Lebowskifest

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

Yo, calling all Achievers...and you know who you are  ;)

i'm pretty sure it's sold out inside the bowling alley, but the parking lot event is supposedly unlimited for $5 each person...

www.lebowskifest.com

so come on out and see Louisville's finest Achievers in action.  not to mention the costumes, the music, and the general festival vibe that I'm sure will be present...

also, there's a little ol band playing this friday at the new ampitheater...wonder who that could be?  8)

[40206]

From the LEO.

Dudes (and chicks), abide your indulgences
3rd Annual Lebowski Fest is ready to roll


Pinheads Will Russell, left, and Scott Shuffitt, right, flank Lebowski Fest Graphics Dude (and costume designer) Bill Green. (Photo by Bill Green)

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Almost a year ago, the young men in My Morning Jacket were enjoying the run-up to their first major label record release. It Still Moves, on Dave Matthews' boutique label ATO, has sold nearly 100,000 copies, and the band has toured incessantly. They also dealt with the gut-wrenching departure of two members, guitarist Johnny Quaid and keyboardist Danny Cash, who ultimately declined the grind of the road.

The band recently released a sweet five-song EP, Acoustic Citsuoca (that's "acoustic" spelled backwards, not a humorous spelling of "cicada"), which includes stripped down versions of old favorites mixed with more recent work.

This Friday night, MMJ has a homecoming of sorts — its first hometown appearance with the new line-up, which now includes Bo Koster on keyboards and Carl Broemel on guitar. The concert, with the amazing Bare Jr., is the inaugural event at the new Brown-Forman Amphitheater in Waterfront Park. The evening, sponsored by LEO, Miller Beer, Stoli Vodka and Kahlua, is part of the 3rd Annual Lebowski Fest, the "convention" that caters expressly to fans of the Coen Brothers film "The Big Lebowski," who flock to Louisville to engage in all manner of Coen-inspired rituals.

The film screens at the amphitheater after the music, around 11 p.m. That's free with a concert ticket ($15; doors open at 6 p.m., Bare Jr. goes on about 7:15 and MMJ is up about 8:45; rain or shine).

To get up to speed, Cary Stemle spent some time on the phone with band members Jim James, Two-Tone Tommy and Patrick Hallahan. Ben Peskoe, who wrote a LEO cover story before last year's Lebowski Fest, weighs in again with an in-the-moment account of life at Lebowski Fest HQ on the eve of the big event.

Dudes (and chicks), abide your indulgences.

New MMJ line-up ready for local debut
IN A WORD, DESCRIBE THE LAST YEAR
(asked of each person separately)

Two-Tone Tommy: Honey.

Jim James: Jesus.

Patrick Hallahan: I don't know if I can sum it up in one word. Can I sum it up in two? Holy shit.

PATRICK, WHY DO YOU THINK TOMMY WOULD SAY HONEY?

PH: I have no idea.

WHY WOULD JIM SAY JESUS?

PH: Probably the same reason I said holy shit. It's just been one change and one growth after another.

JIM, WAS THERE ANY PRESSURE FROM OUTSIDE THE BAND TO CHANGE THE MAKE-UP?

JJ: (laughs, incredulously) No, man, no way. That's one thing we've been really lucky with. The people we signed with, there's been a lot more work to do and a lot more pressures, but the label and management have never once tried to interfere with our record-making process or our sound or our lives shows or personnel. It was a big crisis when they left because it shook everybody's confidence.

WAS IT OUT OF THE BLUE?

JJ: I just kind of sensed it by their level of unhappiness. Whenever you've got people doing any job and they're miserable, once you make a change it's like a huge weight has been lifted. This band's been through a lot of line-up changes, and every time, I think it's been for the right reasons and everyone goes on. We just saw John in San Francisco. He's looking great and feeling great. It was great to see him not looking like shit and really enjoying life again.

WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT?

PH: If anything, I hope people are surprised at how much it hasn't changed. JJ: I think (the live sound has) improved like 10 times because we've got so much stuff now that we weren't able to do. Bo and Carl can sing back-up. Carl taught himself how to play pedal steel, so we've got that in there now. We're doing a lot of songs we could never pull off before.

ANY PROBLEMS WITH THE EXTERNAL ISSUES THAT GO WITH BIG-TIME ROCK 'N' ROLL?

TT: I suppose I sound a little naive for thinking they're not there, but I really don't feel it. We get e-mails from family saying they saw us in Maxim or that kind of stuff. I just think people are curious about how the so-called machine works. But nothing uncomfortable or out of bounds.

WHAT ABOUT LEBOWSKI FEST?

PH: I can't think of it without laughing because it makes me so happy. It's just great that that's their job. We consider it an honor to be part of it and to open up the pavilion on the waterfront.

Contact the writer at cstemle@leoweekly.com

At Lebowski Fest HQ, honing the final touches
BY BEN PESKOE
Lebowski Fest E-Commerce Dude

I'm sitting next to a stuffed ferret that's been mounted on a stick and sealed in a glass showcase. In the parlance of the film "The Big Lebowski," this ferret is known as a marmot, and it happens to be the actual marmot used to threaten Jeff Bridges' actual johnson in the movie's famous bathtub scene. It's on loan for the summer from the Coen brothers office in NYC.

In some offices, the Marmot-on-a-Stick might be the spotlight grabber, but here at the Lebowski Fest World Headquarters, it's got a lot of competition. On the hi-fi above it stand four bowling pins covered in various doodles and drawings by Jeff Bridges, including one that's a self-portrait of him sitting in a bathtub (sans marmot). Down the hall, three giant bowling pin costumes stand idly, awaiting their next call to duty. And then, of course, there's the rug. It really ties the room together.

With the 3rd Annual Lebowski Fest just days away, the event has come full circle, riding a wave of media attention to earn nods of appreciation from both the movie's creators and its main star. Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell, the fest's Founding Dudes, are in full swing, finalizing all of the ins, outs, and what-have-yous for the weekend.

Shuffitt and Russell don't seem put off by all of the attention. When I mentioned to Russell that I would be writing this article, for example, he replied without missing a beat: "Be sure to mention that I'm single. And looking." But they're still full of the goofy, Dude-like spirit that catalyzed the first event two years ago.

Around lunchtime Shuffitt descends from his upstairs workshop toting a strange apparatus.

"All rightie, Ben. You gotta minute? You wanna try out this marmot flinger?"

He hands me a mallet, and we spend the next 20 minutes fine-tuning a device designed to send a toy ferret soaring backwards through the air into a plastic washtub. It's a prototype for one of the games at Saturday's Lebowski-fied parking lot carnival, which will also include a "Ringer Toss," a "Sheriff of Malibu Coffee Cup Throw," lots of local bands, and food, drinks and prizes.

From there, discussion moves to choosing a song for their "Lebowski-oke" performance, an interlude between musical acts for which they'll don the giant bowling pin costumes. What to sing? "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" or "Ain't Nothin' But a G Thang"?

You can imagine where it goes from here ...

They fix the cable?

Contact the writer at leo@ leoweekly.com

Details, details...
Saturday's main Lebowski Fest event is sold out — condolences — but tickets are still available for Friday's fantastic double-bill at the Brown-Forman Amphitheatre at Waterfront Park, featuring performances by My Morning Jacket and Bare Jr., followed by a screening of the film. Tickets are $15 and are available at ear X-tacy, ticketweb.com and at the gate Friday night. Bare Jr. goes on about 7:15 p.m. My Morning Jacket should start around 8:45. The film screens at 11 p.m.

Also, tickets ($5) are still available for the Lebowski Fest's parking lot carnival on Saturday. It runs from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the parking lot of Executive Bowl at 911 Phillips Lane. Confirmed bands are Bodeco, The Shooting Gallery, Warren Ray, King Kong and the Pine Club. Go to www.LebowskiFest.com for more details.


Last changed: June 15. 2004 7:35PM

[jacketjunkie]

Does anyone have contact with the tapers at the show. I would love to have a copy. I will be willing to trade.
Pete

[Rabid_Washcloth]

I brought in my paper this morning before going to work and saw in large lettering, "The Dude Abides."  I usually throw the paper in the house and leave, but I had to check this one out.  The Lebowski Fest was on the front page (I don't know which section, but it was showing through the plastic bag).
 
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/movies/jump/2641600

No mention of MMJ.  Just thought you L'ville folks would like to know....and by the way, I'm a native Memphian.
Go Tigers!