DONâT PANICâthe future is bright for the Know. News had broken over the summer that the Northeast Portland punk venue would be closing its doors in November, priced out after a 300 percent rent increase. Hearts broke across town, and many began wistfully reminiscing about the unpretentious dive barâs days of yore.
Luckily, the eulogies were premature. Late last month a photo of the Knowâs owner Ryan Stowe being ceremoniously handed the keys to a new address surfaced on Facebook. Stowe later confirmed to the Mercury that theyâll indeed be moving to 3728 NE Sandy, the former location of the Blackbird, another legendary Portland venue that shuttered in 2003 (âThe Know Has Found a New Home: The Old Blackbird,â Blogtown, Oct 21). More recently, the address was home to nightspots Tony Starlightâs and Mazzaâs.
Stowe says the transition will be âbittersweetâ after nearly 12 years on Alberta, but the new Know will debut with some key improvements. Thereâll be no need to keep the current locationâs 11 pm curfew, since the spot on Sandy has no residential neighbors. Capacity at the Alberta location is capped at less than 100 attendees per show, but with the larger space theyâll be able to raise that to about 150. Theyâll also be opening earlier in the day and developing a more extensive menu, thanks to the new spaceâs fully equipped kitchen setup. Some of the most important stuffâs not changing, thoughâtheyâre bringing over the same staff, including booker (and Diversâ frontman) Harrison Rapp.
Before the Knowâs second incarnation can bust open its doors, Stowe says theyâll need to put on a new roof, which will be a weather-permitting endeavor. He hopes to open the Sandy location in late January or early February, but says he âwouldnât be surprised if that got pushed back.â Once it does open, itâll be the same punchy, beer-soaked venue we know and love. Until then, here are some of the best shows during the Alberta locationâs final month of existence before its last official concert on November 27.
All shows at the Know, 2026 NE Alberta.
FRI NOV 4
NOCTURNAL HABITS, SECRET DRUM BAND, DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER
Nocturnal Habits features members of Olympia post-hardcore band Unwound, and Fridayâs show celebrates the release of Nocturnal Habitsâ brand-new record, New Skin for Old Children. The bill also features Dragging an Ox Through Water, Brian Mumfordâs warped-folk project, and Secret Drum Band, the noise and percussion ensemble including Lisa Schonberg and Heather Treadway of Explode into Colors, Sara Lund of Unwound, Allan Wilson of !!!, Anthony Brisson of Psychomagic, Alison Clarys, and Sam Humans. If you want to see some of the most prolific names in local music, donât miss tonightâs show.
SUN NOV 13
MĂSCARAS, CAMPO-FORMIO, PRETTIEST EYES, BITCHâN
Papi Fimbres, Theo Craig, and Carlos Segovia are longtime veterans of the Knowâs abnormally low stage, and their band MĂĄscarasâ last show at its Alberta spot promises to be wild. The trioâs eight-track 2015 debut, MĂĄscara vs. MĂĄscara, is one nebulous glob of psychedelic soundsâguitar riffs bite and bleed together for an effect thatâs intoxicating and danceable. Bitchân opens the bill with freeform, ambling punk that redefines what the genre should sound like.
MON NOV 14
THE THERMALS, LITHICS, THE WOOLEN MEN
Last month the Thermalsâ Hutch Harris announced that he could no longer tour extensivelyâhe cited the emotional and physical toll of sitting in a van for hours every day after years of touring, and his small bladderâs frequent demands on the road. Luckily the indie band hasnât stopped playing hometown shows, and tonight theyâre headlining a bill thatâs brimming with local talent. Lithicsâ Borrowed Floors is probably one of the best Portland releases of 2016; its 10 experimental punk tracks are dominated by sharp turns that sound like the groupâs being chased through a maze. The Woolen Men play unfussy guitar rock thatâs too claustrophobic for basements but too cynical for the outside world, with lines like âI donât belong here in this place/I donât belong here with you/They tell me thereâs a reason why we all have to die/But I donât know if itâs true.â
SAT NOV 19
DIRTY FENCES, DANAVA, MEAN JEANS, ANDY PLACE AND THE COOLHEADS
You just need to see Mean Jeans at the original Know one last time. They are 2016âs natural evolution from the pouty punk of the Ramones, with slacker flair that makes âAre There Beers in Heavenâ sound like the most emotional song of the year (itâs from the bandâs April release, Tight New Dimensionâthe whole thing is bizarre and great).
TUES NOV 22
DIVERS, BLOWOUT, OLD CITY
Since releasing a 7-inch in 2012, Divers have carved out a permanent spot in the already swollen hearts of Portland music fans. Last year the band yielded a long-awaited full-length debut, Hello Helloâ10 explosive punk songs that revealed surprising nuance on tracks like standout âLacuna.â Theyâre joined by rising pop-punk stars Blowout, whose August debut No Beer, No Dad is viciously tragic but endlessly catharticâparticularly the scream-sung gang vocals of the phrase âMaybe Iâll get a job someday/Maybe Iâll find the words to sayâ on âCents Cents Money Money.â
WED NOV 23
FRED AND TOODY COLE, MICHAEL HURLEY
Itâs pretty tough to beat a lineup that features Portlandâs most iconic couple, Fred and Toody Cole of Dead Moon, whoâve been playing grimy garage punk together for decades. Michael Hurleyâs sweetly strange, fantastical outsider folk continues to magnetically attract a following decades after his Greenwich Village heyday in the â60s and â70sâsongs like âLittle Green Fellowâ sound just as fresh as they probably did when Armchair Boogie was released in 1971, but also like their watermark, they could be centuries old. These days Hurleyâs an almost mythological fixture of the Oregon Coast, but he ventures inland to play shows around Portland multiple times per month. Bringing together the Coles and Hurley is a recipe for one sacred night of music.