When Louder Than Life Festival was announced in June to take place on October 4-5, there was much buzz—some about the bands, some about the booze—but there was also some about the food or as Louder Than Life calls it, man food.
There is a lot of anticipation about Louder Than Life as it is the first event of this size to serve Louisville as well as the surrounding area’s hard rock community. With a lineup that stars Kid Rock, Judas Priest, and Korn, the excitement is warranted.
But one variable caused a lot of questions and some disdain and that’s man food. The questions do not necessarily ask what man food is. Louder Than Life elaborates in detail on their website about the vendors for the festival (which include many local establishments).
The questions (and frustrations) derive from why they decided to call it man food. One snarky response has been, “Can women eat man food?”
I spoke to Clay Busch, the head of marketing for Danny Wimmer Presents, the producer of Louder Than Life, for further explanation.
“Man food is not your typical gourmet,” said Busch. “It’s all about being loud and expressive.”
Loud, as the festival is appropriately named, is a key word in describing Louder Than Life’s man food. It’s not gender based food, but man food exhibits certain characteristics in its preparation, consumption, and presentation for a specific audience.
“It’s not necessarily for the weak of heart,” said Busch. He said man food is for people that bring big appetites. Man food also includes powerful presentation Busch said.
Busch and the rest of the team at Danny Wimmer Presents received inspiration for the food plans at Louder Than Life after visiting Louisville restaurants like Rye, Sidebar, Lil Cheezers, and Spinelli’s.
Busch also cites the techniques that some of Louder Than Life’s celebrity chefs approach their style of cooking. Let’s just say power tools get involved. The celebrity chef list includes Chris Santos, Vic Vegas, Tom Coghill, and Bill Kunz.
Louder Than Life is October 4-5 at Louisville Champions park near the corner of River Road and Zorn Avenue. Two day tickets starts at $109.50 plus fee. A four pack of tickets are being sold for $360 ($90/ticket).
Cover photo courtesy of Shutterstock/
