As cliché as it may sound, I really can’t believe it’s already been two years of TheTHESIS. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun, and I’ve gottta say, we’ve been having a LOT of fun. I see no reason to stop now.
The 25th month of Portland’s beloved concert series truly is truly the biggest – and most challenging – musical event we’ve ever planned. We challenged ourselves to stick to the model while pushing ourselves to new heights, and I think the result does both amazingly well. Much like last year’s back-to-back sellout shows, the 2nd anniversary will be a 2 night event. The 21+ Thursday night show will be held – per usual – at Kelly’s Olympian, while the Friday show will be held in the Pearl District, be open to all ages, and incorporate (purchasable) local artistic design in the aesthetic. But this time, it’s going to be a movie.
On Thursday, TheTHESIS brings out 5 extremely dope and independently successful Portland artists worthy of headlining shows on their own. We decided to put them all together for a very special Headliners edition, and this might be one of the best collections of talent we’ve put together yet.
The show-stopping ROBy dropped an album-quality mixtape in Cartoon Summers– one of the best releases of the year – and embarked on a successful college tour; EYRST’s island singer Blossom has cultivated her own Portland sub-scene and just recently returned from a stint on The Tonight Show w/ Jimmy Fallon; and Oregon-raised Denver artist Cory Kendrix is bringing his crew through on his birthday to kick off their Backwoods Tour across the state.
What’s more, a last minute change in plans brought Squadron rap-singer The Last Artful, Dodgr and NE Portland bad boy Drae Steves into the fold, creating an immensely deep pool of talent for Thursday night’s festivities.
And that’s just who’s on the bill. If you’ve been to TheTHESIS, you know what I’m talking about.
Unlikely as it may sound, Friday night will probably be even wilder. Whereas last year the all-ages show served as the X-Ray web series release, an art show, and featured sets from up-and-coming artists Fountaine and Wes Guy, this year’s show is all action. We’ve put together a few of the city’s most vibrant young collectives, and we’ll put them on display at the Pearl’s newest athletic fashion hotspot, Hoop Dreams, alongside the city’s hottest young producer-turned DJ for the night, 15 year old DeadBrainz.
The energetic SQD (Heff, A-RU$$, etc) will headline this very special night, their first official performance at a Thesis event. Always honed in, Rare Vibe Records(Drae Slapz, Nick B, Lang, etcetera…) return to deliver a RARE performance, as will the crowd-pleasing STRAYs (Donte Thomas, Chief, etc), and grimy far-East collective Gutter Family (Bocha, HV, etc) will round out the night.
As always, you can expect to see TheTHESIS official DJ, Verbz, officiating both events along with our host, Max McHugh.
Big shout outs to The Portland Mercury, Vortex Magazine, XRAY.FM, KPSU, Crate Diggers, Good Cheer Records, Sneaker Cart, TNO Entertainment and Casso Dinero for all of their support and strategic help with this seriously HUGE event.
Please spread the word, come out, leave the drama at home, enjoy yourself, turn up, and then do it all again with us – here in Portland – at TheTHESIS.
Night 1: HEADLINERS || Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington, 12/1, $10 at the door, 9pm
Night 2: SQUADS || Hoop Dreams, 1402 NW Glisan, 12/2, $10 at the door, 9pm