FUGAZI ZINE RELEASE SHOW feat. Des Demonas / Dot Dash / Applied Knowledge

ZINE RELEASE SHOW
Upside Down Punks: The Strange but True Story of That Fugazi Basketball Hoop Show 

*** A night celebrating punk history, DIY spirit, and the music that keeps it alive. ***

In the summer of 1988, Fugazi played a sweaty, chaotic, sparsely attended show in a rundown Philadelphia gym. The sound was terrible. The power went out. And yet, somehow, it became legendary.

Upside Down Punks: The Strange but True Story of That Fugazi Basketball Hoop Show (Microcosm Publishing) is an oral history of that gig—told by those who were there, compiled by J. Hunter Bennett, with a foreword by Mickey Lynch, the teenager who made it happen.

To celebrate the book’s release, we’re throwing a proper DIY show in its honor featuring:

Des Demonas (Washington, DC)

Washington, DC’s DES DEMONAS have been hailed as a favorite of Henry Rollins (KCRW FM/Black Flag), Marc Riley (BBC6 Music/The Fall), and Iggy Pop (BBC6 Music/The Stooges) since the release of their debut LP on In The Red Records and their subsequent singles and EP. 

DES DEMONAS’ much anticipated follow-up LP “APOCALYPTIC BOOM! BOOM!” is out November 29 on In The Red Records. 

The group is made up of some familiar names from the DC punk, garage, and indie scenes. A Kenyan punk-poet-politique Jacky “Cougar” Abok (Foul Swoops, Thee Lolitas) is on vocals & percussion, Chicano/Indigenous-American Mark Cisneros (Hammered Hulls, Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds, The Make-Up) is on guitar, Paul Vivari (Benjy Ferree, DJ Soul Call Paul) is on Farfisa organ and bass machine, and Matt Gatwood (Two Inch Astronaut) is on drums. 

Des Demonas’ music is a melding of disparate sounds and influences, hitting  with a driving pulse and fiery intent.

“They are as punk as you can get and they make me feel so much better. They’re willing to sing about Black Power, misogyny, LGBTQ rights… They are there and they are at the front, and they are so beautiful. They are the perfect representation of what a better future looks like.” – Neko Case 

“The sonic fuel of the band is a blend of post punk, punk, funk, blues, psych rock, Afro beat, even bubble gum but the noise you hear is pure Des Demonas.” – Kim Salmon / The Scientists 

“Dig the Des Demonas. Play it loud. Twist your wig.” – Kid Congo Powers / The Cramps-Gun Club-Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Dot Dash (Washintgton, DC)

“Washington DC group Dot Dash, who have come to play as idealized and energized a form of power pop as one could imagine, didn’t grow up in the ’60s; their musical touchstones are in the new wave era: so, more the Jam than the Who, Haircut 100 rather than the Kinks. Their iconic labels are more likely to be Postcard, Rough Trade and Sarah than Immediate, Pye or Deram. While they may have started out in thrall to Wire, from whom they took their name, their progress has been towards crystalline tunefulness.” – Ira Robbins, Trouser Press

 Along the way, Dot Dash has played shows with The Monochrome Set, The Clientele, The Undertones, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The B-52s, Richard Lloyd (ex-Television), The Chameleons, Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), The Bats, The Drums, The Trashcan Sinatras, Sylvain Sylvain (ex-New York Dolls), Frankie Rose, Ultimate Painting, Ladybug Transistor, Dim Wizard, Allo Darlin, The Wave Pictures, Stevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian), Eternal Summers & lots of other rocking combos. 

And Dot Dash has a new record out, a 12” vinyl LP, released by a UK label and distributed by Last Night From Glasgow.

Applied Knowledge (Philadelphia)

Applied Knowledge crafts songs like hardboiled fiction—sharp, moody, and full of perspective. Blending post-punk tension, noir-drenched lyricism, and raw alternative energy, they build stories through sound—melodic when you least expect it, jagged when it counts.

Fronted by Peter Cortner (ex-Dag Nasty) and driven by bassist-songwriter Sam Pinola, the band’s songs unfold like dark city streets lit by flickering neon—full of shadow, movement, and an undercurrent of unease. Guitars from Scotty Why and Joe C. shift between shimmering atmosphere and jagged edges, while Jay’s drumming hits with the precision and intensity.

Their debut album, Half of Everything Else—produced by J. Robbins at Magpie Cage Studios—is a study in tension and release, melody and grit, light and dark. The songs sit at the intersection of post-punk urgency, ‘80s alternative moodiness, and the kind of storytelling that leaves a mark.