Chestnut House

From Louisville Punk/Hardcore History

The Chestnut House, at 714 East Chestnut Street, was originally a stopgap solution to finding show space once Skull Alley was declining in presence, became for a short while Louisville's premier option for small shows. Shows were played in the front living room with crowds extending back into a second room usually used as a bedroom.

As suitable, affordable options were hard to come across in town at the time, Chestnut took the brunt of bookings for close to two years, with the shows in the house going for almost 3 years on and off. With a revolving list of housemates, shows frequently depended on who was living there at the time and their schedules.

Towards the end, the housemates were looking into turning the house into a long term, more sustainable force, but were blocked by the cops. After several years of operating in the clear with minimal involvement from the police, they started not only shutting down shows but keeping an eye on the place and even telling people around the house that they were looking to shut it down. Rumors abound that it was either due to new neighbors (doubtful due to the area/land situation) or even someone that didn't even live in the neighborhood calling and trying to get shows shut down. In the end, costs of potential permits and building upgrades, new tenants, and the cops caused an end to the house. All great things must end sometime.

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House Members

+ many more

Memorable Shows

  • Agnostic Front - after a previously booked show at Skull Alley fell through at the last minute
  • Bane after-Krazy Fest
  • Tragedy - all ages show before they played at Cahoot's later that night
  • Numerous Another Mistake, Written Off shows
  • More than a few Xerxes and Vaderbomb shows

Photos/Videos

Links