With the new changes in the laws that take effect in October 2008 we have created new submission guidelines. Please take a minute to read them before sending us any music they are now posted on the Musicians page. We appreciate each and every one of you and we don’t want to seem difficult, just legal.
I have waited to write this review because I know Mr. Preston is just dying to hear what I have to say. LOL! Well, Ryan here you go…
Since I was so blatantly challenged to the Thunderdome Battlefield by Mr. Preston of the local Thrash Metal Band Overthrone I had no choice but to defend my honor, don my armor (ear plugs, notepad & microphone), drag my fair maiden by the arm and accept the public challenge!
I arrived at the venue early so I could let my adversary know I was present and ready for battle. After the exchange of introductions it was time for me to take my place inside the Dome and prepare for what I was afraid I would hear; another disaster performance. This time I situated myself in the sound booth so I would have a better view of the bands and possibly better sound direction. Then Overthrone took the stage and I braced for the inevitable…
Holy SHIT! I gotta tell you I think they actually practiced before coming to Thunderdome this time! Ryan, I must admit, this time you guys kicked ass! It was a very good performance and the crowd loved it. Good job guys, I knew you wouldn’t let us down. I look forward to the next one.
There was one little incident where Mr. Preston tried to catch me off guard and poke fun at VilleRadio from the stage… Gotcha Ryan! Little did he know I was in the sound booth actually working the lights for the night. Upon his announcement I was prepared as I had the lights in his eyes and microphone in hand for an immediate come back! You should’ve seen the look on his face as he tried to find where I was tainting him from. It was truly in fun and I enjoyed it.
The other bands were awesome too! I must honestly say it was the best night I have had Thunderdome yet. If you haven’t made it to the Dome on Saturday night yet, SHAME on you! Nick, Louie & Tim are doing a great job with bringing great local talent to the venue. I am proud that VilleRadio.com got involved.
Oh, and by the way Mr. Preston, the song you sent me was very good and it has made rotation on the station! Keep up the good work.
Holy crap the “Old Bastard”, as titled by Mr. Preston of Overthrone, finally had a full night of great music at the DOME! Can it be they have finally perfected the scheduling and made a venue that will rock The Ville like the old Brewery did? Hot damn, I think they have!
From the Moon Deck to the hall itself the night totally rocked and the crowd keeps getting larger each week. The wife and I enjoyed all the bands so much we kept wandering between the outside and inside in an effort to take in all the awesome things going on. Louie reiterated their commitment to Independent Artists and local bands during one of the breaks and I totally agree with him. The Ville has plenty of fantastic musicians that could keep the Dome rocking for years to come. This is OUR venue, all of us that live in this great city and if you weren’t there, shame on you!
You couple the great music with the XXX Games on the deck and you have a night of hellacious fun! I had told the wife I thought I was getting a little old for 2 late nights in a row and this was reinforced when we met a young lady in the crowd that asked us if we were somebody’s moms and dad. LOL! I told her we were here for the music and she said that was cool, the old folks kicking to the tunes! Ryan, I guess you were right, I really am officially the Old Bastard of the local music scene. After 28 years in the music industry it might be time for me to retire; NOT!
In my HONEST opinion I think they have a little more room for improvement but they are on the right track. We had a fantastic time last night and listened to some very good music. We gave away a 4 Day 3 Night Bahamas Cruise to a lucky winner. Our station donated 2 trips from one of our sponsors and originally that was going to be all we did as far as giveaways. We had such a good time last night I have changed my mind about that. I have an idea and I haven’t even told the management of the Dome about it yet, so you are the first to hear it from me.
I reported in to the station owner last night after the show (actually it was this morning and I woke his ass up LOL) and told him we needed to do another promotion with The Brewery Thunderdome. He was so impressed with my report he called VIP Travel and we were donated more Bahamas Vacations!
Here’s my idea and we will perfect it sometime this week. EVERYONE who brings at least 15 people with them for at least 3 of the next 6 weeks will get a Bahamas Cruise on the Cruise Ship Discovery! That’s right EVERYBODY! The rules are you must email ticket reservations to thebrewerythunderdome@gmail.com and reserve your tickets in advance. List all the names of the friends you are bringing! You must have at least 15 people on your list show up each week to qualify. Here’s the kicker; If your 15 friends bring 15 friends, they win a cruise too (they must send their own email as well)! The Ville Radio Network at VilleRadio.com is dedicated in our sponsorship of The Brewery Thunderdome and Independent/Local Artists!
I guess Nick and Louie will be surprised when they read this!
Keep Rocking!
As everyone probably already knows by now The Brewery Thunderdome is back! Well it doesn’t hold as many people as it used to, but the quality is still there. We were invited to visit and give our honest opinions so here’s what we came up with.
First off let me tell you a little about the club itself. The Dome holds probably close to 700 people and the stage, lighting and sound is just plain awesome. You step outside onto the Moon Deck and that particular area looks as if it could hold around 300 people comfortably. Cover bands play on the deck stage every weekend and Saturday night it was hopping. The Brewery should be open within the next two weeks. They are just waiting on the final permit on the kitchen. Personally I’m more excited about The Brewery than the rest of it. I look forward to the live acoustical entertainment that has been promised. I do want to complain about the beer prices though. Everyone knows I pull no punches when asked to do a review and give my honest opinion so $3.00 for a canned beer in Louisville, KY is just plain ridiculous. Especially with the demographics the club is after; hey guys take my advice, these kids can’t afford that. Mixed drink prices were reasonable and ranged from $4.00-$5.00. That’s pretty well average for the area. The management has assured me they are working with the owner to run beer specials so our outings to the Dome will be a little more affordable.
Now to the music:
On the Moon Deck the cover band was Stoned Crow from Elizabethtown, KY. It seems the band has been together for about a year now and I would venture to say coming to Thunderdome was probably their biggest gig yet. I arrived early and listened to them warm up and with the sound of the instrumentals thought we were going to be in for a big treat. The lead guitarist was awesome! The bass and drummer kept right in rhythm and I actually found myself moving to the grove per say. All that ended when the lead singer took the stage. In all honesty he couldn’t carry a tune in a bottle. That seems to be a problem all over Louisville with cover bands. The instrumentals sound great but for some reason the 17th largest market in the nation lacks good vocalists. Maybe with more practice and possibly a few voice lessons this group may advance up the ladder a half notch.
The Dome hosted 3 local Metal Bands for the crowds’ enjoyment. I almost felt sorry for them as they rushed to get their equipment off and on the stage between sets, but they didn’t seem to mind at all. I believe they were just happy to be back performing in the notorious Thunderdome.
Overthrone was the opening band. All I have to say about them is I thought you were supposed to practice before performing in a place like Thunderdome. It was almost as if the left hand didn’t have a clue what the right hand was doing. I guess most would call it harsh Metal as I couldn’t understand one word of the lyrics. Maybe next time they will provide programs with printed lyrics so I can read along as they scream. Needless to say I wasn’t very impressed at all. About halfway through their set I went outside to the Moon Deck figuring I could at least understand Stoned Crow making them the most viable option at the time. While on the deck I was approached by one of the promoters who asked me what I thought so far and I had to honestly tell them they really hadn’t impressed me thus far. He assured me it was about to get better and it did.
Adaptize took the stage and I forced myself to re-enter the dome for their performance. I must say I wasn’t disappointed this time. Obviously these guys have practiced religiously (no pun intended) and it showed in their performance. I could actually understand the words Ryan Dunn was singing and his vocals were very good. Chris Croxton set the pace on the drums and never missed a beat. The instrumentals by Croft (lead guitar) and Bond (bass guitar) were fantastic and each of them complimented the other. If you like Hard Rock I recommend you visit the bands website at Adaptize.net, look at their schedule, and check out their next gig. They play all original music and I have a feeling they will advance highly up the ladder of success in the music industry in the next few years. Their performance left me looking forward to hearing the Headlining Band which was due up next.
Sonic Epitaph took the stage and totally rocked the house! The band is from LaGrange, KY and the crowd was obviously starving for Goth music performed in their style of a European symphonic/power metal similar to the sounds of Nightwish or Lacuna Coil. This style of music is very scarce in Kentucky but those in attendance definitely enjoyed it.
I was actually contacted by Donnie who is the drummer and band manager about a week before the show and he submitted a song that he asked me to review for possible airtime on VilleRadio.com. Since we specialize in Independent Artists especially those from the local Louisville scene I listened just as I do every song submitted (that’s about 100 a week). Once I listened I immediately placed the song into rotation on the station. Since we are sponsoring Thunderdome with 2 Bahamas Cruise Packages I wasn’t actually due to attend performances until July 25th & 26th when we are holding the drawing but as soon as I found out Sonic Epitaph was playing on the 19th I canceled a scheduled outing to the Bats game and the wife and I headed to the dome. I just had to see if this female vocalists was as good as she sounded on the MP3 that was sent or if it had been digitally enhanced. As I said earlier finding good strong vocals in this market is very tough. I listen to local submissions every week and a large majority of the songs end up in my recycle bin, not on the station.
When all was said and done I was mesmerized by excellent vocals, instrumentation and percussion! I think Donnie’s drum set took up the whole back of the stage and I swear he used every piece on the set. I definitely heard more than I was expecting and even though Goth really isn’t my style I sat and listened to the whole performance. I even missed out on the wet t-shirt contest on the Moon Deck because I couldn’t make myself leave Thunderdome.
I would like to wish Cristina (great vocals), Joe, Gene, Amy and Donnie all the best and I will catch another show soon.
The final opinion. Even though I had few grievances to list at the beginning all in all The Brewery Thunderdome ROCKS! They’ve only been operating again for a couple months and I’m quite certain they will get the minor kinks worked out very soon. If you want to listen to some Kick Ass music, the dome is the only place to be (no, they didn’t pay me to say that). I definitely give them two thumbs up for their efforts thus far. I will be there Friday and Saturday this week so I’m sure I’ll have more to write about. Come join me and the whole staff from VilleRadio.com this weekend. Don’t forget to reserve your tickets early by sending an email to thebrewerythunderdome@gmail.com. Put as many names in your email as you want and your tickets will be reserved at the door for only $6.00. Everyone on the list will be registered automatically to win a 4 Day 3 Night Cruise to the Bahamas. Be sure to include your name, the names of the people coming with you and the date of the night you will be attending.
We will soon add our Platinum Listener Package in the very near future. Platinum status will cost only $14.95 per year and will include Free Music Downloads, access to new releases before the general listenership, a free podcast/blog (Blogcast) space and more. Each Platinum Member will receive a FREE 3 day 2 night mini vacation package to your choice of over 100 cities in the United States. Listeners already registered on VilleRadio.com will receive their first year of membership for HALF PRICE! I will post more details in the near future. If you haven’t already registered, do so now!
We will also be restricting song requests to Platinum Members. Hurry and register for your FREE site membership so you will get the opportunity to upgrade for HALF PRICE!
I received hundreds of emails asking us to remove the hardcore heavy metal from the station. To date I have received no emails asking for it. Since the listeners control the station I had to follow the majority and removed it from rotation. We have added more rock and will begin inserting some Alternative Pop and Pop Rock into the rotation as well.
We hope everyone is enjoying our Commercial Free Rock & Roll. Keep the emails coming and we will continue to add fresh content.
On the 11th I wrote the article about this new release from the band “tiernan” from Tokyo. I finally received an email from the groups founder, lead singer and guitarist, Laurier Tiernan, who cleared a few things up for us. I have included the email in its full context in this article as I promised I would:
In my email to Laurier I warned him I would use his responses in full context in my article and instantly found he has a sense of humor by the following initial response…
Hi Mr. Simkins,
Thanks for the warning as to my candidness; “Oh shit, was I being QUOTED?!” 
I wrote the song out of pure frustration a few years ago when I read that Bush II’s Republicans were working to change laws, so that anyone who had been an American citizen for 20 years could run for president. Arnold has been an American citizen since 1983. It rings of Ronald Reagan and much darker things because the Bush family has serious ties to both Nazi Germany and the middle east (of end time prophecy). So, the Bushes (of German heritage) hold the ball for 3 presidencies then pass it to ARNIE, whom everyone loves (or at least a lot of people) and would obviously gets voted in. Now, here’s an interesting historical parallel. The CIA has been running covert (and overt) wars against communism, then “terrorism” for about 50 years, and in the past century, the American government has managed to place bases in about 130 countries. To protect the world? (Was Hawaii a threat to American national security? No, it was a strategic point for a base.) Do I see a Nazi tendency? Hitler said he conquered Belgium and Holland to “protect” them from England and France. So, anyway, back to the plot line, Arnold steps in, through legal elections or otherwise and leads us to the end of the world as we know it. (Of course that last line isn’t necessarily true but it makes for a good movie ending).
To be brief, here are some shorter answers to your questions.
Ville Radio: How did you pick Governeor Schwarzenegger to depict as Satan himself? Was it a result of his movie rolls?
Tiernan: Well, I didn’t depict him as Satan per se but as the antichrist; someone who will come to earth and try to head a world government, allegedly with good intentions, but of course (the antichrist) is Christ’s arch enemy. And yes, his choice of movie roles add a nice visual connection.
Ville Radio: In the song you make reference to his family having Nazi ties to the past… Is this something you found in research or just something fictional to make the song more realistic?
Tiernan: That’s completely true. I sing “Arnold’s Father was in the SA”, which is completely true. He volunteered and signed up. I’m not quite sure about the authenticity of the attached photo, but it’s a well documented fact. I originally thought that he was in the SS, but no, upon more careful research, it turns out that he was just part of the SA.
Ville Radio: What actually inspired you to write this song? It is obviously of Biblical reference, was it meant to reflect beliefs of Christianity?
Tiernan: I’ve been a follower of Christ all my life (I was raised a Catholic but now I don’t believe in any church) . I’ve owned various versions of the bible and I’ve read them religiously. ;) Also, for quite a few years now I’ve been reading books based on declassified CIA documents by Chomsky, Blum, et. al. Things just started adding up in terms of parallels. Then I read a story in the news a few years back about how the Republican’s efforts to change American laws might allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for president and I was like, “Oh shit”. So, like a lot of classic punk anthems, it’s part documented fact, part sarcasm, and part frustration or anger. Also, really, it’s just timely. The timing of this song is perfect.
Well, there it is, straight from the source himself. When the song becomes a hit in the United States just remember you heard it and got the whole story first right here on The Ville Radio Network.
Have you ever wondered where the lyrics of new songs come from?
Mark and I listen to hundreds of new songs that are sent to us by recording artists each week and I often wonder where they come up with their ideas for new music releases. So, when I received this new release from Westfield Recording Company in Ironton, Ohio I took the time to ask Ratcliff-Bailey where the inspiration for their new song “Jess” came from.
Here are the questions I asked and the response to my email from Ken Bailey with Westfield Recording Company:
Wes,
Tim Ratcliff wrote all the words and the basic melody for the song. I called him up and got these answers:
Ville Radio: What was the inspiration for the song?
Bailey: The inspiration was the movie “The Man from Snowy River” starring Tom Berlingson and Segrid Thorton. Her name was “Jessica”, and the hero in the movie kept calling “JESS!” throughout a snowstorm.
Ville Radio: Is Jess a real person resident in the memory or life of one of the band members?
Bailey: Jess is a movie maiden only.
Ville Radio: Will the song be included on any upcoming album releases by the band?
Bailey: We are definately going to put it on our demo CD. We’re open to any possiblilities. It JUST MISSED getting included on our new release.
Now my personal opinion on the song itself. To be totally fair in my opinion I probably listened to the song 50 times. Having received several recordings from the group, which we air frequently on the station, I have to say it isn’t the absolute best they have sent me but obviously I liked it enough to write this article and feature the track. As always the Ratcliff-Bailey instrumentals and beat are very good in my opinion. I give the song a thumbs up and would listen to it on my favorite radio station without turning the dial.
My opinion is just one little voice in a vast sea of music lovers. Have a listen to the song and tell us what you think! At The Ville Radio Network we value listener opinions and so do the artists who submit their music to us.
You have to register and log in to comment, but don’t worry, we won’t share your email address with anyone else and you won’t receive a bunch of BS from us either!
As a special treat Ken included the lyrics for the song:
JESS
Written and copyrighted by Tim Ratcliff and Ken Bailey
Jess is a simple complex of a human being,
but for weeks on end it’s her and me I’m seeing
Jess she’s the yes to the no that I can’t stop thinking about
and every time she comes my way, I just have to shout
shout out “Jess!”
She’ll make your life a complete mess
she started me wanting more! more! more or less
and I can’t stop thinking about Jess
It’s in the way she walks and the way she talks
and everyone she meets simply lays down at her feet
and shouts out “Jess!”
Jess she’s got something going on
and I can’t keep from coming on
onto Jess
She’s a perfect siren you want to treat
like the most gracious guest
without even asking, she’ll receive only your best
talk about Jess
She’ll make an honest man a king, and a lying priest confess
talkin’ about Jess
We found a glitch in our Auto Request System so we have temporarily removed the feature from our website. Our software engineer is working on it now and we expect to have it running again by the end of the week. I apologize to those of you who have requested songs and they weren’t played.
The glitch was actually discovered by a listener who emailed and reported it to us. That’s how this station needs to work! Listener involvement is what will make us the best on the planet!
Thanks a million for gettting involved.
We have been donated a 3 day 2 night free Bahamas cruise that we will be giving away in the near future! To be eligible you must be a registered member of our website (which is totally free) so go ahead and register now.
We will announce the details in the near future so keep coming back. Those who are already registered will get advance notification and will have an additional chance to win! You have nothing to loose so register now!
