Sunday, July 8 – Saturday, July 14 (Plus Sunday, July 15 to complete Forecastle)
The Week in Music Festivals: This weekend I headed down to Forecastle for three days of music, art, and bourbon. The highlights of the performances for me were Arcade Fire, Jenny Lewis, War on Drugs, AJR, Lucero, Margo Price, and Father John Misty. The overall music lineup was a little heavy on county and bluegrass and the weather (high 90’s and humid) didn’t lend itself to energetic shows at least during the heat of the day. Still, Forecastle is a perfect Midwest music event: good music, good people, and a pleasant atmosphere.
First up, my summer crush on Father John Misty stands:
The best show was the headliner Arcade Fire. I have no usable photos. But the runner up best show was Jenny Lewis:
The Week in Hometown Pride: As part of Forecastle, the Teddy Abrams, the 31-year-old musical director of the Louisville Orchestra, curated all the music for the Port Stage. He programmed local musicians of all abilities and experiences from the Louisville Leopard Percussionists (made up of local 6th to 9th graders) to a show featuring Abrams with professional musicians from around the city. I saw a few songs from several performers during the festival, but set aside a few minutes on the last day to watch Abrams on the last show scheduled for the stage. He is an effusive and sincere ambassador of Louisville and the Louisville music scene, and the shows on the Port stage were about the most honest and true music performances as a non-commercial music fan like myself could hope for.
The Week in Louisville 1 – the Ohio River and Louisville Pride: Cincinnati (where I’m from) and Louisville are good neighbors. Citizens travel to and fro with good things to say. First and foremost, the Ohio River is wider at Louisville, a great source of wonder for Cincinnati-ans. Horses and Mohammed Ali abound. They are proud of their Bourbon, their horses, and their native Louisvillians who have made a mark on the society-at-large. Louisville is a nice city.
The Week in Louisville 2 – Distilling: Louisville is part of the Bourbon Trail and distillery tours are part of the attraction to the area. Though the Bulleit and Angel’s Envy distilleries were super close (and tours any tourist would take), we opted for the Brandy distillery Copper and Kings where they make brandy, gin and absinthe. I actually have the $35 Copper and Kings brandy in my cabinet which I bought to cook with and have since been drinking over ice. It’s delicious and reminiscent of bourbon which surprised me. However, the guide showed me the bourbon barrels in which the brandy is aged, and everything came together.
The Week in Louisville 3 – Eggs: If you search for “best breakfast in Louisville” on the Google machine, you’ll quickly see that the town is wild about Wild Eggs. I ate at Wild Eggs on Saturday and it was really good. But on Monday, on the way out of town, we ate at Con Huevos and that was outstanding. Our location was tiny (like 5 tables and a small bar) and packed (turning people away – so sad!). A great find!
The Week in Restaurant-Revisiting – Back in Cincinnati: I’ve been going to Cheapside (located where downtown and OTR collide) since its opening in 2014. And since it’s opening I have always liked and respected the food and the aesthetic. But damn. The attitude was downright pretentious. I’ve gone back sporadically, for the food (!!!), but always left with the feeling that they thought I was doing some kind of public service for eating at their establishment. Well, finally, this time I got their delicious chorizo egg sandwich with no attitude. Everything has finally come together. And, p.s.: I know they got some bad press for not being kind enough to the homeless people who gather at this uniquely affluent corner of the neighborhood, but those accusations were withdrawn. In my opinion, Cheapside’s vision of a great food experience has finally meshed with being good neighbors and understanding human-beings. Sometimes restaurants take a while to find their footing. Cheapside is solid!
Nothing Ever Happens on My Street 