holy moly is this gunna be fun…please remember that several of the shows listed for this event-week will be run as “special scenarios” and have restricted entry.  you can read about our operating procedure for those events in our previous ‘news’ posting about the Memorial Week Show Series.

flyer courtesy of: MOSHBURN

The Know’s MEMORIAL WEEK (A Day is Not Enough) SHOW SERIES

THURS 5/24 – TRAGEDY (tour-return) // STONEBURNER // SPECTRAL TOMBS

FRI 5/25 – THE ESTRANGED // VANNA INGET (Sweden) // THE SUNDAZE // FUTILITY  // DJ Unruly

SAT 5/26 – EFFLUXUS (SF) // BLOODKROW BUTCHER (Boston) // SILENCER // DJ Skell

SUN 5/27 – YOUTHBITCH // CAFETERIA DANCE FEVER (Euro-tour kick-off) // THE SHIVAS

MON 5/28 – WEEKEND NACHOS (Chicago) // TRANSIENT  // SIDETRACKED (WA) // RAW NERVES

TUES 5/29 – ANTISECT (UK – first tour since 1987!) // DEATHCHARGE // VICIOUS PLEASURES

WED 5/30 – UNNATURAL HELPERS (WA) // DIVERS // SICK SECRETS (WA) // TENSIONS // DJ Ken Dirtnap

additional details/flyers/etc will be released for the shows over the coming weeks, so please stay tuned.

also, of important note (READ): several of the shows listed will require us to monitor the capacity of our venue/bar area (for everyone’s sake), and we’ll  be using the same style of “restricted-entry” that was employed over our 7th Anniversary-Week for the Tragedy/From Ashes Rise/Bi-Marks show.  if you are not familiar with how this worked, the amendments to our standard cover/entry to our shows are listed below:

- remove our cover-charge “cap” (of $5) in favor of an appropriate alternative…somewhere in the range of $7-10

- we close our bar at 7pm and clear out extraneous furniture and what-have-you to create more standing-room/viewing ability for the presumably larger crowd.

- we re-open at 8pm and charge entry/stamp hands at our front entrance (instead of the curtained entrance to the venue area…our venue is adjacent to our bar-room/separated by a wall and curtain. the curtain remains open during these shows). the stamps allow for attendees come-and-go out of our space for a smoke/phone call/etc and then be re-admitted to the show.

- our front door-person will be running a ‘counter’ and will restrict entry once our capacity is reached.  at this point we’ll revert to a one-in/one-out system that is up to the discretion of our front door staff.

- we often do not allow drinks at our side-walk tables during “special scenarios,” as we must keep the sidewalk passable for pedestrian traffic/only have the space to allow the anticipated number of smokers at our tables without causing disruption for passer-by. this is also up to the discretion of our front door staff (who are unbelievably amiable/looking out for the best interest of the show…so please work with them).

- we’ll run a video-feed of the performances to our barroom tv’s so that people can still see the show in the event that they want leave the venue area (ex – they’re tired from standing/feeling too cramped/need another drink/etc)

long and short is…during “special scenarios” we try to maximize the level of comfort and stage visibility for the show-goers/provide greater compensation to the performer(s) while also being particularly sensitive/not causing disruption to our neighborhood. our barroom and venue area will be utilized as ”one room” for the duration of the show (versus being separate entities). i.e. regular patrons/curious passerby/etc are not admitted to any part of our establishment during the show run-time without paying the cover…this allows for the greatest number of people who actually want to see the show/are invested in the bands/music to attend!

it’ll look something like this:

additionally, the coming weeks will see us announce a jaw-dropping line-up of acts for our MEMORIAL WEEK (’cause a single-DAY is not enough) SHOW SERIES.  quite seriously…the announcement will shock-and-amaze you.  stay tuned!

in the interim: peep this ‘highlights reel’ for our upcoming events in APRIL!

- flyer courtesy of MOSHBURN

04.01 – FROM ASHES RISE / NUX VOMICA / TRAUMA

This line-up was so ridiculous that some people on message boards had concluded that our listing was an “April fools” joke…it wasn’t, and the show went down with hundreds of people cramming into our humble venue-area to catch a glimpse of Portland’s finest d-beat crushers.

06.10 – BASEMENT ANIMAL / VILE GASH (OH) / NUKKEHAMMER (OH) / SOCIETY NURSE (WA)

Rarely are we able to accommodate a slew of touring-acts that can hold their own with minimal local-support. But when you’ve got the nastiest sonic-pummeling from crew of Ohioans, and a venerable/touted neighbor from the north, support becomes less of an issue! Not to mention what would be the final assault from Portland’s very own grind-punks, Basement Animal.

06.18 – SLOWMOTIONS (JP) / CRAZY SPIRIT (NY) / ORIGIN OF M (JP)

June was the month of unbelievable touring acts gracing our stage.  En route from the Chaos in Tejas festival, we landed some of Japan’s most entertaining punk-bands as well as the darlings of NYC’s current punk-scene.  Folks came out in droves and partied the night away to killer tunes brought from thousands of miles away!

07.17 – THE CYSTS / DRUNK DAD / DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER

The final show for the vastly under-appreciated band, The Cysts. Turn-out exceeded what had been expected and made for a highly-supportive farewell for a band deserving of the honor.  People were moving/thrashing around/heckling harder than I’ve seen in our venue…ever! It ruled, and concluded with The Cysts refusing to play an encore, to which a rowdy fan shouted, “fuck your dignity,” and got everyone (including the band) laughing.

07.21 – UNNATURAL HELPERS (WA) / TENSIONS / FREEDOM CLUB

Unheralded for far too long, Dean Whitmore (the genius/writer behind Unnatural Helpers), has struck gold with this band.  With a fathomless batch of catchy garage rock&roll tunes at his disposal, he had a packed room of admirers tapping their toes and bopping along.  A true display of song-craft by one of the best in the business, and a memorable night for everyone who was there.

08.06 – PIERCED ARROWS / DIVERS / RAIDER

Untiring Portland veterans/legends, Fred and Toody Cole (of Dead Moon and The Rats), have been rocking for over 25 years.  This, however, marked their first/long-overdue appearance at The Know, and will not soon be forgotten.  Sweltering August temperatures, and a packed house, made for one of the sweatiest nights in our venue for performers and audience alike.  Unflappable during their flawless performance, Toody later divulged that she had nearly fainted from heat/exhaustion during their set…‘nough said!

08.28 – ORGANIZED SPORTS / VACANT STATE (CAN) / BI-MARKS

Canada lent us one of their toughest-sounding/finest “throw-back” hardcore acts for a weekend, and in turn we provided them with the best hc-support acts that PDX has to offer.  Both Organized Sports and Bi-Marks are un-fuck-with-able, and are at the forefront of a youthful/“new crop” of hardcore bands in town.  The energy at this show was through-the-roof!

09.11 – STEVE LAKE (UK) / VIVID SECT / ATROCITY EXHIBITION

“Aging gracefully” doesn’t really describe it…Steve Lake graced our stage with such-little-pretense/such enthusiasm that it was hard to put-into-perspective the influence he’s had on punk rock since creating quintessential songs with his 80’s UK band Zounds.  A living-legend and inspiration to many-a-band currently, it was rad to hear a room full of admirers singing-along to his righteous soundtrack.

09.22 – KICKER (CA) / STONEBURNER / DEATH MACHINE

One of the most diverse, and resultantly awesome, shows I can remember.  It was one of those nights where you wonder how the next band can possibly build on the prior bands’ momentum…then they do it somehow, and everyone is flipping-the-fuck-out! Having only heard some tracks online from Kicker (and having an idea of their pedigree:  ex-Filth/Neurosis/Dystopia), I was still unprepared for how bad-ass they were gunna be. They had stage-presence and energy that isn’t normally seen in “aging-punk veterans,” and got the whole room moving/psyched!

10.07 – DEAF WISH (OZ) / SAD HORSE / EIGER SANCTION

Deaf Wish (in addition to having one of the best band names I can think of) played some of the most exciting music that our stage has seen.  They did it by mixing technical/compositional savvy with a rawness that is seldom able to be delivered simultaneously. Think Husker Du and Sonic Youth at their best…literally inducing goose-bumps as their music swelled between interludes of tonal-feedback.  They were having a blast and engaging our audience, which was the icing-on-the-cake (for us and them). They made certain to communicate that their stop at The Know had been a “true reward” on an apparently tumultuous/otherwise-disappointing tour.

thanks for reading.

drose