I first saw thrown live back in 2023 when they opened for Invent Animate on their “Heavener” headline tour. At the time they only had an EP and one single out — considering thrown’s short songs, this was just 10 minutes worth of material, all of which they played in that opening set. After they came out with a force I’d never seen in an opener before, I knew they were poised to make it big. Less than two years later, their nearly sold-out first headline tour proves they have done just that; They have indeed made it.

On Saturday, March 8, 550 people filled a barricade-less Hawthorne Theatre in Portland, Oregon, for thrown’s sold-out show midway through their first headline run. A show at the Hawthorne without a barricade is rare, so this was quite unexpected—especially considering the tendency of thrown fans to get wild. This was only the third time in recent years I’d seen the Hawthorne without a barricade, but it was the first show where the small paper “no stage diving allowed” signs failed to discourage the crowd from hurling themselves off the stage.

Despite being possibly the shortest headliner set I’ve seen, thrown packed a lot of action and force into their 30 minutes on stage. With thrown’s short songs, I was worried the show would feel brief, but at the end, it felt complete. Out of their discography, only two songs — “fast forward” and “ignored” — didn’t make the setlist. Though honestly, with a run time of exactly two minutes and one minute respectively, I don’t see why they didn’t just add them in and extend their set 3 minutes longer, especially considering the number of people chanting for an encore at the end of the night. To be fair, it playing those songs probably would have at least cleared the room faster than security yelling that there was no encore. Still, the lingering crowd and long merch booth line proved thrown pulled off a successful headlining show.

Truly, the success of this run couldn’t have been possible without the support of such an insane lineup, which was a huge part of the reason the night felt complete for me after thrown’s set. Of the three openers, Heavensgate was the only one I hadn’t listened to before, but after they opened the evening, I had a new favorite band to follow. Heavensgate got the mosh pit started and the crowd moving — a heavy feat for the first opening band. 

No Cure followed, and as they took the stage, I heard one of the security guards say, “It’s about time Portland got some true beatdown hardcore here.” And they were right — it was clear we were long overdo for a beatdown show. It’s a genre that often doesn’t make it to the Pacific Northwest unfortunately, but the crowd certainly showed there’s demand for it.

Finally, Varials wowed the crowd with their impressive jumps on stage and the new vocalist’s dramatic antics—though personally I could have done without the spitting into the crowd. I know they think it looks cool, but I prefer not to risk getting sick anymore than one already does at a crowded show. Regardless, most of the crowd didn’t seem to mind getting hit with a bit of saliva — or they were just too busy two-stepping and moshing to care.

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