By Isaiah Iles and Noah Jennings
The annual Louisville music festival Louder Than Life returned this year to bring rock and heavy metal fans from across the globe together. This year, the festival boasted an impressive lineup of artists, featuring old favorites and new faces alike.
From Sept. 18-21, the much-anticipated event brought in a record-breaking 240,000 fans this year. 4-day general admission passes, as well as all pass types for Friday and Saturday, were completely sold out.
Thursday and Friday set an explosive tone for the weekend
By Thursday evening Louder Than Life, the largest metal festival in our country’s history, was in full swing. Marilyn Manson took the crowd over and provoked some amount of hedonism by chanting “be obscene”.
Local band XweaponX got passionate reactions out of the crowd at the Kingdom stage. Slayer chants filled the crowd afterwards before one of the most potent metal bands in history began their performance.
Slayer rocks the main stage (Photo courtesy of Steve Thrasher / Danny Wimmer Presents)
Friday brought the energy and volume up with the band Liliac covering the late Ozzy Osbourne’s song ‘Crazy Train’. After that, audiences heard a mix of newer conventional and unconventional metal music from Gloryhammer,
Popular English band Sleep Token and Avenged Sevenfold’s iconic heavy metal flair brought a charged end to the night.
Marching Cards deliver a big surprise
For students and fans of the University of Louisville, Friday also brought an unexpected surprise. Louder Than Life’s production company, Danny Wimmer Presents, used the main stage to make the announcement that emo powerhouse My Chemical Romance would be headlining multiple music festivals next year.
To promote this announcement, members of University of Louisville’s marching band flooded the stage and played a rendition of the intro to My Chemical Romance’s ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’. This unique performance formed a special connection between the music festival and the city that hosts it.
U of L marching band delivers My Chemical Romance announcement (Photo courtesy of Steve Thrasher / Danny Wimmer Presents)
Saturday rocks local champions and powerhouse Deftones
Saturday morning saw the introduction of local band Left for Last on the Big Bourbon Stage, a timeslot the band received by winning the Loudest in Lou competition. This small stage gave a lot of otherwise unseen bands national attention by being a part of such a huge audience.
Afterwards, guests were entertained by a creative mix of old and new genres of metal such as Machine Head and Motionless in White until Deftones’ fanbase made their presence felt at the main stage. A Perfect Circle and Bad Omens set the bar high for Deftones to end the night.
With this being the first year Kentucky Kingdom access was granted to festival participants, many spent time between their favorite bands on the variety of rides offered by the park.
Along with roller coasters and live music, Louder Than Life offered plenty of vendor options for food. Savory options like fried chicken, pizza and street tacos. Louisville’s own Ehrler’s ice cream provided an option for those itching for a sweet option.
Sunday ends on a high note despite rocky weather
Although Sunday began with uncertain weather and rain clouds, it ended up as an impressive finale to an impressive weekend. Especially the performance of Grammy nominated Oldham County band Knocked Loose, with crowd volume and energy that rivaled the headliners.
Besides Knocked Loose, the festival’s finale included a trio of artists that had excited people all week. The alternative rock staple Evanescence took over on the stage before a metal-less set by the hip-hop duo $uicideBoy$. The United Kingdom’s Bring Me The Horizon, wrapped up the weekend’s performances.
Knocked Loose’s Louisville (Photo courtesy / Steve Thrasher, Danny Wimmer Presents)
Isaac Hale of Knocked Loose performs in front of Kentucky Kingdom (Photo courtesy / Steve Thrasher, Danny Wimmer Presents)
People crowd surfed, “moshed” and sang along with those around them all weekend. Any band unheard of before the festival has a place in the hearts of new fans all over the country.
To the Louder Than Life audience, the memories and community built during those four days at the festival go far beyond the Exposition Center’s gates, and many look forward to returning for 2026.
Featured photo courtesy / Logan Rouse, Danny Wimmer Presents
