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“Hardcore is for the kids,” says Chip Sneed, one of the minds behind 777 Booking, a Portland-based promotion and booking agency specializing in hardcore bands. Guided by their genuine desire to create a space for the next generation to enjoy hardcore shows, Sneed, Kieran Harden, Stephen Cameron and Andrew Le recently opened the High Limit Room (720 SE Hawthorne Blvd., highlimitroompdx.com), a 250-capacity all-ages music venue.
The High Limit Room will act as a place for local do-it-yourself bookers and producers to host shows, with an available PA system (with Sneed or Harden running sound). While the upstairs venue space will remain a booze-free music zone, the main floor is dreamed up to become a cafe by daylight and bar by nightfall. Le, in particular, is working to change the dimly lit basement into a bright, positive atmosphere.
Cleaning up the former Analog Cafe and Theater space created an “ant colony” community of volunteers, Harden tells WW, that’s funded by 777 Booking and community donations. (The GoFundMe—gofund.me/76f2f9ba—is still active.)
Sneed, Harden and Cameron (jokingly deemed “the third 7” who makes sure “things get plugged back in”) are the minds behind Northwest Hardcore Fest. The event, a two-day, all-ages festival that brings in hardcore bands from all over the country, will be held for the fourth time Aug. 16 and 17 at Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (15 NE Hancock St.) in collaboration with Friends of Noise.
While Harden acknowledges there are “kinks to work out,” Sneed adds, “To have it actually come to fruition was something that was incredibly gratifying.”
See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2025 here!
