Photos and Review by Hillery Terenzi
Drive to Kentucky? Drink amazing bourbon? Three days of bands? Sign me UP!
Good music, bourbon and perfect weather were on board for the 12th annual Forecastle Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. According to Mayor Greg Fischer and Forecastle Festival founder, JK McKnight, this year’s festival was a record turnout. The lineup included Atlanta greats Black Lips and Outkast, as well as Jack White, Beck, The Replacements, Ray LaMontagne, Band of Horses, Boy & Bear, Mount Moriah, Spoon, Dwight Yoakam, Twenty One Pilots, Local Natives, Gary Clark Jr., Lord Huron, Tune-Yards , Slint (a personal favorite of mine) and plus many others. There was a little something for everyone. During my trek from stage to stage, I met people from Chicago, Ohio, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Australia, and Iowa.
I have covered many festivals over the years and Forecastle is definitely in my top five. The people in Louisville were very friendly, I felt welcome as soon as I got there. The setup for the festival was perfect. Getting to the festival was stress free, with plenty of inexpensive parking and many people were encouraged to use public transportation and bicycles. The stages were easily accessible to catch the bands you wanted to see and the food and beverages were reasonably priced. Atlanta’s own King of Pops carts were scattered between the stages. Talking to one of the KOP owners he told me that this was his third year working the festival. I thought it was kinda cool to have Atlanta representin in KY. The people that traveled with me spent hours in the Bourbon Lodge tasting the various Bourbons that were offered by the awesome distilleries of Kentucky.
Every year it seems that the summer’s festival season is getting better and better. If you need something to do between the Shaky Knees festival in May and Music Midtown in September, get in your car and drive the mere six hours to Louisville, KY for the Forecastle Festival. You won’t regret it. Stay up to date on all things Forecastle by checking out their website and see you next year!
