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A circus of fire-dancing, DJs & debauchery. Every Sunday night for 24 years...the longest-running weekly cabaret show on the west coast!

SEATING IS LIMITED and is first-come, first served. Seating IS NOT GUARANTEED!
 

MIDNIGHT

20 YEARS OF THE FILTHIEST BAND AROUND

20 YEARS OF SPEED AND DARKNESS

“Rebirth By Blasphemy is a rebirth,” states Midnight’s sole driving force, Athenar. “It’s a change in life and it’s a rebirth of doing whatever the fuck you want and seeing what happens after that. It’s about saying yes, taking opportunities, taking a fucking chance.” These sentiments are backed up by the notorious - and prolific - underground band’s trademark blend of speed metal, black metal and punk rock, sounding both fuller and more raucous than ever before. “Overall, I would say the sound is pretty vicious, vicious but I keep things hooky, and that’s what I like it to be. I want to still keep it raw but at the same time I wanted this record to be a little more hi-fi, which was my only plan when I started making it.”

Dating back to the band’s inception in 2002, vocalist/guitarist/bassist/drummer Athenar has always known exactly what he wanted Midnight to be, and over the course of countless demos, EPs, compilations, splits and three full-lengths he has stayed true to his roots. Building up a strong reputation and a rabid following in the underground, Midnight’s most recent opus, 2017’s Sweet Death And Ecstasy, stood as their most accomplished work to date. “Looking back on that record I think it’s a fantastic piece of work, really. It’s pretty varied, it has a nice bookend front and back song. I think the lyrics are thought provoking, and I think it’ll be a pretty important piece of work over time, up there with the Mona Lisa.” Making the jump to Metal Blade Records did not mean any change in the way Athenar went about making Midnight records. “I never really thought about writing a follow up to Sweet Death. If a song comes it comes and where it goes is wherever it goes, but nothing is ever really intended as ‘this song will be on the new album’.” There is also no denying that, like its predecessors, Rebirth By Blasphemy is a ruthlessly catchy collection, every song, vicious as they are, wielding the kind of hooks that sink deep and don’t let go, and this too came naturally. “There’s no real intent. I think a rock song in general should be catchy, so if someone thinks it’s catchy that’s a good thing. If they don’t think it’s catchy then they probably don’t have ears.” While the likes of opener “Fucking Speed And Darkness”, “Escape The Grave” and “Warning From The Reaper” are all d-beat-driven thrashers they don’t lack when it comes to hooks, and “Rising Scum”, built on a titanic stomping beat, reins in the speed but is easily one of the standout tracks on the record, Athenar referring to it as being “quite 1979 Priest-like, just with its drum and vocal.”

See John Schroeder, voted Portland's favorite Elvis impersonator, every Friday in the Limbo Lounge of Dante's!

4-6pm

FREE!

A circus of fire-dancing, DJs & debauchery. Every Sunday night for 24 years...the longest-running weekly cabaret show on the west coast!

SEATING IS LIMITED and is first-come, first served. Seating IS NOT GUARANTEED!
 

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

ZAO IS BACK!
…Although they never truly went away. Since 2016’s critically acclaimed “The Well-Intentioned Virus” (really, just ask the critics, they LOVED it, even NPR jumped on board – who would have thought?) the band has been releasing EPs, remix albums, Nintendo cartridges with actual music on them, concept 7 inches packaged in mirrors and still found time to oversee reissues of their back catalog and an album of archival demos from 1995. Somehow in the midst of all of this the band found time to record a new 60-minute 11 song album titled “The Crimson Corridor” being released on April 9th.

While not OFFICIALLY a double album (aside from the double disc vinyl) “The Crimson Corridor” is Zao’s longest record since 2004’s “The Funeral Of God”. Unlike that one, this is not a concept album in the traditional sense but there is an underlying lyrical theme. According to singer/lyricist Daniel Weyandt, “It is a about the place in my mind where depression, anxiety and anger all manifest under the watchful eye of the shadow self. It is a long hallway lined with doors that lead to terrible places. And though I despise that place I always find myself back within its walls.”  Party/dance music this is not.

Musically speaking “The Crimson Corridor” is extremes. While there are plenty of the band’s signature crushing riffs and abrasive vocals there are also a lot of moments of quiet tension. Zao is not in a hurry and are not afraid to drop back and build quiet tension only to slam back roaring louder than before. According to guitarist Scott Mellinger, “The headspace I was in while writing this material was very dark. I was dealing with loss on a few different fronts. It was overwhelming and I think that’s why the material sounds so oppressive.”

Recorded with Dave Hidek at The Church Studio in Pittsburgh, PA and packaged with the horror photography of Christopher McKenney “The Crimson Corridor” was delayed almost a year due to a very BAD-intentioned virus. The band spent that year in isolation digging even more into the music to see what else could be done to make the music the “surreal horror landscape” that they had initially set out to achieve. According to drummer and acting manager/label-head Jeff Gretz “We spent more time crafting the world these songs exist in, I think, more than any other Zao record prior. It’s definitely our most produced record. Not in a polished way, but in a layered way. We spent a LOT of time thinking about the space around the notes and the ghosts that live in those negative spaces.”

“The Crimson Corridor” will release officially on April 9th, 2021 on the band’s self-run Observed/Observer Recordings. Pre-orders for digital/CD/Double LP and Cassette will be available through the band’s Bandcamp store and through the band’s merch partners Holy Mountain Printing on March 5.

See John Schroeder, voted Portland's favorite Elvis impersonator, every Friday in the Limbo Lounge of Dante's!

4-6pm

FREE!

A circus of fire-dancing, DJs & debauchery. Every Sunday night for 24 years...the longest-running weekly cabaret show on the west coast!

SEATING IS LIMITED and is first-come, first served. Seating IS NOT GUARANTEED!
 

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

See John Schroeder, voted Portland's favorite Elvis impersonator, every Friday in the Limbo Lounge of Dante's!

4-6pm

FREE!

Jesse Malin hits the US to tour behind the 20th anniversary expanded edition of THE FINE ART OF SELF DESTRUCTION

“Malin writes vivid songs with killer tunes and sings them with scary conviction.There is simply nothing more you can demand from a great rock record *****”

THE TIMES

Released in 2003, ‘The Fine Art Of Self Destruction’ was the debut album by New York based singer-songwriter Jesse Malin. “It wasn’t named for drug or alcohol abuse,” he states. “It was more about a personal wreckage when I looked back on my life, from my parents' divorce to failed relationships, broken up bands, dropping out of school, crashing cars, breaking things. It was more of a spiritual journey in some sense. This record is definitely one of my favourites.”

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, ‘The Fine Art Of Self Destruction’ was reissued on 17th February 2023 in expanded form with a bonus disc of the album reimagined and re-recorded with Malin’s longtime band. The bonus material was produced by Derek Cruz and engineered by Geoff Sanoff, who worked on Jesse’s recent ‘Sunset Kids’ and ‘Sad And Beautiful World’ releases.

A video for a new version of the album song ‘Brooklyn’ entitled ‘Brooklyn (Walt Whitman in the Trash)’ that honours New York in days of yore has been directed by Catherine Popper and Vivian Wang. “Cat and Vivian have a great sense of beauty, art and decay,” Malin adds. “‘Brooklyn’ is about beginnings, those early days of innocence and big dreams that often collide with irreversible mistakes and regret. We try to find ways to accept the mistakes and look back with laughter, forgiveness and love.”

Following his teenage years in the pioneering hardcore band Heart Attack and his 20s fronting the wild and beloved D Generation, Malin took a cue from his songwriting heroes and was ready for a chance to stand alone. His solo debut was recorded over six days in New York City, live and raw.

“I was still learning how to sing and tell stories. These songs were written in a little apartment downtown, without a record deal, a manager, or any expectation of anything coming of it - just a need to write them.”

A circus of fire-dancing, DJs & debauchery. Every Sunday night for 24 years...the longest-running weekly cabaret show on the west coast!

SEATING IS LIMITED and is first-come, first served. Seating IS NOT GUARANTEED!
 

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

See John Schroeder, voted Portland's favorite Elvis impersonator, every Friday in the Limbo Lounge of Dante's!

4-6pm

FREE!

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

See John Schroeder, voted Portland's favorite Elvis impersonator, every Friday in the Limbo Lounge of Dante's!

4-6pm

FREE!

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

See John Schroeder, voted Portland's favorite Elvis impersonator, every Friday in the Limbo Lounge of Dante's!

4-6pm

FREE!

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

See John Schroeder, voted Portland's favorite Elvis impersonator, every Friday in the Limbo Lounge of Dante's!

4-6pm

FREE!

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

See John Schroeder, voted Portland's favorite Elvis impersonator, every Friday in the Limbo Lounge of Dante's!

4-6pm

FREE!

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!
 

Scott H. Biram unleashes a fervent display of conviction through, not only the genuine blues, classic country, bluegrass, and rock n roll, but he seals the deal with punk, heavy metal, and frankly, anything else he wants to. He’s The Dirty Old One Man Band. He will still the room with haunting South Texas blues, then turn it upside down, into a truck driver’s mosh pit. Like he says, it might be baptism, or it might be murder, either way…you gonna see the light.

This legally ordained preacher’s singing, yodeling, growling, leering and brash preachin’ and hollerin’ is accompanied by sloppy riffs, and licks literally yanked, one at a time, out of his collection of crusty, worn out, Gibson hollowbody guitars, and battle axes. All this held down with a pounding backbeat brought forth by his amplified left foot, and self customed stomp board. The remainder of this brutally charming one-man band consists of an unwieldy combination of beat-up amplifiers and old microphones strung together by a tangled mess of guitar cables. Don’t get too close! You gonna get some grease on ya!

Years of compulsive touring, along with a steady diet of down and dirty blues, rock, punk, country, and hillbilly have developed Scott H. Biram’s signature concoction, attracting a hefty array of fans who dig the bizarre and twisted sides of the rock and roll spectrum. His live shows, performed all over the world, deliver a take no prisoners attitude, a stomping, pulsing John Lee Hooker-channeling, and cockeyed tales of black water baptisms and murder, all while romanticizing the on-the-road lifestyle.

The original live karaoke band, rocking in Portland for 25 years and counting. Come see us every Monday at Dante's!