this one

TO BE OR NOT TO BE..

Once upon a time, there was a flourishing music scene in this great city of ours. Shows always seemed crowded with fun, adventurous, concert-going folk who loved to seek out good original music from our region. It was pretty cool. Seeking out good bands every weekend was the rave. The debauchery at these parties was legendary. It was a time when it really truly counted how good of a musician you were. Skills, songwriting and professionalism were the main factor in determining who got the better gigs this city had to offer. It was a fruitful time for the musicians and rockers of this region, and if I may be so bold – our golden age.

Alas, a great dark cloud has come to this city we call home. The shadow cast over our music scene is a dark ominous one. One that threatens it's very existence.

Show attendances have dropped all around, and getting people to come to the shows is as difficult as it's ever been in my memory. It's like trying to get a crackhead to go into rehab!

With this struggling economy dragging on, I cannot help noticing these changes that seem to be sucking the life out of our once-thriving scene like a thirsty vampire at a blood bank. Venue after venue has closed down, and things lately are not looking any better. Another change has disappointed me as well and has recently come to my attention.

Now, my friends, it's all about the greenbacks. Let me explain.

You might be the worst musician in town, with out-of-tune guitars, a mickey mouse drum set, a $50 bass, a crappy 50-watt No Name brand guitar head, but it really don't matter because if you have a lot of friends, are good looking and popular, then you are on your way here in Louevil, Ky!

Because that is what matters now. Selling tickets.

You could be the best band in the Ohio Valley Region! A Dimebag Darrell reborn. But if you are unattractive, or unpopular/shy and can't sell any show tickets, you are doomed.

It's a fargin popularity contest around here and I'm rightly sick of it. Whatever happened to basing gigs by skill, vocal talent, originality, professionalism and tightness as a unit? These days venues let any dillhole with a guitar amp onstage, it seems!

Many times have I seen damn good bands pushed aside for much lesser talented bands who could draw better. I understand times are hard and there is a lot of competition between promoters/venues in town these days, but dammit, money isn't everything.

As a long time Louevil rock promoter, yes it is important to draw a crowd so your shows can grow and you can build upon that growth, but to base everything upon money intake is flat-out wrong.

So to get a opening spot for a national show here, you have to have a good draw or be awfully good friends with the local promoters of national shows. I have heard that a few bands (with more cash than others) have bought their own tickets to get better gigs. That is beyond lame.

It's deplorable that a band would stoop to such desperate measures to get ahead of other bands that work just as hard or harder. I would rather be honest and fail, than to succeed by lying and deceiving friends and people who are trying to help the band.

Next: ARGGGHHH. We're drowning in promoters! Everyone knows I welcome those new promoters in the 'Ville who want to actually do some good for the scene. I always have given them props and will continue to do so. However, there are so many promoters in town trying their hand at booking shows now that it's making it hard to book bands. There are at least five original music promoters at the venue I book at, so lately when I try to book a band, they are already booked by one or another promoter at another venue. It's irritating and it's become quite difficult to find bands to play. Especially since, oddly, it seems that half the bands in town broke up in the last three months. You cannot blame the venues though. It has been dead lately and they are trying their hardest to keep going and to tough it out through these hard times when folks have no money to go out.

So unless you peeps want to lose another venue, you "rockers of Louevil" need to start supporting these rock shows we promoters put together to entertain you, whether it be my showcase, or any of these other very commendable showcases our town has, such as those put together by Terry Harper, Bizkit, Fender's Den Of Sin, Lively Productions, Hellawicked, Villified, Louisville Rocks w/ Mudd, Mitch Hope and Amy Lambert of Wick's Pizza (on Baxter and Dixie) or Twisted Promotions. We are all in this together and my point here is that we should try to be more open about helping each other, supporting each others events, actually attending shows to see NEW talent that you haven't seen before.

I admit I've been a lazy chit, too. I'm going to put forth more effort and so should you!

I know money is tight now, but the truth of the matter is that the scene has taken a few tough hits as of late and seems to be reeling from the blows. I fear if we don't intercede now with more support for our regional original music, then we might get put down for the ten count.

Louisville was once considered "the next Seattle/Austin/Athens" as an upcoming music mecca. Let's do our best to try to bring that compliment back to fruition.

So do the 502 a favor. Scrounge up a few dollars in change and go see some Louevil original music. even if you never heard of the bands..

The Metal Grapevine

Win Free Tix to Korn, Rob Zombie, Lamb Of God, FFDP and more: (FREE-RIDE)

Great news, peeps! The nice folks at Riverbend have agreed to do some ticket giveaways for the Rockstar Mayhem Festival at Riverbend in Cincinnati on Wednesday, July 21. This show should be the bomb. Many great bands will be playing and I expect it to be show of the year. It features Korn, Lamb Of God, Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall, Hatebreed, Chimaira, Atreyu and a few others! So get your chit together and be prepared to attend this show. I'm telling you right now that people from from Columbus Ohio, to Evansville Indiana, to Louevil KY will be attending this beast of a show. o win tickets from Louisville Music News to this killer event, here is what you got to do:

Message me on Sunday, July 18 at 9 p.m. sharp at myspace.com/eddymetalrocks, in subject line put "Mayhem at Riverbend!" Closest ones to 9 p.m. sharp wins! Leave your full name and email!

Mark your calendars and try to win!!! It's not as hard as you might think.

Wick's Pizza Review:

Well, here's the dealio, folks. I finally experienced playing at a Wick's show.

Over the last several years, Wick's has put on, too many original music shows to list, which is very commendable! Not only does it help out the Louevil music scene a lot, but it also boosts their cash intake and makes it more entertaining and fun for the average customer to go get some good food and rock out! My band played Wick's Pizza on Baxter Ave., a so I finally got to see what was up with the Wick's Pizza band thing they have established.

There was a bit of a hassle because somehow that night got double booked/confused, and there was an out-of-town band there that wasn't even on our show lineup. It sucked at first, but everything eventually got worked out. Things were starting to get ugly there for a second as the out-of-town band was getting mouthy, and we are Kentucky rednecks. With that nonsense aside, the night went great from then on.

The stage is pretty small, but there is something about that darn stage and the materials used to make it that made my Bogner guitar amp, which sounds great normally, sound absolutely crushing, as did all our amps!

The PA was small but adequate. Despite the smaller system, everyone said they could hear the vocals fine over the loud guitars. The show went well and people said the bands sounded good. We were pretty happy with the result, crowd and response.

I had fun schmoozing with the casual crowd, band folk and friends, and the pizza is probably the best in town! (No bull.) The management, waitresses and sound guys were great, except for one douche bag waiter. Very nice people. Playing Wick's was fun and the band would do so again whenever needed.

The guy in charge, Mitch Hope, was a cool dude who came to Louisville from Seattle six years ago and has done well booking Louevil bands and keeping things alive in this doody economy.

I'm looking forward to playing Wick's on Dixie soon. They have started having original rock shows there again, and the new girl there in charge of booking, Amy Lambert, is now booking shows, so if you are in a band, get in touch with her for a gig. She seems to be cool. Long live Wick's Pizza, for their great food and willingness to work with the regions original music artists.

Even if they do have to roll me out into the parking lot after every gig, leaving pizza sauce as a trail.

Fear Factory/Primal Fear Double-Header:

There were two bands playing the same night at different venues that I just had to see, So Marty from BoneJinn and I set out to see two shows in one night. Luckily we were able to pull it off, sort of. At Phoenix Hill Tavern, there was a German metal band, Primal Fear, that I absolutely had to see. Why? Because the the singer, Ralf Scheepers, is a world-renowned vocal powerhouse. His band does well everywhere except for the U.S.A., a problem for a lot of excellent European metal bands.

Scheepers was unreal. No wonder this guy was a hair's breadth from becoming the singer for Judas Priest when Rob Halford left. That's okay, though, because this band was awesome and I and plenty of other old school metalheads really enjoyed their music. There was excellent and creative guitar work by these older German dudes as they shredded their way through an amazing set of old school heavy metal a la Judas Priest/Iron Maiden. Scheepers' vocals soared to heights never heard at PHT before!

This guy could be an opera singer if he wanted to. His technique and endurance is world class outstanding, and his personal sound man used his effects to enhance Ralf's voice flawlessly. The music was tight as a unit, too. It was magic.

I'm so glad Terry Harper and the Hill worked together on this rarity of a metal show. Bands like this do not come to louevil very often at all, and all the people who saw this show were very pleased with the result; I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. I guess I'm just an old 80's metalhead cheeseball, because I love music and vocals like this. I had to leave to go cover the Fear Factory show, but I was lucky enough to be able to hear my favorite Primal Fear song, "Waiting For Darkness." It was epic and the keyboards really set it off. The blonde chick who did the duet with Ralf was a great singer, too, but I would have preferred Ralf's singing all his parts like on the CD. She almost looked like the chick who sang on the Queensryche Operation Mindcrime CD, but I'm not sure. Two thumbs up for Germany's Primal Fear and to those who made it happen.

The whiskey buzz was starting to kick in, and it was time to take our butts to Headliners to see the return of another favorite band, Fear Factory! I got there just in time. I had heard insane death metal drummer Gene Hogland was on the skins, and Dino Cazares was back on the guitar, which was shocking to me, because the singer, Burton C. Bell, and Dino didn't always get along so great. I was also a bit shocked that Christian Olde Wolbers wasn't in the band anymore, as well as drummer Raymond Herrera. I liked those guys. Nice people. Their replacements were definitely rocking, but you know how it is when stuff changes a little bit. It takes a while to get used to it. The band sounded tight, though. Bell was his same rockin' self as he cruised through song after song. I thought he sounded good. He was a bit hard to hear in the mix, though, which kind of sucked. Of course Dino's 8 string guitar brutality was in the forefront paving the way for what made Fear Factory popular. His super fast triple picking hardcore style is original and made an impact on me and a lot of my friends when they came out. Dino may be short and look like a bowling ball with feet, but there is no denying his machinegun riffage and jackhammer rhythms.

Fear factory sounded awesome, but I still think Raymond Herrera is Fear Factory. His drums beats were, too memorable to be left behind. I partied with these guys and they were very down to earth. Well, Christian and Herrera anyways. They played a lot of old stuff like "Dog day sunrise", "Replica", "Shock", "Edgecrusher" and one of my Favorites "Descent" as well as newer stuff like "Archetype", "Transgression" and "Mechanize." This band rocks live. Burton C. Bell has a very unique voice and goes from hardcore heavy to actual singing in a blink of an eye. That's what I've always loved about his vocal style. He is versatile and mixes his stuff up well, as a good singer should do. His project, GZR, with Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler was killer as well. The programming, samples, keyboards and genius of Rhys Fulber are a huge part of what Fear Factory is; A crushing hardcore melodic technical powerhouse of an entity that mixes metal, hardcore and techno thrash into one driving juggernaut of a band. All hail Fear Factory! They sounded killer.

But I wish they'd make up with Herrera and Wolbers and reunite with the original members.

That would rule. On a side note; a friend told me some totally drunken retard got onstage with New York thrashers Prong and proceeded to love on Prong's bassist, much to his dismay and annoyance. The guy would not leave him alone and was hugging on him in mid song! Finally someone yanked his dumb a** off the stage before Prong's bassist wailed him with a 10 pound bass guitar! Ha.

Flaw Returns, One Night Only:

On Friday, July 16 Louevil icons Flaw will be at Phoenix Hill Tavern after being on the road for what seems like forever! I haven't seen them in a while, so I might just have to go see what's up with the guys, now that they are back in full swing! I'd love to hear some Flaw again; I've always admired their musical and songwriting skills.

I talked to guitarist Lance Arny from out on the road, and he had this to say.

Eddy: Sup Lance, how has it been on the road? Got any new music we'll be hearing come June 16 at PHT?

Lance:The road is tough. If the drives are long and the show is the next day,it'll kick your ass. We'll be playing a couple new songs from our newest album, Homegrown Studio Sessions. It came out in November 09, we produced and recorded it ourselves and still, a lot of people don't know it's out yet.

Eddy: So what is the current lineup, and how are fans reacting to seeing Flaw back in action once again?

Lance: Current line-up is; Chris Volz, vocals; Ryan Jurhs, bass; Lance Arny, guitars; Andy Russ, guitars; Sean Rued, drums.

Our fans have always been good to us. We try to hang out with everyone before, and sometimes after, we play. Sometimes we empty bottles together.

Eddy: Whats next for Flaw? And are you excited to be coming home finally after being on the road for a long while? Do you have anything to say to your family and friends in the 'Ville?

Lance: Next for Flaw will be us staying busy through the summer. We have some shows being set up with Tantric, and another tour being set up that I can't talk about just yet.

It's always good to come home from the road, if you have a home to come home to. This city used to be a music mecca, support your local and national music scene people!

(Eddy: I'm glad someone else understands what I'm talking about.)

Eddy: What is the wildest story yet from this tour?

Lance: We all went out to this rib place – you know, the kinda place where you wear the bibs – and we had ordered our food and I had to take a wicked jimmy wizz, and when I came back, the food had come, and they stacked their ribs on top of mine!! Making my plate like three times high!! I said you've gone for all the ribs, you bastards!!

That's one of the craziest stories.

Other than that, it's the usual drunken festivities you could expect to see at a Flaw show!!

Society's Plague CD Release:

The long awaited debut CD by this very talented group of young individuals from Lexington is about to come out and I'm super happy for these rockers for doing what very few are able to do. On Tuesday. June 29, The Human, The Canvas comes out nationwide on Stand And Deliver Records, and the band's heaviness, melody and hooks will be unleashed upon the world.

This is what it is all about, my friends, when all the work and long hours writing, playing, practicing and touring, have finally come to getting signed and putting out a finished product that represents you 100%. A metal band from Lexington getting signed is a cool thing, indeed. It was a longshot, at that, which is what makes this an interesting story. Lexington has never been a hotbed for metal at all, so for this band to achieve this at such a young age – all in their early 20s, with the youngest at 19 – is awesome!

The CD was recorded in Cleveland at Spider Studios with producer Tony Gammalo, who has recorded Drowning Pool, Chimaira and others.

I'm sitting here listening to the CD and I'm excited to hear the finished, professionally recorded, product of a Kentucky band. The first song, "Transcend The Throne," rocks and the chorus is melodically memorable. You can easily see why this band was one of the chosen few. The sound quality of this recording is awesome! This record label does not farg around! Kate Latham's keyboards sound ethereal as they weave through the pounding guitars and drums. Everything comes together perfectly on this CD, and I predict this outing will do some serious good for SP. To all you young bands out there who want to play music professionally, pay close attention to this band and see how it is supposed to be done. The Human Canvas starts out slow and gets going quickly. I'm digging what drummer "JD" Doyle is doing in this song. Kickass! This is some different sounding music and totally non-regional sounding. Keyboardist Latham has come a long way and really shines on this tune! She mixes up things very nicely. The doubled guitar riffage sounds killer, too. I'm very impressed with the musicianship. Matt Newton's vocals are right on the money. Good screams, good growls, and he has an uncanny ability to crank out great choruses with challenging vocal melodies. This young guy isn't afraid to go the extra mile to hit those higher notes that most wouldn't dare to try to hit.

"Buried In Flames" is a scorcher of a song that reminds me a lot of All That Remains. The riffs are very likeable and the drums are off the hook in this song.

"Mourning Sun" starts differently, very cool, with just piano and guitars. Clean guitars kick in and things get a little lighter and a bit mushy, and with Kate's orchestra music added it sounds great. Then the chorus rocks hard in a memorable ballad fashion that I find wicked. Excellent.

The solo might have been a little long and a bit too dry for my tastes for this song, but it does sound good. The outro is way cool. I admit I've jammed these songs a few times each, which is rare for me when I review. This music has a lot to soak in. There is a lot going on!

It's like watching a thinker movie. You might not get the full effect until you experience it a few times.

There's not much more to say. This is one of the better metal recordings I've heard for any Kentucky band. The band is tight, creative, and actually have dedication for what they do. On top of that, they are probably one of the nicest bands I've met in my many years as a original music promoter. Most bands today think way too highly of themselves. It's downright ridiculous how some of these louevil bands act. And here these super young rockers from 70 miles away are now signed and have a CD coming out nationwide, and yet they are as humble and down to earth as ever.

That is how it should be. Myspace.com/societysplague

BoneJinn, Version 5.0:

My, oh my, do I hate drama and the band known as BoneJinn has had some drama of late. Vocalist Marty Triplett and his bandmates parted ways and now Marty has got a new version of BoneJinn coming back with all new, experienced members. The new BoneJinn consists of guitarists Allan Freeman and Jeff Grimm, bassist Tony Z, and drummer Shaun Hansbrough. A very talented and experienced lineup, indeed. I'm looking forward to hearing the new sound. I bet it's good. All the members can sing well, so that should be interesting harmony-wise and should add to the BoneJinn sound. I'm glad the music of BoneJinn will live on. It's some good stuff.

See them re-debut on Friday, August 6 at PHT.

Upcoming Shows Preview:

These are shows that I think would kick butt. Of course, not everyone has the same taste in music. Friday, July 16 at PHT, Flaw. Wednesday, August 11 at Headliners, Death Angel and Soilwork. Wednesday, August 18 at Headliners, Shadows Fall and Devildriver. Thursday, September 2 at PHT, Exodus! Tuesday, October 5 at Expo 5 Black Label Society, Children Of Bodom and Clutch. Tuesday, October 26 at Headliners, Nevermore and Warbringer.

Seclusion's CD:

Seclusion's CD will be made in the months of August and September. They plan on recording 9 or 10 songs. A few of the titles are "Dixie Calls His Son" and "3 Bridges" featuring Pat Quinney from Thomas Medicine on guest vocals. The band will be recording it themselves, with a little help from the Quinney brothers on production. Look for something in late September or early October! I've heard from an inside source that the band is sounding much better these days. Check them out at a venue near you.

Sever This Illusion, Getting Ready 2 Kill:

This hardworking louevil metal band is now endorsed by Krank Amps and a few other companies like SIT Strings and Mental Cases guitar cases. And they have an album, Unidentified Assassins, coming out very soon! It's been a delayed a bit too long, but it's only a matter of time before it's released, possibly within the next month. Meanwhile the band just got back from their first cross-country tour. I bet that was an adventure! They played in Denver, Vegas, L.A. and are looking to hit the road again later this year, hitting Florida, Texas, New York and one of their favorites, Illinois. These guys are one of the few bands in town with dedication enough to do this stuff, and for that, I commend them! Look for the CD review as soon as I get a copy. Congrats to those guys for getting the sponsors/endorsements. That rocks.

See STI at Bizkit's show on July 16 at PHT. Flaw is playing downstairs that night, too, so it should be rockin on both floors.

Popkiss Chainsaw, No Bones Here:

Here comes Popkiss Chainsaw, a brand-new band who labels themselves as "Southern Slam Music." Music that can touch the soul as well as have bigtime attitude. The band is basically BoneJinn without singer Marty Triplett (who is currently revamping BoneJinn). I'll be honest with you peeps: I think Marty is one of the best singers in the scene, so I wondered why the band didn't want to jam with him anymore. Drummer Troy Ford told me. "With all due respect to Marty, who is a great singer, we just wanted someone with a little more attitude and balls in their performance." I was a bit anxious to hear the new vocalist, Brian Goodman, formerly of Month Of Sundaze, so Troy told me to check them out on Facebook. I pulled up two song samples. I was thinking it would be hard to replace such a talented singer as Marty and would the new version of this band live up to it's former?

There were several questions going on in my head as the music came on. It sounded good as usual, just like the same old BoneJinn. Rockin!

The vocals came in and sounded decent in parts, but overall, it felt a bit monotone, compared to the vocal range and highs they used to have. And the vocals were low in the mix. I hate straining to hear a singer. To be honest, I didn't care for the vocals on that song so much and was a bit let down. The second song, however, a cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" does a hundred times better at showcasing Goodman's vocal talent. Nice vocals on this one! Now this is what expected to hear from a replacement! This sounds soooo much better. Goodman can sing. Maybe since it was his first song in awhile and in a new band, he was a bit nervous or something on the first tune. This band certainly has the goods to deliver. You just got to give them some time to develop. I bet they'll sound fargin killer after they get a few shows under their belts, playing the new stuff.

I'm looking forward to seeing them live in action on Friday, July 2 at Phoenix Hill Tavern. Popkiss Chainsaw is vocalist Brian Goodman, guitarist Steve Harris, bassist Nick Priddy and drummer Troy Ford.

The Zoo Kings Are Here:

The Zoo Kings is a new project featuring experienced members of the louevil music scene. Members are guitarist Bobby Olliges, drummer Steven O' Reilly and bassist Dave Moody. With this lineup, one thing is certain, it's sure to be high-energy rock 'n' roll of some kind. A buzz is building up about these guys and they haven't even played a gig, yet to my knowledge. I'll let you know more when I get to see/hear them.

Rumor or Fact, is The Oasis Back?

Remember the Oasis Club, the East End rock club that has been on/off over the last two years or so? Located off Hurstbourne Lane just north of I-64, it's a cool – if somewhat in need of repairs – venue that has had a few great concerts! Heck, I saw Nightwish, Gwar, Chimaira, Saving Able, Drowning Pool, and a few other shows there as well. Good venue, nice PA, and the people there were nice. Because of the East End location, getting folks in there has been difficult, to say the least, since not many East Enders like metal, so it might be up to us lowly South Enders (haha) to get the place going in a meaningful fashion, since we are the true rockers in this city.

Anyway, I heard a rumor that they might re-open very soon. I hope so, because Terry Harper put on a few great shows there, and hopefully he can continue to do so.

They are supposed to be remodeling the place and fixing it up. One thing though, please fix that bathroom! It's a torture when you have to use the bathroom, because their bathroom smells straight up like some butt. Other than that, please bring The Oasis Club back; we need all the clubs we can get. If I got to, I'll run outside to pee on a bush.

Have A Heart Benefit For a Louevil Rockers Family:

Steve Tomes, 40, from Austin, Indiana was a bass player for an original band called High Water Mark from Louisville. Steve was traveling with his fiancé and three of their children on Saturday June 12, 2010 when he got out of their van to pick up a turtle in the middle of the road. After Steve had safely gotten the turtle across the road, he was crossing in front of the van when it was hit from behind, striking Steve and propelling the van 60 feet. After arriving at U of L hospital and receiving two surgeries he was pronounced brain dead and passed away early Tuesday morning, June 15. Steve had six children and a fiancé and they were already in financial dire straights. A friend of the family is holding a benefit show for Steve's family at Jack's (located at 3308 Plaza Drive in New Albany, Indiana) on Sunday, July 18, 2010. The list of performers are: The Big Rock Show, Jefferson TARC Bus, Scary Uncle, Wax Factory, Gypsy Ring, Bolt Action, Stand, Wyndell Williams, and Outlaw Poet Ron Whitehead. They will be holding raffles for prizes. The donation will be $5 a person at the door. This event will last all day and evening.

Year Of The Gun, 3 songs Targeted:

The band I play guitar for, Year Of The Gun, will be recording the songs "27 Years", Self-Made Man" and "Rainmaker" within a month. Look for the new music on 93.1 The Fox's Louisville Rocks come mid- to late July! I'm quite proud of these new songs and I'm anxious for you to hear the new stuff. It's the best guitar stuff I've written and I can't wait to get into the studio to show what we can do. The new music is much more Southern and emotional. Females seem to like "27 Years" a lot. One said she got hot and bothered by it. Ha Ha.

Upcoming Shows

Boondocks

Boondocks is located at 3850 Beech Grove Rd, Shepherdsville KY.)

Friday, July 23 – Havoc On The Farm: Stonecutters, Witness The Reckoning, Stagecoach Inferno, Holy Mountains, A Cold Slepp and Fudgeknuckle. 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 24 – Havoc On The Farm: Descention, Ohlm, Seclusion, Old Vikings, Stroker, Grave Flower, Behind The Beheaded, Abominant, Intent to Kill, Red Eyed Lies, Sons Of The Bluegrass and Wurmkraut. 1 p.m.

Cahoots

Saturday, July 10 – Lords w/ Straight A's, Alcohawk and Stagecoach Inferno. 10p.m. $5

Expo 5

Tuesday, July 27 – We The Kings w/ Never Shout Never, Mayday Parade, Dillinger Escape Plan, Alesana, Parkway Drive, Emmure, Emarosa, Eyes Set To Kill and Fight Fair. 3 p.m. $25

Headliners

Tuesday, July 6 – Forever The Sickest Kids w/ The Ready Set, The Scene Aesthetic, Phone Calls From Home and A Cursive Memory. 7 p.m.

Wednesday, July 14 – Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster, For Today, Blessed By A Broken Heart, A Plea For Purging, The Color Morale, The Crimson Armada, I The Breather, The Great Commission, In The Midst Of Lions and Hundredth. 4 p.m. $15

Friday, July 16 – Thrash and Burn Tour w/ Asking Alexandria, Born Of Osiris, Kittie, Stick To Your Guns, Impending Doom, Through The Eyes Of The Dead, Greeley Estates, Periphery, Motionless In White and Chelsea Grin. 3:30 p.m. $18

Thursday, July 29 – High On Fire w/Torche, Beings, Ohlm, and Old Vikings.

Wednesday, August 11 – Soilwork, Death Angel, Augury, Mutiny Within, Swashbuckle. 7 p.m.

Phoenix Hill Tavern

Thursday, July 1 – Slick Idiot w/ Absence Of Faith, The Passing Hour, Hippiedigger, Alice In The Aftermath, DJ Count Grozny. 8 p.m.

Friday, July 2 – The Original Rock Showcase Series: Project Sovereign, Popkiss Chainsaw (former members of BoneJinn), Fivesecondzero, Kavehill and E-Flat. Free before 9 p.m.

Friday, July 16 – Flaw w/ E-Flat and Fall N Disgize. 7 p.m. $12

Friday, July 16 – Psychostick, Sever This Illusion, Look What I Did, Slokill and 3 other T.B.A. 9p.m.

Saturday, July 24 – Origin w/ Chaordica and Little Did We Know. 7 p.m. $10

Wednesday, July 28 – 93.1 The Fox's Louisville Rocks w/ Year Of The Gun. 9 p.m.

Friday, August 6 – The Original Rock Showcase Series: Burning Babylon, the new BoneJinn, Boozer, 2 Pump Chump, Reign Of Revelation and Lost In Eden. Free before 9 p.m.

Skull Alley

Tuesday, July 13 – Beneath The Sky w/ Last Hope Of Sunrise, Through Desperate Eyes, Hey Hi How Are You and Fear Only Us. 7 p.m. $10

Uncle Pleasant's

Saturday, July 3 – Sky Eats Airplane, Pilot Around The Stars, Farewell The Hero, Plague Of Athens, Arise To The Fallen.

Saturday, July 10 – Our Final Hour CD Release w/ Eyes Versus The sky, Intent To Kill, They Came Bearing Arms and As Eagles Become Vultures. 7 p.m. $5

Wick's Pizza on Baxter

Sacred Sorrow and Year Of The Gun. 9 p.m.

Wick's on Dixie

Saturday, July 24 – Hardlein, Livid and After Elvis.

Saturday, August 28 – Year Of The Gun and others T.B.A.

Props Of The Month

This month's props go out to all the regional and national promoters here in town who give up their free time to entertain you, the louevil rock scene. If it weren't for promoters like those mentioned in the beginning of my column, then Louevil would be a much more boring place than it is. It would suck. We do this for the love of music, not for cash (at least some of us). And yes, a lot of time and effort goes into putting on a good event.

We've got some good promoters in town and a lot of good-willed, inexperienced promoters who are starting their own showcases at venues. That is very cool (and just how I started back in '95), and just what we need at a crappy time in louevil music history like this. So welcome promoters!

Trust me, it's a fun thing to do, promoting original music. I've had some amazing shows in my day. Memories to last a lifetime! But you got to deal with bullchit from time to time, and if you want in just to make big money, you are making a big mistake. It's all about music and good friends getting together on a regular basis. Nuff said.