2014 Forecastle Festival - July 18-20 - Louisville, KY

[ajclements004]

It's here!!! I'd like to meet up with some of you fine folks this weekend!

[EverythingChanges]

It's here!!! I'd like to meet up with some of you fine folks this weekend!

Are you going solo? I'll be with a group of friends off and on tomorrow, but it'll just be my girlfriend and me at Moon Taxi. You're more than welcome to meet up with us tomorrow sometime.

Districts killed it. Not a big Outkast fan, but I hope everyone else enjoyed their set!

[ajclements004]

I will be there by myself the rest of the weekend.  Got to meet some good people today and hope to meet more.

[LBSUNFLWR]

Highlights of yesterday for me were JJ Grey and MOFRO and Gary Clarke Jr. We saw all of JJ grey from fairly close up, great fun set! and I was very impressed by Gary Clarke and his guitar player. We left his set just a few minutes early to check out Local Natives. Their set was so loud to me that it didn't even sound good. so we went over to the WFPK stage and saw part of The Districts, I liked them. Took forever just to get some Pizza but it was good pizza at Pie for the people. Then we went back to WFPK area and saw Leagues. Then headed over to Outkast. I liked it, though I am not really into their music. We left about 15 minutes before the end to try to get out ahead of most people and home. the rain put a little damper on things but still way better than it being crazy hot like it should be here this time of year!

It's so great having the festival here and then going home to my own shower and bed each night! :)  Can't wait for today. Better line-up today and especially tomorrow for me. Isbell and Band of Horses are my main attractions today, but also plan on seeing Spanish Gold, Lord Huron, Sharon Jones, and Slint and jack White.

[ajclements004]

Ran into Two-Tone at the VIP bar at the Moon Taxi show last night.  It was pretty surreal.

[rmpotsy]

Pardon my language but...

JACK MOTHER FUCKING WHITE

[EverythingChanges]

Ran into Two-Tone at the VIP bar at the Moon Taxi show last night.  It was pretty surreal.

What?! Tom was at the moon taxi show and I missed it? Super cool. He should have played with them.

The whole weekend was great. Jack is on a mission to prove that he is one hell of a headlining act. Beck made me a fan after last night. He was hilarious and lots of fun. Great weekend.

[LBSUNFLWR]

Sorry guys but Jack White really does nothing for me. And I really liked both Racontuers albums, but I can't get into his other music. it all sounds the same to me. we stayed for about 45 minutes of his set and then went home. Beck on the other hand was awesome. I was surprised at how great he was live. That Billie Jean was awesome!! I like the slower sad stuff like Lost Cause and was really glad to hear that one. But I loved all that funky shit he did too. he was great!!

Sunday was my favorite day! Sharon Van Etten was really good. Sun Kil Moon was good, Jenny Lewis was excellent!! The first half was all I saw of The Replacements but I thought they were good and Ray LaMontagne never disappoints. I would have loved to hear less of his new album and more old songs, but I understand he is promoting a new album. his voice is just magnificent to me, I love him.

Saturday had some great moments as well. very cool to see Spanish Gold. really liked it. But Isbell and Band of Horses were my favorite parts of the day. Jason Isbell is just always excellent! and Band of Horses was as well.

overall, a great weekend. Such a great festival. I am so impressed with all that they did to keep the place clean as well. all the recycling efforts, and people picking up trash, and I even saw people going around with gloves and a Ziploc picking up cigarette butts. Even the bathrooms weren't that bad. all the water stations and booths and vendors: just really well planned I thought.

This was only my 2nd time going. 2012 will always be hard to top for me considering I saw MMJ headline one night and Wilco headline the next night...but this was a great line-up and I had a really fun time!

[APR]

Sorry guys but Jack White really does nothing for me. And I really liked both Racontuers albums, but I can't get into his other music. it all sounds the same to me. we stayed for about 45 minutes of his set and then went home. Beck on the other hand was awesome. I was surprised at how great he was live. That Billie Jean was awesome!! I like the slower sad stuff like Lost Cause and was really glad to hear that one. But I loved all that funky shit he did too. he was great!!

Sunday was my favorite day! Sharon Van Etten was really good. Sun Kil Moon was good, Jenny Lewis was excellent!! The first half was all I saw of The Replacements but I thought they were good and Ray LaMontagne never disappoints. I would have loved to hear less of his new album and more old songs, but I understand he is promoting a new album. his voice is just magnificent to me, I love him.

Saturday had some great moments as well. very cool to see Spanish Gold. really liked it. But Isbell and Band of Horses were my favorite parts of the day. Jason Isbell is just always excellent! and Band of Horses was as well.

overall, a great weekend. Such a great festival. I am so impressed with all that they did to keep the place clean as well. all the recycling efforts, and people picking up trash, and I even saw people going around with gloves and a Ziploc picking up cigarette butts. Even the bathrooms weren't that bad. all the water stations and booths and vendors: just really well planned I thought.

This was only my 2nd time going. 2012 will always be hard to top for me considering I saw MMJ headline one night and Wilco headline the next night...but this was a great line-up and I had a really fun time!

Did you catch Lord Huron as well?  Lonesome Dreams is incredible from start to finish.

[e_wind]

WHOA... Jack White did everything to me, and more. I have never dove into any of JWs bands, so I was very happy when he fucking killed it. That was my favorite show of the weekend. Other than that, Isbell and Beck were my favorites. Outkast was great too. I'm very very happy with the weekend over all. So much great music.

[LBSUNFLWR]

yes, I saw most of Lord Huron and also like that album. 

This morning I came back to work and my boss told me his son said Billy Jo Armstrong from Green Day was playing the whole set with The Replacements. Did anyone else see that? I haven't read any news about Forecastle.

Besides Jenny Lewis having The Watson Twins, and Ray Lamontagne having Chris from Nickel Creek I don't know of any other special guests in anyone's sets. Did anyone else see anything?

Also, a friend of mine was up front for Slint and said Jason Isbell was front and center watching and rocking out!!

[oistheone]

Man, I don't even know how to sum up Forecastle 2014 other than saying it was one of the absolute best festivals I've ever been to. I think it was the only festival I've attended where my top three acts were the top three headliners -- they just fucking KILLED IT. Outkast was everything I hoped for and SOMEHOW more, Jack White is the showman of the century and Beck was up there for the best dance-party of the weekend. In fact I don't think I saw a bad act all weekend.

Forgive my rambling ways and probable grammatically inaccurate nature, as I'm still very excited and my brain is absolutely fried. But WHAT A WEEKEND!

Forecastle has grown so much since I'd last been in 2012, but it still retained that awesome, small feel, and EVERYONE I met could not have been nicer or more awesome. My girlfriend and I grooved with some strangers all three nights and I've never had a more awesome time. If you saw a big group dancing ridiculously during any of the headliner acts, you probably saw my crew.

Special props to MMJ for somehow stealing the show -- ran into Tommy like 20 times throughout the weekend, and Pat and Jim were rocking SO HARD right in front of my girlfriend and I during the Replacements. After the show, I went up to them asking if they would be so kind as to grade my girlfriend's MMJ tattoo, and like the wonderful people they are, they called her over and we all chatted and took pics for a few minutes. My girlfriend has the MMJ owl tattooed on her wrist, and when I asked what they'd rate that on a MMJ TAT scale of one-to-ten, Pat quickly replied "oh that's definitely a ONE...." and my girlfriend, myself and Jim all kinda took an awkward look at him before he flashed a huge smile and said "..ZERO.. A one-zero! That's a ten baby!" and it was probably the funniest moment of the weekend.

Other musical highlights (in order) were:

JJ GREY AND MOFRO - These guys are such pros and their music is wayyy too groovin'. I'd be shocked if they weren't at Roo next year.

GARY CLARK JR - Never disappoints. Added a rhythm guitarist back to the fold after just playing trio style when I saw him the week earlier.

SPANISH GOLD - They've turned into a well-oiled machine. Dante and Adrian make a killer axe-duo, and what more can possibly said about how awesome Pat is??

SHARON JONES - What a buncha fuckin pros. It was fun to watch them worry about over how much time they had left. Of course, the SECOND the clock turned to 6:15 and their set was over, they played their very last note and left the stage. PROS I TELL YA!

DWIGHT YOAKAM - What a legend. And WHAT A JACKET!!!

BRETT DENNEN - Wasn't expecting this, but what a pleasant set. Had no idea Jamie McLean played guitar for him, that guy is the best!

JENNY LEWIS - My lord, I love Jenny enough, but when she brought out the Watson Twins for a COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED SIT-IN (one that probably won't happen again this tour) I just about died. Absolute heaven.

REIGNWOLF - Hilariously rockin'. Pulled out every "over-the-top move" on the rock checklist. Ditching the band to play guitar and drums one-man-band style? CHECK! Crowdsurfing to the middle of the crowd then standing on them while ripping a solo? CHECK! Rip all the strings out and smash your guitar at the end of the set? DOUBLE CHECK!!

THE REPLACEMENTS - SOOOO FUCKING GOOD. What a rockin' party. And bonus Billie Joe appearance! Best banter of the weekend winner for sure.
"We're the Cements, the world's greatest Replacements tribute band."
"If you were hoping we could save this set from disaster, that hope died with that song."
"We're basically just a bunch of traveling hobos, begging for change. Can you spare a quarter...million?"

Basically, as usual, I just can't gush enough about Forecastle and the city of Louisville. e_wind, HUUUUGE shoutout to you on those bar/resto recommendations because Hammerheads and Gralehaus BLEW MY FUCKING MIND!

FORECASTLE 4 LYFE!! (A tattoo I'm considering getting)

[LBSUNFLWR]

 

I only moved to Louisville 2 1/2 years ago and this was my 2nd time at Forecastle. This was the biggest turn-out so far and everything seemed to run very smoothly. I didn't witness any incidents or damage being done, etc.  It does speak highly of the festival and the city itself and the people who attended.

We didn't run into any musicians other than 2 of the guys from MOFRO later on Friday and just shook their hand and told them how much we enjoyed their set.

It was just an overall damn good time! Can't wait to see what next year brings!!

[stxfan10]

"Special props to MMJ for somehow stealing the show -- ran into Tommy like 20 times throughout the weekend, and Pat and Jim were rocking SO HARD right in front of my girlfriend and I during the Replacements. After the show, I went up to them asking if they would be so kind as to grade my girlfriend's MMJ tattoo, and like the wonderful people they are, they called her over and we all chatted and took pics for a few minutes. My girlfriend has the MMJ owl tattooed on her wrist, and when I asked what they'd rate that on a MMJ TAT scale of one-to-ten, Pat quickly replied "oh that's definitely a ONE...." and my girlfriend, myself and Jim all kinda took an awkward look at him before he flashed a huge smile and said "..ZERO.. A one-zero! That's a ten baby!" and it was probably the funniest moment of the weekend."

Woah. I thought running into Pat during Tune Yards set was cool.
He seemed like he was in a hurry to get up front, so I didn't say anything beyond "Hey, Pat."
Sounds like your Forecastle 2014 was quite memorable.

[e_wind]

Pardon my language but...

JACK MOTHER FUCKING WHITE

Yup. Stole the whole god-damn weekend. I've never tried to get into any of JW's bands, but now....

Other than that - Isbell ruled. Beck killed it. Outkast was the shit, too. The Black Lips we're a fun weekend opener. First time I've seen Against Me! since her surgery, didn't change the music or performance, I just was interested in seeing if it would. Jenny Lewis was great. JaLin Roze was great, and some close friends of mine were recruited for his back up band. Fuckin' Slint. The Replacements. One of the best weekends of music I've ever seen...