By Joey Yazell–
Barnaroo featured The Kicks, Caleb, and Louisville’s own A Lion Named Roar. Students flocked to hear the indie pop bands, despite the ominous weather forecast, on Wednesday, April 17 at the Red Barn. Barnaroo headliners A Lion Named Roar will be a part of 91.9 WFPK’s Waterfront Wednesday on April 24 at Waterfront Park.
On Wednesday, the Red Barn was home to “Barnaroo” sponsored by The SAB Campus Outreach. With a three band line up, students were rocking out with free T-Shirts, free food provided by SAB and ice cream by The Comfy Cow well into the night. To start the evening off the Nashville based band The Kicks took the stage and rocked through a 30-minute set, followed by a ratifying performance by more Nashville Natives called Caleb.
This was the first time for The Kicks to perform in Louisville and they seemed quite excited to be at the home of the 2013 NCAA National Champions. The drummer, Andy Meyers said Russ Smith was his favorite player. The Kicks turned up the volume and claimed the stage for a thirty minute set.
Headlining this year’s Barnaroo was local band A Lion Named Roar. Together since 2009, the band released their first official EP called Foreign Land, which is receiving publicity locally and nationally. The five piece group is expected to play WFPK’s Waterfront Wednesday on April 24 and also performing at this year’s Forecastle Festival on July 14. This is not the first time they’ve visited us on campus though. This band played at the red barn over the summer for a concert at a session of the freshman orientation. With ease, the group drew a crowd and performed sensational set.
“Were real dudes, playing real music,” said frontman Chris Jackson. “We want to connect.”
The Louisville Cardinal ask guitarist Tyler Anderson why the band has chosen to stay in Louisville thus far.
“It’s the Gateway,” Anderson said. “We’re only two-and-a-half to three hours away from a long list of other great music cities. You can pop down to Nashville and be engulfed by twice the amount of musicians or producers and artists, same with Indianapolis, same with St. Louis. In Louisville, it’s a very unique demographic of listeners, though. I like the music we do in this town; we stand out a little bit. We love this city, we all grew up here, and we love the people, the food, everything. What’s the point in migrating to another city, you know?”
Natalie Moser, who attended the show, said, “It was so much fun! I really enjoyed all the bands, and the ice cream? Oh so good. Another good night at U of L!”
With great live music, great atmosphere, and free food who couldn’t resist Barnaroo? The night was a success and fun for all. With a crowd of many, and smiles of plenty, I would hope for another Barnaroo next year. The SAB did a great job of organizing this event and props to them for the music selection as well. Through the mucky, rainy, not so pleasant day Barnaroo 2013 was an all-around swell time.
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Photo by Nicholas Linares
