The 5th annual Louder Than Life festival brings us a massive music lineup for 2018 including Nine Inch Nails, Alice In Chains, Godsmack, Deftones and much more. The World’s Largest Rock n’ Roll Whiskey Festival has expanded to three days – Friday, September 28th; Saturday, September 29th; and Sunday, September 30th – at Champions Park in Louisville, Kentucky. One thing that we often have to worry about when it comes to day long music festivals is bands set times overlapping. We have all been put in that situation where we are picking between bands because its impossible to see both due to logistics. Sometimes the set times are slightly staggered and while they do have some overlap it still leaves enough room to watch part of each bands set. We have made decisions dozens of times on who to see and we feel we may be able to help you make those hard decisions as well.
Friday’s Louder Than Life schedule does give us some overlap the first of which is Hyro The Hero and True Villians. Both bands go on at 12:50, True Villians performs on the Zorn Stage and Hyro The Hero on the Monster Energy Stage. The Zorn Stage is on the opposite end of the festival grounds whereas the Monster Energy Stage and Loudmouth Stage are side by side. That already helps in making your decision. We would choose Hyro The Hero, first off because his music is amazing, different from other bands on the lineup and he is gaining popularity day by day. The band has a true rap rock sound that would remind you of Rage Against The Machine. With their performance on the Monster Stage it also leaves you close by to catch Badflower who’s set begins 5 minutes after Hyro The Hero on the stage just adjacent to the Monster Stage. There are some other sets that bleed into one another but do not totally overlap. The next decision you may have to make is between Skillet and Turnstile. Skillet starts first at 4:40 – 5:45 on the Monster Stage and Turnstile at 4:45 – 5:15 on the Zorn Stage. Both bands put on an amazing set but our decision would be to make your way down to see Turnstile and their always active hardcore set, and then make your way back to catch the tail end of Skillet’s performance. As an added bonus if you position yourself in front of the Loudmouth stage you will be able to see the final minutes of Skillet’s set and have prime position to see Seether who performs at 5:30 on the Loudmouth stage. Seether’s performance does have some overlap into Suicidal Tendencies set as well. Seether has been on DWP festivals before, so if you have seen them before I would catch a portion of their set and make your way to check out Suicidal Tendencies who you don’t get a chance to see as often. One of the baddest crossover acts you will ever see and a truly iconic band.
Saturday’s lineup is a little more staggered to where you can pretty much see every band performing up until the home state boys Black Stone Cherry (Loudmouth Stage) 3:55 – 4:35 and Jelly Roll (Zorn Stage) 3:45 – 4:15 perform. I may be a little biased in saying this because I am a fellow Kentuckian, but in this instance I would catch Black Stone Cherry over Jelly Roll. Though Jelly Roll has an incredible back story to his life and is a talented musician, most of us have come to Louder Than Life to see rock n roll and Black Stone Cherry delivers raw rock n roll with a classic flare that should appeal to most everyone that steps foot on the festival grounds. The next decision we will be faced with is Pop Evil (Monster Stage) 3:45 – 4:35 and Dance Gavin Dance (Zorn Stage) 3:45 – 4:15. Of course Pop Evil is the more well known band, but Dance Gavin Dance has a large fan base as well. Opportunities arise pretty often to see Pop Evil live so in this scenario we would choose Dance Gavin Dance and with their set ending a littler earlier it could allow you time to grab a beer and see the final song or two by Pop Evil. The next overlap we see is between Sevendust (Loudmouth Stage) 4:30 – 5:10 and Gwar (Zorn Stage) 4:45 – 5:20. Sevendust is one of the most veteran acts on the lineup, and they never fail you in a performance always bringing everything they have to the stage. However, Gwar as far as I’m aware has never previously performed on a DWP festival and if you’ve never had an opportunity to see them it’s a must. Gwar isn’t just a band, they are a horror movie, a theater performance and a stand up comedy act all rolled into one. Do not miss their set if you’ve never had the opportunity to see them live. The very next performance is what we are calling the most important performance of the weekend and that’s the “The Vinnie Paul Tribute” which takes place on the Monster Stage at 5:15 – 5:45. Everyone is going to be making their way to that stage to see who will be performing to pay tribute to the fallen icon Vinnie Paul Abbott of Pantera, Hellyeah and Damage Plan. I would likely leave Gwar’s set a little early to help try and get myself up close to pay my respects to the late drummer who passed away a few months ago. The rest of the night there isn’t any layover so your free to enjoy complete sets of every remaining band.
Sunday for many fans has been the must see day of the festival with the whole weekend being closed out by Nine Inch Nails. For the first couple hours of the day there is some slight overlap, but it would still allow you to see most of the bands sets. The Sword (Loudmouth Stage) 1:40 – 2:10 , Asking Alexandria (Monster Stage) 2:05 – 2:40 and The Dose (Zorn Stage) 1:50 – 2:20 all overlap some. Choosing to stay near the side by side stages and see The Sword and Asking Alexandria will allow you more time to see their whole sets and not be rushing to get to another stage. Then we come to choosing between Glassjaw (Loudmouth Stage) 2:55 – 3:35 and The Fever 333 (Zorn Stage) 2:50 – 3:20. While I haven’t yet had the chance to see Glassjaw, it’s incredibly hard to pass up seeing The Fever 333 again even after just seeing them in May. Lead singer Jason Butler is a mad man on stage and is always moving, pumping up the crowd and if there is anything he can climb on the stage you can bet he will be high above the crowd. You don’t want to miss his performance. Clutch and Yelawolf also play at similar times. With Clutch playing on the Monster Stage at 3:40 – 4:20 and Yelawolf performing on the Zorn Stage at 3:50 – 4:25. This one mostly comes down to your taste in music, but also remember that Yelawolf’s set is on the other end of the festival grounds and his performance ends at the same time Ice Cube goes on stage. The last overlap is with Billy Idol (Monster Stage) 5:20 – 6:10 and Action Bronson (Zorn Stage) 5:30 – 6:10. Again this really depends on your taste in music, but some things you have to weigh in is how often will you have the chance to see Billy Idol who is now 62 years old and a rock and roll legend. Then you have Action Bronson performing at a rock festival, if you are someone that enjoys rap but rarely ever attends a rap show this may be a chance for you to see Action Bronson out of his element and it along with Ice Cube and Jellyroll will be one of the only rap artists at the festival. The rest of the night is closed out with Primus, Deftones and Nine Inch Nails.
You can purchase tickets to the festival here.
