Live in the Depths 2025 Scene Report Overview
LIVE IN THE DEPTHS: Official Website
Venue: Mississippi Pizza & Atlantis Lounge – Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR
Confession: I didn’t go to every Live in the Depths this year, but I went to quite a few. And every one of them was pretty memorable. One of the reasons these shows are always consistently fun and rewarding, is because of the showrunner DHUG – that celestial body that becomes the center of the galaxy on the first Thursday of every month in Portland. He’s always enthusiastic, always welcoming and always fucking yelling in way that could shatter glass … if love weren’t cushioning the blast.
“THANK YOU FOR COMING TO LIVE IN THE DEPTHS, WE DO THIS EVERY FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH! WE APPRECIATE YOU COMING OUT AND SUPPORTING EVERYONE!”
– DHUG
Live in the Depths stands as a stubborn candle against the vast and roaring dark of this American age. Here, bodies gather not to consume plastic, but to commune – to listen, to labor in sound, to bear witness unto one another’s noise and tenderness alike. People listen. They share stories, time, and physical space without asking what it’s worth on the market. In a nation that isolates, commodifies and dehumanizes, Live in the Depths functions like a lifeline. The market hath no fucking dominion through those doors. The music rattles the bones and shakes the mind, sure – but the truth is that for a few hours, when you’re here, the machinery of America seems to lose its grip slightly, and something older and more honest takes over.
Check out the list of shows we visited this year.
LIVE IN THE DEPTHS 85
A lot of people hibernate like fucking bears here and for good reason – the winter is cold, long and dark. I think most of us enjoy the solitude and darkness. But when Spring comes, Portlanders aren’t looking for fish to sink their teeth into (well, they kind of are); they’re really looking to lodge their fangs into fresh experiences and the community at large.
LIVE THE DEPTHS 86
“I’d been looking forward to this one ever since whispers started slithering through my social media feed about some custom MIDI-synced light show that was to be performed by Occurian himself while simultaneously playing live music.“
MEDIA
You can listen to LITD sets on S.P.A.Z. Radio here: https://spaz.org/
LIVE THE DEPTHS 87
“Whatever craziness is happening at these shows, it’s never just the music or the visuals or the sweat-slicked strangers gyrating in time with ghosts – it’s your perception that twists it, shapes it, makes it either salvation or sensory overload. And for me, lately, that perception is filtered through a lens of growth and healing – but not the smooth and flowery kind. This is the ugly kind of healing. Muscle-tearing, soul-scraping … the kind that comes with a mirror and a voice in your head screaming truths you’ve avoided for years. Little deaths. Dozens of them. And that’s why I love Live in the Depths.”
MEDIA
LIVE THE DEPTHS 88
“One of my favorite things to do at Live in the Depths is get settled in like an hour before the show starts. I get my neon slush cocktail that looks like it was blended about a year ago, grab a greasy triangle of pizza, set up my journal and let the stems take over. That’s when the shoulder taps begin – people pass by me and touch my shoulders as if I’m some obscure sculpture in a Moldovian train station – something that their visitor guide encourages all who passes by it must touch it. But every so often a DJ at Live in the Depths comes along that absolutely sets the mood for these little moments and stems. DJ Brandy Gray played, for me, the absolute basics of joy to start the night.“
MEDIA
LIVE THE DEPTHS 89
When is it officially spooky season? I wrestle with this question throughout most of the summer. I’m always searching for September, and tonight I think I officially found it. It’s only 68 degrees outside, the DJ (penpointred) is playing some ominous records and everyone is wearing black – well, they always wear black, but tonight it feeds the story in my head. It was in that moment when I caught a glimpse of Wet Mango serenely swaying and eating a slice of pizza in the middle of an empty dance floor with the sunshine shining through the top back window at the Atlantis Lounge in that perfect way. Those who go to Live in the Depths early in the evening know what I’m talking about
MEDIA
LIVE THE DEPTHS 90
NO SCENE REPORT THIS MONTH.
MEDIA
LIVE THE DEPTHS 91
“The wait is over, it’s officially October. I said this aloud at my table, and Dhug, ever the optimist with a beer in one hand and stim hand flipping in the other, immediately corrected me. “It’s ROCKTOBER,” he declared, like a man calling down thunder. And hell, maybe he’s right. As many times as I’ve come to Live in the Depths the word “rock” almost never comes to mind- wait is that fucking Sheila E. I’m hearing over the speakers? “
MEDIA
LIVE THE DEPTHS 92
I’d heard IFSH before – twice, in the strange glow of comfort and community at separate Ambient Garden Parties buried somewhere in NE Portland. It was a nice surprise to hear them go full on experimental slow vocal chopping and kind of a revelation. Plunderphonics is a dangerous beast – an ocean; you can’t turn your back on it or it can swallow a performance whole if you lose focus, and most artists do. Most artists drown trying to sound clever.
MEDIA
You can listen to LITD sets on S.P.A.Z. Radio here: https://spaz.org/
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