LDB Fest Debrief 5/6/25
life of a spectator
Sitting down to write my first-hand account of everything I saw over LDB Fest weekend while it is still somewhat fresh in my mind. I would have loved to have sat down the Sunday after and gotten this all down but with cleanup, our buddy Jamie staying with us (whom I greatly appreciate helping with merch along with Eric from Full Bleed), doing inventory on fest leftovers, and going back to work Monday I have had no fucking time this week. Before getting into the bands I saw and my experiences I want to thank Ashton for everything she did to help this run smoothly from organizing volunteers and handling all the small negligible things you don’t notice until it’s too late. This was our first year as official fest organizers taking Alex and Ryan’s seats at the table and Ashton for sure did 80% of the input from our share of the responsibility (She also did an awesome rip of the Morton Salt Girl for our table this year). I also want to give Sam and Colin credit for everything they did to put out fires or keep this whole thing from bankrupting all of us. Festival attendance seems to be down nationwide right now and who can fucking blame anyone, they are expensive and with the cost of everything going up you have to be more discernable with your discretionary spending if you have the luxury of that to begin with. Lastly I want to thank everyone who came this year, even with less people in attendance I was so happy to see how close everyone moved up for every band I watched. Everyone who was here actually seemed like they wanted to be and that was wonderful to see. Especially considering my sprained ankle kept me from being an active participant (for the most part), I was happy to see bands get reactions that seemingly didn’t need me at all.
Starting with the preshow at Portal our local children Mean Mugg’d opened and got an awesome reaction from all the local kiddos as well as some out of towners that looked unfamiliar to me so heck yeah to that.
Next up was Steamroll from NYC and the mosh pit was full of excellent style I gotta say, just a beautiful sight to see.
Walk Alone played after and we opened with Unifrom Choice and people knew it! Fantastic! The rest of the set was fine or so I was told, I really don’t remember.
Flat Six ripped it next and did a bad ass Killing Time cover and I may not agree to put KT on top of that HC bracket but I respect Alex from F6’s commitment to them.
What Counts rocked a solid set full of the spirit and covered Flame Still Burns which I consider to be a very brave YOT cover to attempt and they did well enough that I didn’t notice any goofs.
I wasn’t sure how the reactions would go for No Cure and Dying Wish considering the obvious difference in sound from the rest of the lineup but seeing the same people in the pit for No Cure, What Counts, and Flat Six reminded me what a special open minded moment in HC we are living in. No Cure had a great response as did Dying Wish and the 100 Demons cover DW did was the closest I got to moshing on my jacked ankle.
First up on day one xGAARGOYLEx, probably one of the most popping bands we have in Louisville right now set it off and had a hell of a response. I watched Neriah from Basic Needs seemingly chase my friend Scott around trying to beat his ass and then have no recollection of doing so. They also did a Type O Negative cover I vaguely recognized and the first Rival Mob cover of the weekend. It makes me feel awfully old how common TRM covers are becoming.
I missed Surfaced while dealing with a never ending line at the LDB table but they sounded good and as I tried to go check them out I heard the “this is our last song warning” so I retreated back to the table in defeat.
I was excited to see Holy Blade and was delighted to see Britty from Pity Sex filling in for em. Their Underdog cover drew me onto the dancefloor without my ankle brace on. In my defense after careful consideration for all but 5 seconds I determined most likely only 3 people would know the cover and one of which would be Moe from Two Witnesses, meaning the most danger I would be in would be from a friend who honestly is known for erratic behavior. It was a chance I guess I was willing to take.
Killing Me Softly I will admit is not my thing so I tended the table during their set but did have a brief interaction with two of them later and they seemed like swell fellows.
Prevention from Springfield are one of the midwest bands with the best energy around them right now and were overdue playing this fest but it was worth the wait to see them crush on that big ass stage.
Bad Beat are easily a top 5 HC band for me right now and it makes me smile immensely to see my friend Jimmy in a band getting this kind of attention.
Big Ass Truck had what I thought would be the most people on the stage at once all weekend. It was concerning.
Age Of Apocalypse have been a band I have been impressed by since they started. The musical ambition they have is rare in a scene of replication and AOA are doing something unique that is not just LOA/OLW worship. I think it is starting to catch on because they had a set that showed them the appreciation I have always felt they deserved.
All cards on the table I watched bits of Soul Blind and Split Chain from the doorway by our merch table. They sounded excellent from the back of the room. Just not music I need to see at a damage inducing distance.
Static Dress lost power during their set. Took it like champs and finished. Still never got a for sure reason what happened. The roof had been leaking all day and signs point to that possibly or the shaky state of the Louisville electric grid during a storm in general.
Weapon X had the set of the day for sure. Highlight of the set was our friend Stevie dragging Dave out of the crowd like he was being rescued from a collapsed building. This will be one of my final thoughts as I die.
Missed Modern Color talking to friends
The back to back Soul Search/Fury block was killer. It made my night to see kids I watched come up at shows in the time these two bands extensively toured out there singing along and moshing. The pits had style and the spirit. Fury doing a bit of Judgement Day was awesome.
I missed God’s Hate doing the King Nine intro but it’s not like it would have done me any good with my fucked ass ankle.
Basement had a whole hell of a lot of people on the stage at one point too
We managed to make the after show in time to catch CMI. I was very bummed to miss En Love mostly because it meant missing my friends Jacob and Nate :( The other openers were new members of the Life and Death Brigade Basic Needs as well as my favorite local act right now, Eternal Wound. CMI set had the spirit though, lotta sweaty dudes hugging and singing along.
Day 2 Shogun opened up and I was straight up fucking moved by how many people showed up that early to go off hard for an LDB band.
Collateral is another of my top 5 current HC acts. It really meant a lot to hear how much it meant to them to play because it meant a lot to me to have them. Their Outburst cover was also the 2nd thing of the weekend to draw me out to the floor.
The Witnesses are a Louisville institution at this point and its always cool to see the reaction that out of towners give them on the annual chance they get with them.
Indication from Japan played to a fucking insane reaction and man I wish Poison The Well did anything for me because watching them cover Nerdy really made me wish I cared more, it looked like a lot of fun.
Combust had one of my favorite sets of the weekend. Andrew is such a fantastic frontman. Nobody tell him I said that shit tho
I was grinding at the merch table during Spy
Colin Of Arabia is a hardcore band that I think is very important to still have around. COA has everything that I think HC bands lack at times and they have it in spades. Controversial, adversarial, thoughtful, and full of personality. They played this year in part to support our reissue of their 20 year old debut LP “Illegal Exhibitions Of Speed” and apparently to be the only band of the weekend that I moshed for the entire set to the dismay of my partner and any other friends who knew the state of my ankle. Was it worth it? I’d say so and probably no one else because they also played my favorite song F.E.M.A.
Gates to Hell played a set that you had to be there for, without Ryan they had Isaac from KL and JP frop Surfaced fill in. I know Gates is one of the bands that was instrumental in ushering JP into the Louisville scene so it felt special to see him get to sing those songs.
I only caught the last 2 songs of YOTK but kids were beating the absolute crap out of each other
Glare sounded good but I saw a kid lying on the ground during their set looking at his phone in the truly laziest way I have ever witnessed and that rocked
Bitter End is the greatest band of my generation of HC and they got the best reaction I have seen them get in years and deserved every second of it
I only caught the “who’s that peekin in my window part” of Missing Link and if the rest of their set compared to that then they must be pretty satisfied
Haywire was the set of the weekend. They got the moshing, they got the diving, they got the singing along, and they had the spirit. They also did the 2nd Rival Mob cover of the day. Sparkman deserves the world, a true HC lifer.
Peeling Flesh had the toughest spot to follow Haywire and I spent much of their set hanging out with the Barrons (a peek behind the curtains while searching for a link to a bandcamp for them, the album art for this release made me actually lol)
I missed NEG trapped in a conversation with Moe and then with COA, I would have been useless anyway
Jay Mindforce did the most insane thing I have ever seen a frontman do during their set and it will haunt me the rest of my life, those that know know
Spent Superheaven catching up with Bill from NEG, I am sorry Joe Kane :/ the new Superheaven stuff is incredible tho
Seeing Cold World in my hometown is something 17 year old me would have never believed would ever happen. Apologies to everyone for stage moshing. I hope it wasn’t too cringe. I was having big feelings.
I hope this was useful or amusing to anyone who was or wasn’t there. I had big worries the weekend could flop on the first year we had a real hand in helping. It felt great to see everyone who showed out give a shit to make the weekend special for the bands and themselves alike. These fests are expensive and we are trying our best to make next year more affordable (presale tickets for next year HERE). Thank you again to Ashton, Colin, Sam, and Jake for everything we were able to do. And thank you to Eric at Full Bleed for all the help he did with security. Thank you to Joey, Jacob and Lane and the rest of the production and sound crews that got us out on time every day, keeping the fest running smooth. Thanks to all the volunteers local and non-local, it meant a lot to see the kids who make HC in our region so special, give their time and energy like they do week in and week out. I give everything to this and it’s humbling at times to see how much more others are able to give.
-Tyler
“Hardcore is my life, I’ll carry the name” - Madball
The most fun I’ve had in ages and truly a testament to the HC spirit. Next year can’t come soon enough.