So there was a seven day show event at The Know for their seven-year anniversary. All of the shows looked phenonmenal, but due to minimal funds I had to choose only two (each show was only $5, which says maybe something about my financial situation). So I chose the Friday and Saturday evening shows as they would not mess with my newly acquired job, and they got out at 11:30 which made for an easy evening. Other evenings features Trauma , Raw Nerves, Autistic Youth, and The Artic Flowers who I both really wanted to see, but hopefully they will play again soon. Friday and Saturday were both excellent, and am glad I got to bring in my first shows of the New Year with some rockin punk and hardcore. (note: not all of the videos linked are from the actual shows attended, just clips of other performances)
Friday Night: Tragedy, From Ashes Rise, and The Bi-Marks
So it had been a while since I have seen Tragedy and From Ashes Rise, and it feels like they haven’t event played in Portland since I moved up here. Anyways I quickly realized there was still a pretty vibrant punk scene in Portland, and the whole night was solid in terms of performances. So my memory of this set feels skewed by the second night in terms of memory impact, and I am excited to be seeing consistently solid shows.
The Bi-Marks opened up the show, never having heard them before, I was impressed. They didn't necessarily fit the description of a Portland punk band sharing the stage with the latter two bands. They had a lot more early NYhC, like early AF or The Abused, happening with some skate punk sensibilities at times. The singer had some great energy and just rocked out in the crowd the whole time. They seemed to get a good response from the crowd, and were a pretty damn fun band to watch. Their demo is recorded in a lo-fi manner, and their live sound is consistent with that but sounds much better. The demo is full of energy, but I will be more interested to see what official releases they come up with.
From Ashes Rise played second, and they sounded much better than the last time I saw them a long time ago in Houston. They played a lot of songs off of ‘Nightmares’ which is what I have mainly listened to. They played other scattered ones from their earlier discography, and got a good reaction. I feel like most people know what these guys sound like, and why they are good, I still don’t feel they are on the same level as the following band.
The Tragedy set was easily the highlight of the night. It has been years since I have seen Tragedy, and knowing that they were possibly working on a new album had me excited to hopefully hear a little sample. So they started off with “Call to Arms” and quickly cycled through a combination of songs from the First LP and ‘Vengeance’ and eventually got into some songs I had never heard, and for the rest of the evening they played a majority of new songs that were phenomenal. I enjoyed ‘Nerve Damage’, but it didn’t quite follow up ‘Vengeance’, and the new songs I hear that night sounded much more quality. I feel that paints ‘Nerve Damage’ negatively, and it is a good album, it is just hard to match ‘Vengeance’ which one of my favorites of the 00’s. Tragedy always plays their loud and crushing brand of melodic crust punk which is eerily catchy and anthemic. I am excited for them to put out a new album, and will definitely be catching them at the WITTR show next week.
That being said, this first evening was a great show, and was blown out of the water by the following evenings event.
Saturday Night: Rabbits, Fist Fite, and Nasalrod
So this was the more memorable night for me. Not that Friday wasn’t great, but I had seen those bands before and I was going into this show with no expectations for the first two bands. I had seen Rabbits a couple of times, and dug their new album, but had no idea at all what Nasalrod and Fist Fite would sound like other than rock n roll.
Well Nasalrod came on the stage as I was playing pinball, and I thought I would finish my round before going to check em out, but a couple of songs in and I realize that I need to make my way in. I was engripped by the sounds of chaos, an experimental aspect I haven’t heard in punk rock in a long time. It sounded like a smoothie made of The Dead Milkmen, The Big Boys, a gallop of Meat Puppets, a little bit of Flipper, a touch of the Minutemen, and a splash of Orange Juice (the band) would taste against the lips of your eardrums. As I creeped my way through ha thick crowd of people to work my way into the back, I am barraged by a wave of manic energy coming from the stage. The front man, Chairman, is all over the place, taking the classic moves of frontmen past and mixing it with with the theatrics of a vaudeville act. Taking the energy of the punk, and combing that with the erratic nature of the experimentalism, you get what I imagine would be a Randy Biscuit-esquelsd (if you are into that sorta thing). Here's a few clips from some of their earlier shows! Oh and if you don't notice, it is Spit Stix from Fear playing drums there.
Fist Fite come up next, and all I really know about them is they are supposed to be kinda like some “grimy rock n roll”. Grimy Rock n’ Roll is a good description, but it was more than I expected. So I will start off by saying that I bought there album that they released a few years back or so, and they have become something much better. The cd features their keyboardist/singer and drummer, and since then they have added a Guitarist and Bassist. They resulting mix in their new songs are some awesome gothic stoner surf tunes that are being played by a desert hippie while a lady goes between soulful crooning to some sludge-laden screams. It is some great horror themed rock that combines multitudes of heaviness into one. Their album was not that impressive, but I will say I look forward to whatever they may have coming up.
Rabbits ended the evening, and they performed excellently, and I feel the newness and exciting nature of the opening two bands has skewed my perception of the Rabbits set. It was great, but it did not match the wow factor of Nasalrod, nor Fist Fite. That all being said, they are consistently a great band and a heavy band. Their drummer is one of the most enjoyable people to watch play of any local Portland band. He puts a lot of energy into the sets, and he hits the pieces super friggin hard. Rabbits played a solid mix of songs off their latest album, and wrapped up the night
Overall it was a great weekend, and a great way to start off the new year. I wish I had made it to a few more of the shows that were at the Know, but hopefully there will be more opportunities to see all those local bands involved.
SFMTC Vol. 14 - The Know's 7th Anniversary Special
01. Nasalrod - Discoke
02. Tragedy - Beginning of the End
03. Arctic Flowers - Fall to Pieces
04. Trauma - No Hope No More
05. Fist Fite - If You Were a Bird and I Was a Fish
06. The Bi-Marks - Young Optimists Club
07. Autistic Youth - Deadbeat
08. Raw Nerves - Bleeding Toungues
09. Rabbits - Burn, Sun, Burn
10. From Ashes Rise - Reaction
11. Nasalrod - Parade
12. Tragedy - You Are an Experiment
13. Arctic Flowers - Cri De Coeur
14. Trauma - End of the World
15. Rabbits - No Depth
16. The Bi-Marks - the Mouth Smiles On
17. Autistic Youth - I Don't Believe
18. Raw Nerves - The Elegant Dance Of World Destruction
19. From Ashes Rise - The Face of Poverty
20. Fist Fite - Goodnight in Clackamas
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