The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 88

Mountainous fun awaits 'Everest' viewers at Science Center 4 1 3 rn This three-day music event brings a who's who of punk, hardcore and indie-rock to the Brewery ROB BUTSCH, owner of Rocksport, an indoor climbing facility on Plantside Drive, has been busy creating a climbing challenge at the Louisville Science Center. His creation is just inside the Main Street entrance in front of the elevator shaft. It's a wall visitors will be able to climb. Next week, if you are among the first to see the IMAX film "Everest," you also can be among the first to use Butsch's 50-foot KRAZYFEST facts: The shows are not sold out. Tickets will be available at the door every day and are $8 (today), $12 (tomorrow) and $8 (Sunday).

The Brewery is at 426 Baxter Ave. Re-entry is allowed. This is an all-ages event. Bands will start on time, every time. See accompanying schedule.

Vegetarian food will be available at the Brewery. Recordtron will not harm humans. Here's the schedule: Tonight (punk rock): 6 p.m., Apocalypse Hoboken; 7, Grade; 8, Silent Majority; 9, the Enkindels; 10, Suicide Machines. Saturday (hardcore): 1 p.m., Speak Seven One Four; 1:45, Torn Apart; 2:30, Converge; 3:25, Buried Alive; 4:20, Automatic; 5, Today Is the Day; 6, Coalesce; 7, Ten Yard Fight; 8, Boy Sets Fire; 9, Snapcase. Sunday (indie-rock): 1 p.m., Empire State Games; 2, Uzeda; 3, King for a Day; 4, Metroschifter; 5, Elliott; 6, Shipping News; 7, Superchunk.

.1 1 By JEFFREY LEE PUCKETT, The Courier-Journal f-i HE ONE THING you need to know about I 1 frnmJ Um mess with the folks at Initial Records, the LINDA STAHL cumDing tower, which has a rock-like appearance in some places and neat graphics that allow climbers to chart how high they will go. Staff from his sports facility will man the climbing wall for about two months, Butsch said, so that visitors to the center can have a supervised athletic adventure when they come to Oh sure, they seem like nice people, but they wear those Enkindels T-shirts only to hide the "Thug Life" tattoos. You don't, for example, want to mention ticket prices which, believe me, are extremely reasonable. "We had a few people complain about the Adff Cnntt Dit.ba "Kilt ua hiUaA in high school. They eventually quit, but Rich continued the small label even while majoring in business at Western Michigan University, and some of his earliest releases were of Louisville bands.

He was turned on to the Louisville scene when a band called Step Down performed in Michigan. Rich put out the band's first recordings, after they had changed their name to Guilt, and that led to several more Louisville bands signing with Initial, including Falling Forward, Elliott and the Enkindels. FRIENDSHIPS FOLLOWED, including one with Ritcher. When Rich finally moved to Louisville in December 1996, he and Ritcher became partners in Initial with Rich handling the finances and Ritcher the graphic design (he puts together the label's insanely popular catalog, which moved 10,000 copies this year). Initial now has five employees, a mailing list that's growing by the thousands, distributes 132 labels and has expectations for record-breaking sales in 1998.

KRAZYFEST is the cherry on top, but Rich said it may be a one-time event. "If it's a success, we'd probably want to do it again, but it's too soon to tell," he said. Then a pleasant thought cut through the stress. "If we sold out of all our new releases, we'd definitely want to do it again." I 'A BY CHRIS HIGDON p.m Louisville indie-rock band Shipping News will play at Sunday during KRAZYFEST. A Fa rJv -vf 1 7 L' 7 I them." "Yeah, we cut their faces," added Jason Noble.

Initial CEO Andy Rich sits quietly while his KRAZYFEST partners joke Maybe he's numb from organizing Louisville's largest rock festival in five years, a marathon featuring 22 bands and a projected 4,500 attendees, some of whom are traveling hundreds of miles. KRAZY'FEST RUNS TODAY through Sunday at the Brewery and features a who's who of punk, hardcore and indie-rock bands, including Superchunk, Enkindels, Elliott, Today Is the Day, Suicide Machines, Shipping News and Metroschifter. The lineup is a tribute to the popularity of Initial, which is co-owned and run by Rich and Ritcher, both 24, from a small house on East Broadway. In the independent music world, labels enjoy serious fan fallowings, and Initial's fans are expected to sell out the Brewery's Thunderdome. For them, it will be a home-away-from-homecoming where they get to meet their favorite bands and the folks who mail them records.

"In the beginning we had no idea whether 500 people would show or 1,000," Rich said. "Now, it'll almost certainly be 1,500 each day. It's a gigantic undertaking." THE IDEA FOR KRAZYFEST was born a couple of years ago but remained a pipe dream until last year. Rich and Ritcher started putting together a wish list of bands, most of which record for Initial Records or for labels distributed by Initial. Noble offered his help in getting non-Initial bands and then took on publicity duties.

Since announcing the show, they've had ticket orders from as far away as California, and MTV, Alternative Press and Magnet are expected to mention andor cover the event. "I wanted to make sure we got the coolest bands possible, but I was waiting for the right time more than anything," Rich said. "I just thought it would be amazing to pull it off. It would be too easy to not do it when it was something I really wanted to do." The time is right for several reasons: Louisville hasn't had a multiday rock festival since 1993 when, ironically, Ritcher staged a huge show; Initial is financially stable; Louisville has been getting a lot of attention for its music scene; and the label is releasing four records this week featuring a string of its most popular bands, including a highly anticipated LP from the Enkindels, "Buzzclip 2000." KRAZYFEST also doubles as a huge commercial for Louisville. Ritcher's love for his hometown is well-documented (Noble has nominated him for mayor), and one of his main con tributions to the festival is an eight-page guide to Louisville that points out key landmarks (such as Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Churchill Downs) and suggests visits to the best restaurants, movie theaters, bookstores and record shops.

"One of the main ideas behind KRAZYFEST," Rich said, "was to bring as many people to Louisville at one time as possible." Rich's love affair with Louisville began six years ago in his hometown of Detroit. It was there that he started Initial with two friends, all seniors look at exhibits or see the IMAX film. The fee for climbing the artificial "mountain" will be $5. "We've tried to design a wall that will be enjoyable to kids but can challenge adults too," Butsch said. Three towers, like the ones used to hold lighting equipment at rock concerts, and floor jacks went into construction of the climbing wall.

Butsch is still working on the towers, but hopes it will be open for use with the first public showing of "Everest" next Saturday. If it's popular, the climbing wall may remain longer than two months, Butsch said. "It's not very temporary. We had to build it like it was permanent. It had to be highly structural." "Everest" is the result of IMAX filmmakers using their large-image film to tell the story of Mount Everest and the men and women who attempt to reach the top of the mountain.

The filmmakers hauled 150 pounds of camera equipment up the mountain and shot the movie with a camera that devoured film at nearly 6 feet per second. If you can't wait until Saturday to see the movie, there are still tickets available for two special preview events, which include a slide show by David Beshears, "Everest" photographer. Beshears, a professional climber and the film's co-director, will appear Thursday night at a $200 per person fund-raising dinner at the science center. Guests will see his slide show as well as "Everest." Call (502) 561-6100, Ext. 6110, for a reservation.

Next Friday night members of the science center can see "Everest" at 6 and 8 and Beshears' 45-minute slide show. Tickets cost $20. For a reservation or to become a member, call (502) 561-6100, Ext. 6111. Cave countiy by bike If you have a friend, spouse or other relative who would like to explore Mammoth Cave National Park, but you would rather ride your bike, there is a resolution to your conflict on the horizon.

June 6 may be the Saturday for both of you to head to south-central Kentucky's cave country. You can join the Bowling Green League or Bicyclists 10th annual Mammoth Cave In a scene from "Everest," a lone Sherpa stands on a rock and looks up at the route before him. Bicycle Tour while your companion enjoys the national park. The cycling event offers 10-, 40- and 64-mile routes through the rolling countryside of Warren, Barren and Edmonson counties. All rides start at Warren East High School.

The two longer rides begin at 8:15 a.m. and the 10-mile ride starts at 8:45. All routes are considered scenic. The 64-mile route will go into the national park. Registration will be from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m.

The ride fee is $12 for an individual and $35 for a family. There is always a surprise for riders at rest stops. This year to "appease the rain gods" the surprise will relate to water. Hmmmmmm. For more information, call John Geier at (502) 781-0179 after 7 p.m.

Central Daylight Time. Remember that time difference if you plan to attend from Louisville. This weekend Check out the VBS (Vacation Bible School) 5K road race at 4 p.m. Sunday, sponsored by St. Matthews Baptist Church, 3515 Grandview Ave.

For more information, call David Garrard at 896-8882 Forget the Midnight Chase in Iroquois Park originally scheduled for tonight. The 4-mile race will be held in September. Sta tuned. BY CLAIRE ASHBY Superchunk winds up the three-day festival at the Brewery with a show at 7 p.m. Sunday.

4 ft I IX. ft Call Linda! Linda Stahl's column appears each Friday in Weekend EXTRA Call her at (502) 582-4666 or send a fax to (502)o82-7080. PY FRANK "AVIDSON Metroschifter, scheduled tor 4 p.m. ounday, io part of a otellar lirit-up that ib expecteu to draw 1,500 fans each day. Friuay, May J9, 1998 Weeker EXTRA Page 1C Page 12 ThwCcjiie.

Journal Weekend.