Sunday wrapped up 2 massive weekends for the crew over at DWP with record-breaking attendance across 2 weekends. Both Bourbon & Beyond, which took place September 11-14, and Louder Than Life, September 18-21, in Louisville, Kentucky. Combined, both Bourbon & Beyond and Louder than Life welcomed 450,000 across the two weekends, bringing in about 43 million for the local economy. Both festivals were held at the Kentucky Exposition Center, which allowed festival passholders to enjoy free rides at Kentucky Kingdom.
Louder Than Life Highlights
Louder Than Life was filled with epic moments throughout the entire weekend. However, here are a few of the MAJOR Moments you need to make sure you didn’t miss.
First, the return of the mighty SLAYER on Thursday night. I know technically it’s not their return, but it’s still a very rare performance for the band. To be able to see Slayer now, one of the Big 4, and probably the biggest name in Thrash Metal, is an opportunity you do not want to pass up. If you missed their set or were unable to make it to Louder Than Life, then check out this live video of them performing their hit Reign in Blood. Huge thank you to the YouTube channel Steven Pritchett for this video.
Rob Zombie Performing Astro-Creep: 2000 in its entirety
If you grew up in the 90’s we all know that iconic intro to More Human than Human, and know the staple, the album Astro-Creep: 2000 was for metalheads. Though it was not with the original line-up of White Zombie, it’s still amazing to watch Rob perform those Astro-Creep: 2000 from front to back. Check out the live video of More Human Than Human below.
Friday was filled with a stacked lineup and offered one of the weekend’s highest attended days at an estimated 80,000 fans. Now I’m going to be honest, there are a ton of amazing things about Friday. Like Co-headliners Avenged Sevenfold performing their only US headlining show of the year. Dream Theater celebrating 40 years, Mudvayne celebrating LD-50, Dope celebrating 25 years, but let’s be honest. The Night belongs to Sleep Token. Having just kicked off their “Even in Arcadia” tour to support their latest album “Even in Arcadia”. A band whose entire US tour sold out in minutes, of tickets going on pre-sale. Sleep Token was a band we were lucky enough to be able to catch early in their career and watch them grow into the superstars they are now. Check out the video of their performance of their single “Emergence” below.
Saturday was another action-packed line-up that saw its share of anniversary shows and reunions. Like Snot, From First To Last, Spineshank, and Acid Bath all reuniting. Then you had bands like Kittie celebrating 25 years of Spit. The Union Underground celebrating 25 years of “An Education in Rebellion,” not to mention their first KY show in over 20 years. Though there are so many amazing bands on Saturday, there are 2 I want to feature here. First is our good friends in The Funeral Portrait. This is a band we at Soundlink have had the privilege to watch grow up. We were one of the first media outlets to interview them, many years ago. I just recently got to speak with Lee this past November in Upstate SC and catch up, talk about their latest release, touring with Manson, and Five Finger, and more. [WATCH THAT INTERVIEW HERE] But the boys in The Funeral Portrait have been busting their butts for years, just grinding away, and to see them get a chance to play the mainstage is amazing. Finally, the highlight of the night would be watching Bad Omens perform as a headliner on the mainstage. This is another band we’ve been able to watch grow up. We first met Noah and Bad Omens when they opened the Sumerian Records 10-year tour. We interviewed them that night in the lobby of a Mexican restaurant in Charlotte, NC. [WATCH THAT INTERVIEW HERE] Then continued to follow and support them on Warped Tour, Self Help, and more. So to see them get to co-headline a main stage is amazing.
Sunday worried a lot of people because of the weather. Rain delayed gates and canceled sets, but finally, gates opened and loudmouths were able to wrap up their amazing weekend. Sunday was packed with reunion shows like 12 Stones (Set was cancelled because of the weather), It Dies Today, Rev Theory, and South Carolina Natives Crossfade, not to mention a MASSIVE Wall of Death during Slaughter to Prevail. The highlight of the day was a few things. First is Bring Me The Horizon performing “a bulleT w/ my namE On” with Underoath’s Spencer Chamberlin live for the first time. Second, to watch Knocked Loose perform at a major festival on the mainstage in their hometown. Finally, even though their set was cancelled earlier in the day, watching 12 Stones frontman Paul McCoy performing his part with Evanescence was a trip down memory lane to 2003, to my Senior year of high school, and watching that music video on TRL. Check out videos from all these special moments below.
Louder than Life is scheduled to return September 17- 20 for 2026, and has already announced none other than My Chemical Romance performing Welcome to the Black Parade in its entirety. So mark your calendars and sign up for Text Alerts to be the first to know when tickets and VIP go on sale.
