Sunday, September 29 was the last day of the rock and metal music festival Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky. The festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary of music at the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center brought in nearly 50k guests each day to see performances on five different stages. Despite having to cancel Day 2 due to hurricane Helene weather, many artists celebrated their own special anniversaries or moments during this year’s remaining days of LTL.
We had the opportunity to see Slipknot celebrate 25 years of their debut album, Mötley Crüe and Korn, who played the first Louder Than Life festival in 2014, Jack Underkofler of Dead Poet Society get a tattoo live on stage, and one of Till Lindemann’s first solo U.S. shows. We were excited to see what was in store for Day 4. The conditions were muddy, but the rain held off for most of the day with only a sporadic shower during Spiritbox.
Here are the highlights of Day 4:
Tennessee based metal band Saliva put on an electrifying performance on the Main Stage. Singer of Saliva, Josey Scott wore all black, including a t-shirt featuring Willie Nelson flipping the bird. Guitarists Sebastian LaBar and Brad Stewart carried each song with their melodic and deep riffs, making the most of their closing song “Click, Click, Boom.”
Eagles of Death Metal, who’s members often change for different collaborative opportunities included Josh Jove (lead guitar), Leah Bluestein (drums), Jesse Hughes (singer), Jennie Vee (bassist), and Scott Shiflett (guitar). Despite its name, they don’t play death metal, but rather traditional rock n roll tunes. They performed some of their catchy songs from 2004 including “I Only Want You” and “Speaking In Tongues,” with Hughes coming off the stage to sing in front of the crowd at the barricades.
One of our favorite performances of the night was the Canadian native Spiritbox. I love Courtney LaPlante’s incredible vocals and stage presence. The band took the stage in all black outfits as they absolutely shredded on their guitars and LaPlante screamed her heart out. The group brought on three special guests for three different songs. During their new single “Soft Spine” artist Poppy joined followed by Tatiana Shmayluk from Jinjer on “Circle With Me,” and Architects’ Sam Carter on “Yellowjackets.”
From way across the pond, French metal band Gojira went from the Olympic opening ceremonies to bringing their fire and smoke filled metal cuts to Louisville at Louder Than Life. While rocking out to songs like “Silvera” and “Stranded,” flames shot from the stage and album art visuals danced on the back screen. At the end the singer, Joe Duplantier thanked the rain gods for not ruining this festival.
Staind played many of their popular songs from the early 2000’s on the Main Stage. Songs like “It’s Been Awhile” and “Outside” had fans singing along and swaying their hands in the air. Singer Aaron Lewis made a political statement with his American flag guitar and sticker that read “F*CK NEWSOM,” the governor of California. Their performance detailed all of the raw emotion captured in their music.
Breaking Benjamin served up an elaborate performance full of pyro and laser lights. Founder and Frontman Benjamin Burnley switched between belting out vocals to playing lead guitar, making it look easy. Louder Than Life had a drone that captured footage of their show, soaring through guitarist Aaron Bruch’s legs and around the stage. The group ended with fan favorite “The Diary of Jane.”
Making their third LTL appearance and celebrating their 55th anniversary, Judas Priest was as good as ever. Lead singer Rob Halford looked incredible and badass wearing all black with a leather trench coat, a huge septum ring hanging from his nose, and dark aviators. The longtime rockers owned the stage with intense songs like “Painkiller” and the familiar “Breaking the Law.” The band is also celebrating the release of their 19th studio album, Invincible Shield.
About 20 minutes into Korn’s set, the band had to stop playing based on unsafe crowd conditions and an injured fan. The fans were asked to take 10 steps back as the injured guest was removed and the band was able to continue. Fans continued right where they left off, crowd surfing and moshing. The show featured the opening song “Here to Stay” and a special encore of “Falling Away From Me,” “Oildale,” and “Freak on a Leash.”
We hope that next years’ Louder Than Life brings better weather and we’re so excited to watch some of our favorite metal bands perform once again. LTL continues to be one of the best metal festivals around. Here’s to another year of rockin’ on!