica, prog,post-rock and new wave. Bonus points for knowing how to utilize oneof the best drummers in the Western world. -- PB
1 a.m.
National Hotel
Lisa's Oak Street Lounge
Members of the National Hotel comes wandering through the barwearing masks -- the saxophone player has a paper bag on his head,another band member wears a Mexican wrestling mask, and another, aski mask. Between songs, the drummer makes strange comments andthrows out non sequiturs. "We're going to play a slow love song,"he says as the band launched into a driving rhythm. Later, he says,"Remember, this was not brought to you by the Oppenheimer Trust."Around 2, the band tries to close its set, but two women who havebeen dancing the entire time wail for them to continue. "One more,por favor!" one of them yells. The band obliges, and plays on. -- JL