Skip to main content
Kendrick vs. Drake. Lana del Rey vs. Ethel Cain. Nicki Minaj vs. the world. Now Violet Chachki vs. Gottmik? Not quite.
Things are all good between the RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni, but the No Gorge podcast co-hosts know as well as anyone that feuds are big business in the pop landscape. The world-class drag artists play with this theme in their show The Knockout Tour, a revue blending live singing and circus-level cabaret with boxing-themed drag on Friday, Nov. 7, at the Roseland Theater. Supporting Chachki and Gottmik is a local delegation of nightlife stars: Boujee Cherry, Lylac, Dria Dore and Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls alumna Jayla Rose Sullivan.
Fractions are showing even within the Drag Race cinematic universe—the Season 7 winner and Season 13 runner-up had a minor though public dust-up of their own this summer with fellow Drag Race alums Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova—but Gottmik tells WW that The Knockout Tour is a celebration of the arts that brought her and Chachki together.
“We thought it would be fun to do a show together where we don’t try to do the same thing, but like, do our classic vibes separately and do it in more of a boxing setting with rounds,” she says. “I just thought like, why waste this moment, and I wanted to get the vibes of the audience, and it just fits the theme so perfectly.”
Chachki is a renowned burlesque artist whose Crazy Horse Cabaret residency broke barriers as the Parisian revue’s first male-bodied performer (Chachki is gender fluid, using she/her and they/them pronouns on- and offstage). Gottmik similarly made history as Drag Race’s first trans male performer (Kade Gottlieb uses he/him offstage while Gottmik uses she/her pronouns). As a makeup artist, Gottlieb has painted some of pop culture’s most famous faces, including Ariana Grande, Cindy Crawford, Paris Hilton and Tinashe. Grande, for her money, recently named Gottmik and Chachki among the all-time best Drag Race contestants on the podcast Shut Up Evan with Evan Ross Katz.
Both artists have appeared on global Vogue covers and collectively loaned their likenesses to leading luxury fashion houses like Gaultier, Louboutin and Versace. They star in the music video of the Grammy-winning song “Unholy” by Sam Smith and Kim Petras and performed onstage with the singers at the 2023 ceremony. Chachki and Gottmik have visited Portland before, either as solo artists or as part of a touring ensemble, but The Knockout Tour marks their first rumble in Rose City together.
“We are self-producing and self-curating this art, and it’s a lot more work. It’s literally our baby,” Chachki says. “I think the difference is that when we go into a gig, we get hired as independent contractors, and we’re just showing up and doing the best with what they provide as far as tech and production goes. But with this, we have our hands on every single part of what’s going on onstage.”
Chachki’s signature aerial circus act has rubbed off on Gottmik, who will also take to the Roseland’s rafters. Gottmik’s edgy rock-’n’-roll aesthetic will still read true for both performers, fearlessly queering the boxing ring. Along with Sam Smith and Kim Petras, Chachki has worked with alt pop stars such as Alice Glass, Brooke Candy and Allie X (Tommy Lee also contributed to her EP Gagged a decade ago). Gottmik’s foray into music is more recent, but will sport guitar licks with live vocals. Along with Gottmik’s singles “SKULLFUCKER” and “HOLY DISCO” and the duo’s on-brand “TKO,” Gottmik teased that Portland will hear some unreleased songs.
“You’re going to see aerial, live vocals, lip syncing, costumes, dancing, standup. It’s quite the variety show,” Chachki says.
“I feel like right now, especially in the drag space, it’s getting very homogenized and commodified, and this show is really about who we are as artists and how we stand out.”
Gottmik and Chachki know that pop culture can be a blood sport, but the drag superstars are proud to support Portland’s drag scene when they take it to the mat this weekend.
“As queer people, it’s about generational community and passing it along, and educating the next generation and paying it forward,” Chachki says. “It actually helps me as an artist, because I feel like I have a better grasp on what’s going on, you know, like outside of the Drag Race bubble.”
SEE IT: The Knockout Tour at the Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033, roselandpdx.com. 8 pm Friday, Nov. 7. $51.25–$61.75.
