It’s finally back and your Viking almost shed a tear walking through the gates at Louder Than Life! The line to get in a mile long, thousands of people getting checked for their Covid vaccinations or negative test and anticipation growing for the start of the four day festival in Louisville.
As soon as I got through security, I got an overwhelming sense of joy. Finally back with the Loudmouth family about to endure an insane day of music that, for me, began with Avoid. Oh. My. God. I listened to Avoid a bit before the festival, and they lived up to the hype. Avoid’s singer, Benny Scholl, had the crowd eating from the palm of his hand and loving every second of it! Do not sleep on Avoid!
Escape The Fate was the next band up. I’ve seen Escape The Fate numerous times in the past, but today’s performance was underwhelming to me. Could have been due to them having to bring in a different drummer and guitarist because, presumably, a Covid reason (not 100% sure on that). The microphone was having a bit of an issue too, but Escape The Fate powered through to deliver rock back to the masses.
The schedule after that was odd to me. Sevendust following Escape The Fate which was BONKERS live as usaual for Sevendust live. Saw guitarist Clint Lowery backstage and congratulated him on the solid set.
After Sevendust though, Wage War played. Not throwing shade at Wage War because the band is great and deserves their success…but Sevendust should have been above them.
I went to on the search for food during Wage War’s set where I found a double bbq bologna sandwich that was heavenly! After I ate, I watched Anthrax from a distance. Another band I’ve seen several times, Joey Belladonna and the gang know how to keep the crowd moving and moshpits twirling.
The first band of the day I was super stoked for though was Beartooth and they brought the HEAT! Caleb Shomo sounded fantastic as they rattled off several songs from their latest release ‘Below’ ending their set with “The Past is Dead” and “The Last Riff” which made me want to run through a brick wall!
So far, we’ve had rock/metal bands all day. It’s time for hip hop heavyweights, Cypress Hill to take the stage and man did they take over the crowd! It’s always interesting to see hip hop acts on a rock heavy lineup, but it works and I’m glad I was able to sing “Insane in the Brain” along with 30,000 people even though I may have gotten a contact buzz from all the 420 Cypress Hill burned on stage.
My band of the day though, hands down, was Staind. When they played Louder Than Life in 2019, I was blown away by how great they were live and they didn’t lose any of that insanity this year. Aaron Lewis, believe it or not, has the best guttural I’ve heard which is coming from a man who’s seen Whitechapel live. Staind easily, ranks in the top 10 best live bands I’ve ever seen!
The band assigned to finish out night one of Louder Than Life is Korn. A position they are all too familiar with. Tonight’s show was different than past Korn concerts I’ve seen because Jonathan David is still battling the after-effects of Covid. His voice was not weakened due to Covid, but he was using an oxygen masks on stage along with sitting on a massive thrown that is fit for a rock legend. Even with this hinderance, Korn delivered as they always do to close out the first day in style.
Three more days of rock to go and your favorite Viking is loving/cherishing every second of it!
