The Louisville Rock Venue Review: Thunderdome
Photo by Jason Ashcraft
The reopening of the Thunderdome on June 28th aroused quite a curiosity amongst many Louisville concert-goers, musicians and probably even other neighboring live music venue owners.
During the mid to late 1990’s – the Thunderdome’s glory days – almost every national tour that frequented Louisville made a tour stop at the Thunderdome. During that time, this was the place to see a concert. For those of you too young to remember the original Thunderdome, poor you, but secondly, beware. The new Thunderdome does not even come close to living up to the mystique that the original Thunderdome established during the late 1990’s. For all the veteran concert-goers and musicians, well, it’s like waking up from a one big wet dream. Neighboring live music venue owners, rest peacefully; your livelihood is not threatened.
Unfortunately, I was asked to leave before I could complete my assessment of the Thunderdome. Nonetheless, here is a rundown of the essentials:
Entertainment
One of the only things Thunderdome management did right was book such prominent Louisville artists as Heaven Hill, Bryan Fox, Kevin McCreary, Dead City Rejects, Primer 55 and MSD, along with quite a few other notable talents.
But, according to several artists who have played the Thunderdome, getting paid has turned out to be a bit of a hassle, even after receiving a guarantee from the Thunderdome’s management. If this trend continues, don’t expect to see any artists play there twice, or possibly, at all.
The sound is another matter. During the two nights I attended, it sounded like a bunch of echoed gargle in a metal garage or pole barn. Seriously. Even some of the performing musicians were complaining of not being able to hear their music through the monitors. I know the sound man is a competent pro, but it’s the room that is the problem.
Having a crowd of people will usually help prevent some of the sound waves from bouncing around so much and producing the excessive echoing effect – feedback - if there are no other sound proofing elements in place, which there were not. Regrettably, the current sound setup in this room just drowns out some artists’ better qualities of musicianship. Bottom line, I’ve heard better sound quality produced in the basements where bands rehearse in versus what Thunderdome’s environment offers.
Prices
Simply stated, it’s expensive. You’ll first pay anywhere from $7 – $10 to walk through the door. And make sure you only bring cash, because they do not accept credit cards.
It’s $6 for a well drink, served in an eight-ounce plastic cup. Of course, if that mixed drink is served a little stronger than you like, be prepared to shell out another $2 for more Coke and to upgrade to a twelve-ounce plastic cup. Cans of beer run $3 each and are also served with a plastic cup.
A margarita will set you back $8. It, too, was served in a plastic eight-ounce cup, garnished with a dry slice of, um, aged lime.
Whatever you order, just be sure you pay them promptly and with little resistance (I asked for more Coke in the rum and Coke I ordered) otherwise the bartender may opt to call security, which is what happened to me. Time to leave.
Hope you have better luck then I did!
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