Weather caused by remnants of Hurricane Helene forced Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, Kentucky to close down for the day yesterday, leading to the cancelation of a number of big name acts including, arguably the biggest draw of the entire festival, the Slayer reunion show.
The festival was announcing weather updates throughout the day on social media, starting on Thursday night when they posted on Instagram that they will be keeping an eye on the weather, which was followed by the doors being delayed in the morning. Hope waxed and waned throughout the day as the festival consulted with experts, and at one point there was even a shelter-in-place order. In the end, the festival had to issue a statement canceling for the day.
“Louder family, we’re heartbroken to share this,” the statement read,” but the weather just isn’t in our favor today. We’ve been working closely with our meteorologists and local authorities, holding on to hope that we could open doors, but the continuous wind gusts simply make it impossible for us to proceed safely.”
“Throughout the day there were moments where it seemed possible,” the statement continued, “but in the end, Mother Nature won this round.
“We now how disappointing this is—it’s gut-wrenching for us too. But your safety, along with the safety of our artists and crew, will always be our number one priority.
“The support and patience you showed us today has been nothing short of incredible,” it continued. “We fully intend to rock out with you tomorrow, check back in the morning for updates.”
No matter how metal you think you are, no, you could not have weathered Hurricane Helene just so you didn’t have to miss Slayer. The festival had a packed lineup for Friday, as they had for every day, and in addition to Slayer there were scheduled to be performances from Anthrax, Sevendust, Evanescence, Clutch, Tom Morello, Ho99o9, and a lot more. Even though the festival website says that all sales are final, the festival commented on their own account to say that Friday single-day passholders would be contacted shortly.
Saturday’s lineup is still pretty packed, featuring Mötley Crüe as the headliners and other big names including Mastodon, Dropkick Murphys, L.S. Dunes, Body Count, Health, Ill Niño, and more. Still, Slayer’s cancellation is disappointing to many. Hopefully the weather won’t cause any additional issues with the rest of the festival.
