anothersievefistedfind

[anothersievefistedfind]

Fugazi played 39 shows in 63 days on the 1988 Fall European Tour, between 14 October and 16 December. If you watch the video, you will notice that there is a pause of about a week in London before the final show of the tour in Eindhoven. That will have been when they recorded the Margin Walker EP. If you feel like listening to a show from this tour, this is a fun one:

https://www.dischord.com/fugazi_live_series/linz-austria-111088

[anothersievefistedfind]

This is a good one, sounds clear and balanced with some interesting and unusual renditions, for instance Recap Modotti and Version. There are a few curious false starts, where the music seems to change direction unexpectedly at the beginning. It sounds to me like they might have been using musical signals to communicate / decide the next song, like a dialogue, with it sometimes being a shared decision what to play. An initial note or rhythm would limit the options and subsequent responses would narrow it down to a single song. For instance, high-pitched sustained note on guitar = "Repeater?" Bass-line response = "Waiting Room."

[anothersievefistedfind]

Fugazi, Salle des Fêtes, Kingersheim, France 6/10/1995 (FLS #0685)

This one was brought to my attention by @alexmitrani who earmarked it as a personal favorite. Having listened to the recording repeatedly for the last couple of days, I certainly found plenty of strongpoints to enjoy.

The tape documents a one-off performance in Kingersheim, a small commune in northeastern France. It was the last out of ten shows Fugazi played on French soil in 1995 (it appears Ian MacKaye was unusually mistaken when expressing his praise and gratitude for the country during the show, mentioning a total of 12 gigs in France in 1995). 

Fugazi performed no less than 28 songs on this particular night. And considering the running time of the recording clocks in at around 1 h 44 mins, this will surely be one of the longer shows the band ever played.

The opening of the set is a scorcher and the band comes out swinging, going balls out. The performance is pretty much on point and ardent throughout, yet particular highlights in my book include the wild Turnover breakdown, Joe’s bass driving songs such as Bed For The Scraping, Long Division and Long Distance Runner, and a phenomenal encore 2.

The set list includes a high dosage of Red Medicine tracks (10) and most of their earlier work is thrown in the mix in equal measure: In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (4), Repeater (5), 7 Songs debut EP (4) and the 3 Songs seven-inch (1). The Margin Walker EP is the apparent absentee here. 

Note that this show features the only (!) live version of Greed in 1995, and includes rare 1995 sightings of Break-In, KYEO and Glueman as well (here even with Combination Lock - which actually appears to be encore 3 by itself - to close out the performance).

Banter is scarce yet portrays the band in an upbeat mood, not considering the occasional rebuke drawn by the local lighting tech. Note that Guy addresses the patrons in French most of the time, reminiscent of, entre autres, the phenomenal Fugazi show in Bordeaux 1992.

The only thing that takes my enjoyment of this recording and show down a notch is that the audio, particularly of the instrumentation, is stretched a bit thin and trebly, hinting at the audience source of the recording.

Video footage of this concert is available, and can be accessed through the following archival link: https://archive.org/details/fugazi1995-06-10 

Much obliged @alexmitrani.

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Merchandise 3. Public Witness Program 4. Greed 5. Do You Like Me 6. Interlude 1 7. Bed For The Scraping 8. Walken's Syndrome 9. Reclamation 10. Interlude 2 11. Turnover 12. Interlude 3 13. Back To Base 14. Downed City 15. Shut the Door 16. Waiting Room 17. Break-In 18. Bad Mouth 19. Give Me The Cure 20. Interlude 4 21. By You 22. Interlude 5 23. Forensic Scene 24. Long Division 25. Runaway Return 26. Interlude 6 27. Long Distance Runner 28. Encore 1 29. Fell, Destroyed 30. Great Cop 31. Blueprint 32. Encore 2 33. KYEO 34. Target 35. Sweet and Low 36. Glueman 37. Combination Lock 38. Outro

#FLS1995 #fugazi #fugazi live series #dischord #kingersheim #france

[anothersievefistedfind]

Hi there I've just discovered your incredible site and just wondered if you could list me your top 10 or so all time favorite Fugazi live shows you've heard so far? Cheers

Hey, thanks for reaching out. Actually, I do not have such a list of shows at the ready, certainly not one I use to rank shows. However, you can trace some of my favorite live Fugazi recordings via the blog. Using a desktop or laptop, you can click on the little bars on the left side of the homepage. This will open an overview with a handful of subpages, including "Highlights." Click on this, then click on "G picks." This will present you with a selection of some of my favorites. Come to think of it, you can get to these directly as well using this hyperlink. Enjoy, take care, gunter

#G picks #fugazi #fugazi live series #dischord #don't be a stranger

[anothersievefistedfind]

#fugazi #dischord #fugazi live series #we are fugazi #lance bangs #20 years #d.c. #screening

[anothersievefistedfind]

#fugazi #we are fugazi #dischord #fugazi live series #d.c. #joe gross #screening #20 years

[anothersievefistedfind]

Listening to the Fugazi Live Series, I got increasingly curious about the venues that were played at repeatedly and spent a bit of time looking into it.

Fugazi played at 733 venues but played at 79.4% of them only once, twice at 12.7% of venues, 3 shows at 3.4% of venues, and 4 shows at 2.3% of venues. Only 2.2% of venues had 5 or more shows.

The top 10 venues are all in the USA, with the top two both in Washington DC - Fort Reno and the 9:30 club are the only 2 venues with more than 10 shows. In the case of Fort Reno, Fugazi played there 12 times between 1988 and 2002, only missing 3 years (1990, 1992 and 1995).

Overseas, the venues with most Fugazi shows were Forte Prenestino in Italy and Paradiso in the Netherlands both with 5 shows. There were 9 other overseas venues with 4 shows. Proud to see that the number 1 Fugazi venue in the UK was the Newcastle Riverside, in my home town, which was where I saw them play in 1990!

There is a browsable table of the venues in the Fugazi Live Series here:

[anothersievefistedfind]

Anyone up for solving this puzzle?

This one deserves repeated listens. Great rendition of Glueman, which includes what sounds like a snippet of something else, played on guitar at 10:48 - 11:04. It sounds familiar but I have been unable to identify it. If anyone knows what it is, please tell.

[anothersievefistedfind]

Fugazi, Rote Fabrik, Zürich, Switzerland 6/18/1992 (FLS #0470)

Out of the five times Fugazi played in the city of Zürich, Switzerland (1988, 1990, 1992, 1995 and 1999), the venue of choice turned out to be the Rote Fabrik no less than four times, and for good reason, or so it seems:

“The Rote Fabrik, which enjoys a beautiful location overlooking Lake Zurich, is the alternative counterpart to the classic cultural institutions in the city center.

The well-known cultural center unites concerts, art interventions, movie screenings, and theater performances on social and cultural themes under one roof.

Also located on the Rote Fabrik site are the Shedhalle, an institution for contemporary and critical art, and the restaurant, Ziegel oh Lac.

(...)

The Rote Fabrik was a silk-weaving mill until 1940. After it was shut down, many of the rooms stood empty or were used for storage. In the 1970s and 80s, the Zurich youth movement protested against this. They wanted their own, independent cultural center and thought that the factory site would be the ideal place for this.

However, initially the youth movement was not taken very seriously. Only after numerous demonstrations and even riots was the factory site rented out to the ‘Interessengemeinschaft Rote Fabrik’ on a trial basis (incidentally, this interest group still exists today). Soon bands such as Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bad Religion, and Manu Chao were playing legendary concerts here, long before they became known in Europe. Günter Grass and Alice Schwarzer held readings in the club room, while performances and discussion evenings with an interested young public took place in the factory theater.

The temporary arrangement finally became a permanent enterprise in 1987, and the concept of the Rote Fabrik is still functioning to this day.”

Banter is rather easygoing from the get-go, as Ian lets the audience in on some of the events that made up their day, concluding “(...) that’s what we do for a living, we dry shoes to hairdryers… meanwhile we’re Fugazi from Washington D.C., have a nice time...”

Still, make no mistake about it, since a lot of the songs that are about to follow, e.g. Dear Justice Letter and Reclamation, were as much of an indictment of the state of affairs in the United States then as they are now, unfortunately.

The audience behaves rather disciplined throughout the evening, yet Styrofoam does feature a bit of an interruption towards the ending of the song while Ian intervenes to keep someone from stage-diving (you can catch it via the link to the video footage below).

More importantly, note the different tag and Beatles reference on Two Beats Off. It is one that I haven’t heard before if I am not mistaken. Guy Picciotto has been so kind and generous to provide some more backstory, painting a clearer picture: “It does seem like in the first verse of the song I am doing a conflation of the lyric from the Beatles’ song GLASS ONION with their other song FIXING A HOLE. I took the line about ‘fixing a hole in the ocean’ from GLASS ONION and ‘where the rain comes in’ is from FIXING A HOLE which in fact GLASS ONION is referencing so the whole thing is a bit circular.  The rest of the song I am making shit up and none of them are from any cover songs.  There is a part where I sing something like ‘I like to paint by numbers / cos I can’t keep in the lines / I like to paint by numbers / to waste (my) time’ and later there is a part about wanting to reach for the moon. I think I was in a free-associating frame of mind because I have no good explanation for why that is what I came up with except that I was improvising and that is what came out.”

The recording offers 21 live songs in total, which is slightly above the crop for this particular tour. These cuts are taken off of In on the Kill Taker (2), Steady Diet of Nothing (6), Repeater (8), Margin Walker EP (3) and the self-titled or 7 Songs EP (2) respectively.

This includes a rather rare 1992 live rendering of Burning Too, as well as standout versions of Repeater and, most definitely, Reprovisional which showcases a lengthy, drawn-out build-up and sounds colossal. 

Basically, this one is a show that grows on me as it unfolds, one that culminates in a strong finale with two impeccable encores which includes an unusually late slot for Turnover that has Brendan pounding the snare.

The recording sounds quite good overall. Do note that the volume drops slightly towards the end of Merchandise, and that the vocals or even instrumentation appear slightly louder in the right channel for a good part of the recording, at least after Two Beats Off.

Partial footage of this show (Rend It intro, Merchandise, Dear Justice Letter, Styrofoam, Reclamation) was included in a video on the hardcore scene in Switzerland in 1992 and has been uploaded by the Swiss National TV (SRF) in the course of the digitization process of their archive. It can be accessed via here. These clips certainly portray the band going at it with fervor.

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Brendan #1 3. Merchandise 4. Dear Justice Letter 5. Styrofoam 6. Rend It 7. Reclamation 8. Two Beats Off 9. Great Cop 10. Exit Only  11. Interlude 1 12. Burning Too 13. Margin Walker 14. Waiting Room 15. Give Me The Cure 16. Interlude 2 17. Long Division 18. Runaway Return 19. Interlude 3 20. Stacks 21. Blueprint 22. Encore 1 23. Repeater 24. Reprovisional 25. Encore 2 26. Turnover 27. Promises 28. Outro

#FLS1992 #fugazi #dischord #rote fabrik #zürich #switzerland #beatles tag

[anothersievefistedfind]

Video footage courtesy Eyesore Video Channel

Fugazi, Capitol Theater, Olympia, WA USA 5/8/1993 (FLS #0540)

I had high hopes for this one, as several pieces appeared to fall into place, leading me to believe that this just might be a recording and show for the ages, one to cherish and to enjoy again and again. 

Set at the Capitol Theater venue in Olympia, Washington, a band-favorite where Fugazi would play certainly one of their most iconic gigs some two years later, this May 8, 1993 recording simply sounds great and features a promising set list that even includes a guest appearance by Stan The Man entertaining the audience with a bit of a House of the Rising Sun (The Animals) & (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay (Otis Redding) improv to kick things off in rather remarkable fashion.

Ian’s familiar, comforting drawn-out guitar chords heralding Turnover follow suit and once this song hits, the band is off to an upbeat, high gear start with the next couple of songs. However, soon after, both Public Witness Program and Two Beats Off get cut short due to some lengthy altercations with a group of neonazi’s (or “Romans”) Sieg Heiling the band and generally disrupting the show. 

There’s still an attempt to salvage and salve the situation at hand, yet Ian’s words leading into Long Division are quite foreboding, “this is a song called Long Division, and it’s about separation, a lot of people thought it was about math but it’s really not, it’s about separation, because sometimes in the world there are people that you do need to separate from, and there’s nothing wrong with that, because otherwise they just drag you down, and so forth.”

The poor company, or “Roman Emperors” are shown the door right after, which causes another lenghty interruption. Interestingly though, the following selection of songs (Blueprint into Facet Squared into Rend It) fits the turn of events quite well and most appropriately appears to convey the mood and position of the band on a number of related topics.

As such, this recording is an interesting entry and addition to the series, showcasing a solid performance once it finally does get going (23 Beats Off transitioning smoothly into Exit Only is a treat, as is the little “polka” improv into Repeater), yet probably not one I will revisit frequently because of the overly disruptive nature of the show.

Further note that a lyrical flub pretty much spoils Last Chance for a Slow Dance, and that the audio recording presented here is incomplete as can be concluded from the video footage (with generally poor audio) of the complete show that surprisingly exists (see insert above). Listening to this bootleg, it peters out eventually, and as such lacks the memorable jam and breakdown of Promises as well as set closer Sweet and Low in its entirety. Alas.

The recording documents 21 songs (Promises being incomplete as mentioned), taken off of In on the Kill Taker (7) which was slated for release by the end of June 1993, equally drawing from the Steady Diet of Nothing (5) and Repeater (5) album, as well as - to a lesser extent - from the 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs debut EP (2).

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Turnover 3. Greed 4. Public Witness Program 5. Interlude 1 6. Two Beats Off 7. Interlude 2 8. Long Division 9. Interlude 3 10. Blueprint 11. Facet Squared 12. Rend It 13. Reclamation 14. Latin Roots 15. 23 Beats Off 16. Exit Only 17. Waiting Room 18. Bulldog Front 19. Song #1 20. Smallpox Champion 21. Returning The Screw 22. Runaway Return 23. Encore 1 24. Repeater 25. Last Chance for a Slow Dance 26. Promises

#FLS1993 #fugazi #dischord #capitol theater #olympia #washington

[anothersievefistedfind]

Photo © Wikipedia

Fugazi, Schlachthof, Bremen, Germany 7/3/1992 (FLS #0483)

This tape documents the last date Fugazi played on German soil at the tail end of the 2 1/2 month European tour in 1992, just before wrapping up with three shows in Scandinavia and one in the Netherlands.

Venue of choice in Bremen was, as it has been on all four occasions the band hit this city over the years, the Schlachthof, “located on the site of the former municipal slaughterhouse [...], near the main train station, and [...] the largest cultural center in Bremen.”

Let me get out of the way that the sound quality of this recording is easily really good, well balanced, clear and highly enjoyable.

The performance is sprinkled with plenty of treats, and starts off nicely with a version of Joe #1 (tagged Phantom of the Opera) that includes some mesmerizing reverb on the guitars, sounding great. Last Chance for a Slow Dance catches some more cool reverb, this time on Guy’s vocals, rendering his lines “Flare fakes a flower, A burnt-out shower, No one can see” hauntingly beautiful. 

Last Chance transitions smoothly into an early slotted Promises, followed by great versions of Turnover and Suggestion, during which Ian even addresses the audience in the German language and invites anyone interested to make use of the mic. Margin Walker makes for another seamless combination, even though a segment of the song is missing due to an unfortunate cassette flip. 

Give Me The Cure is a bit of a turning point for this show, with Ian’s guitar being slightly out of tune and, mostly, because of some animosity emerging between the band and some of the patrons after the song. While the reasons for this are rather unclear from the recording, it appears it might have had something to do with a handful of people persistently insulting the band and trying to tell them what to play.

Frustration gradually builds, yet if anything, the band take it into stride and up the ante, turning an already strong performance into a genuine powerplay, busting out a string of songs to address the situation and taunts at hand in a most appropriate fashion. 

Listen closely as Ian steps away from the mic while singing Long Division, “the quietest song ever played”, and Brendan merely plays off of his infamous bell. Ian, Guy and even Brendan (behind the drum kit) then team up on the “crack, crack, crack” spiel which heralds another fantastic version of Blueprint to close out the main set. And the band do not let up, adding some more self-deprecating banter and a forceful combination of songs, Great Cop into Rend It into Repeater, to the musical downpour.

You get some cool snare hits and guitar play leading into Two Beats Off, and a drawn-out yet overall restrained version of Shut the Door to finish the set strong, clocking in at 9 1/2 minutes, and closing out with ominous guitar feedback.

The tape features a complete set of 20 live tracks, making up one of the longer performances of this tour, and drawing quite evenly from the (at the time) upcoming In on the Kill Taker album (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (4), Repeater (5), 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (3) as well as the 7 Songs debut EP (3).

Surely another entry in the series to take notice of. “Vielen Dank.”

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Joe #1 3. And The Same 4. Dear Justice Letter 5. Reclamation 6. Nice New Outfit 7. Facet Squared 8. Interlude 1 9. Last Chance for a Slow Dance 10. Promises 11. Turnover 12. Interlude 2 13. Suggestion 14. Margin Walker 15. Waiting Room 16. Give Me The Cure 17. Interlude 3 18. Long Division 19. Blueprint 20. Encore 1 21. Great Cop 22. Rend It 23. Repeater 24. Encore 2 25. Two Beats Off 26. Shut the Door 27. Outro

#FLS1992 #fugazi #dischord #schlachthof #bremen #germany #highlight

[anothersievefistedfind]

Show ticket courtesy of Greg Dunlap

Fugazi, Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL USA 9/3/1993 (FLS #0575)

While Fugazi would include the city of Chicago to their tour itinerary on 9 different occasions between 1988 and 2001, sometimes even playing back to back shows at the Oak Theatre (May 1993) or, later on, at the Congress Theater (May 1998 and June 2001), they would play the Aragon Ballroom just one time, and from what I gather, things did not go off without a hitch. 

Interestingly, in a March 18, 2009 interview by Mark Prindle for Rebel Noise, Ian MacKaye recalls:

“[...] we played at this place called I think the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, and at that time there was these 'T' barricades. Are you familiar with that? It was a giant room that held 5,000 people, and the barricade was shaped like a 'T,' so you had the horizontal bit in front of the stage, but then right in the middle there was a barricade that goes straight down dividing the 'pit,' so to speak -- or the 'crowd,' if you prefer -- into two. But then you had to bring in even more security people to be in the middle slot. And we argued and argued about it, but the fix was in. The security people were connected, insurance rates drove up costs, and everything was just creating this insane confluence of things that jacked the cost of the show higher and higher and higher. I couldn't get them to waive it, so finally I said that I insisted that we include in the budget 100 balloons and a can of helium. And the guy was like, "What? What are you talking about!?" And I said, "If you're gonna have such a draconian set-up, and since when people are entering the room that's the first thing they'll see, it sets a contrary tone. So as a form of protest and an absurdity, I would like to soften it by having balloons tied to it all the way around." They did it! But I was just spitting in the wind, because that night we just got banged. We had 3900 people at that show, and we made less than the guy that drove the forklift. That's the risk we took by working percentages.”

Still, even if it turned out to be a mere one-off experience, the history of the Aragon and history of the band are now forever intertwined, for better or for worse.

According to Wikipedia, “[c]onstruction [of the venue] was completed in 1926. The Aragon was designed in the Moorish architectural style, with the interior resembling a Spanish village. Named for a region of Spain, the Aragon was an immediate success and remained a popular Chicago attraction [...].” 

And from the looks of it, this place is massive.

Photos courtesy of the Chicago Architecture Center

The architectural layout might explain why the band pretty much came out swinging, firing on all cylinders, and steamrolling their audience.

As a result, this recording and entry in the live series surely is an interesting one, and one well-worth visiting, in spite of just a handful of small drawbacks, such as minimal cuts in between songs, some low end rumble, or Joe (very unusually) being out of sync for a couple of bars during an otherwise crushing version of Public Witness Program.

Two Beats Off surely is a highlight here, as are Brendan’s rim clicks closing out Sweet and Low and the set.

For a more in-depth review of the performance, I will refer to the words below by Antti Väärälä.

“The stars are really out tonight.”

Fugazi back in Chicago, touring the brand new In On The Killtaker album. This time they hit the historic Aragon Ballroom, having played two back to back shows at the city's Oak Theatre a few months prior at the tail end of their spring 1993 tour of the US. Aragon tends to get a bad rap for its acoustics, and admittedly the sound of this recording feels somewhat boomy and a tad out of balance, quite possibly because of the room's characteristics. I would still rate the sound as very good, because nothing feels unpleasant, and all the elements are audible and distinct.

Now for the show itself. Don't think the crowd's enthusiasm would be diminished because of the two big Oak Theatre shows just a little while back. In fact, the audience welcomes the band with open arms and there's a great atmosphere right from the start. Ian opens the show with funny remarks about the stage height, urges people to refrain from crowd surfing, and off we go into the anthemic Smallpox Champion.

The band is on a hot streak to say the least. The initial flow is filled with fiery performances, my highlights being the absolutely stunning duo of Facet Squared and Walken's Syndrome. Still, I gotta give big credit to how the flow goes from Merchandise to a surprisingly early appearance of Blueprint. This genius move does wonders to really lift the atmosphere through the roof.

Instrument and Rend It form an intense and heavy pair, as both Ian and Guy hold nothing back in their respective performances. The mid-set classics follow in the same vein, with Waiting Room being one of the hardest rocking versions of the song I've heard so far. The list of red-hot performances could go on and on. But I have to give a special mention to the final four tracks heading to the encore as they are vibrant Fugazi punk rock at its absolute finest. Public Witness Program's exceptionally high intensity causes Joe a few slips, but the onslaught of Great Cop more than makes up for it. Tonight's Two Beats Off is the epitome of the "Picciotto Cool", and a totally infectious Repeater shakes all the leftover energy off the room, fueled by a wonderfully jarring intro jam by the whole band. Listen to the big singalong during the bridge, and you can't help but join in for the insane partying of the final explosion. Cheered back to the stage, the band continue the jams with the same level of excitement. Admittedly the flow is a bit uneven going from Cassavetes to the calm of Long Division, and then back to a very rocking Runaway Return, but that is only a microscopic gripe, as all the performances are top notch. Promises takes the evening to a close with Sweet and Low in a sure-fire fashion, where it all just feels like a big, inspired jam session.

Not only were the stars really out, but they also aligned for this evening at the Aragon. Essential addition to any Fugazi collection, this entry delivers the band's live experience at its most enjoyable and then some. Strong performances, great flows, a tangible atmosphere - it's all here. And with a pleasing enough sound and a steady quality throughout it's very easy to rank this as one of the finest entries on FLS I've encountered so far.

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Smallpox Champion 3. Merchandise 4. Blueprint 5. Facet Squared 6. Walken's Syndrome 7. Interlude 1 8. Reclamation 9. Latin Roots 10. Interlude 2 11. Instrument 12. Rend It 13. Interlude 3 14. Waiting Room 15. Give Me The Cure 16. Suggestion 17. Interlude 4 18. Public Witness Program 19. Great Cop 20. Two Beats Off 21. Repeater 22. Encore 23. Cassavetes 24. Long Division 25. Runaway Return 26. Promises 27. Sweet and Low 28. Outro

#FLS1993 #fugazi #dischord #aragon ballroom #chicago #illinois #antti väärälä

[anothersievefistedfind]

Photo courtesy of https://www.bennington.edu/about

Fugazi, Bennington College, Bennington, VT USA 9/16/1993 (FLS #586)

(Words below submitted by Antti Väärälä)

Another small town played in, as was the Fugazi way. Bennington, a city in southern Vermont, was visited twice by the band with both gigs taking place in the early 90's at the Bennington College. The band seems to be in good spirits after a day off, albeit quite possibly having spent it on the road. Ian's opening remarks include him mentioning how the show was put together in less than a week, and thank you's are passed all around appropriately. After this we are greeted with the delightful blaring of Ian's guitar leading to the fantastic rumble of Facet Squared.

The recording sounds pretty good, as is usual with this era. The drums sound quite clear, if a little distant and thin. Joe's bass drowns a bit too much into the low end in my opinion. The vocals on the other hand cut through comparatively well. All in all, this is a good, steady quality recording throughout.

The band go into a good flow and rock on uninterrupted. After Reclamation gets the usual, powerful treatment, we get a funny interlude where the stage diving is momentarily made the star of the show. After this circus the music takes center stage again. Two rarities appear back to back on the evening's tracklist. Personal favorite Bulldog Front is attitude-filled to the brim as always, and Song #1 gets a lively, bouncy treatment. Both of these rockers were heard only a handful of times on the fall 93 US trek. There's a minuscule digital crack about halfway through Song #1 but it doesn't mar the enjoyment. Another highlight is a slowed down, borderline doomy Returning The Screw which gets a splendid rendition with Ian giving his strongest vocals. The band then navigate to a glorious version of Blueprint to finish the main set.

KYEO rocks the house during the encore, and is actually another rare addition we get on this entry. To close the show, Fell, Destroyed instrumental gets a brisky and playful display.

This is a good entry from the era of fiery shows, when the band struggled a lot with constant stage diving and other horseplay. This show isn't too convoluted with such action, and has a lot to offer musically, as the band perform on top of their game. The sound overall feels a bit distant and muffled to my ears compared to some other tapes from the era, but otherwise this is another sturdy, complete recording from a great tour.

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Facet Squared 3. Latin Roots 4. Greed 5. Rend It 6. Reclamation 7. Interlude 1 8. Cassavetes 9. Great Cop 10. Exit Only 11. Interlude 2 12. Promises 13. Interlude 3 14. Bulldog Front 15. Song #1 16. Smallpox Champion 17. Returning The Screw 18. Interlude 4 19. Blueprint 20. Encore 21. Long Division 22. Runaway Return 23. Interlude 5 24. KYEO 25. Fell, Destroyed Instrumental 26. Outro

#FLS1993 #fugazi #dischord #bennington college #bennington #vermont #antti väärälä

[anothersievefistedfind]

Fugazi @ Club Dreamerz, Chicago, IL, 6/10/1989 - Photo © by John Sisson, Jr

#FLS1989 #fugazi #fugazi live series #dischord #club dreamerz #chicago #illinois #misc

[anothersievefistedfind]

Photo © William Bradley

Fugazi, National Guard Armory, Columbia, SC USA 2/7/1993 (FLS #0494)

(Words below submitted by Antti Väärälä)

Fugazi in Columbia, South Carolina to test-drive new tracks and just to have good old fun. This is the band's third visit to the city, and they would return once more on the tumultuous tour of 1996. This show takes place at National Guard Armory of Columbia, which is located adjacent to South Carolina University in the city. The armory was established in 1905, so this is another historic locale for the band to tick off the list. Closed from official use in 1964 as a new, modern facility took over the duties, the armory remained a place to host events.

Ian opens the evening with a long disclosure about the band's day. The venue had a few surprises for them upon arrival, and they were forced to improvise some security measures. As in flipped tables forming a makeshift barricade. Both Ian and Guy speak up in a serious tone to make the audience understand the unstable situation. Let's see how the events unfold.

The recording sounds quite good, and its best feature is how well it emphasizes the band's power and the feel of the room. No element drowns out and the mix balance is okay. Joe's bass has a nice, dirty clang and ring to it. Brendan's snare cuts through, and the interplay between the kick drum and bass is prominent. At first the overall sound feels muddy and a tad distant. This is possibly because of the room's character, not being built for rock concerts. In the end the sound turns out quite pleasing as the recording draws you in with its energy.

First part of the show finds the band taking pauses between songs to warn the crowd about the awkward barricade. The performances are good, but feel separated and a bit careful occasionally. The security issue must have been a major disruption at first. Still, we get a magnificent rendition of Joe #1 as the opener, and an atmospheric flow to Exit Only. The bass rumbles in a beautiful way and both guitars hit some nice variations.

Stacks is an interesting listen not only because of the song's fantastic angularity, and how it always sounds so inspired. This time Joe steps in to do the backing vocal for the chorus. Guy mentions earlier that he has "a little voice" so Joe gives him a breather. Very convincing performance by him and the whole group.

Burning is a great addition to this entry's tracklist. The atmosphere is sparkling, and Guy performs his vocals with a peculiar feeling. It seems he's under the weather, but it gives his voice an interesting edge and he goes all out regardless. Burning was a bit of a rarity on the winter 93 tour with only four performances, so it's always a delight.

The whole mid-set row of oldies is a show highlight, as the energy is high and atmosphere through the roof. Guy's nasty grit in his voice makes Margin Walker rock that much harder. And check out the screaming singalong from a thrilled patron on Bad Mouth. Exhilarating!

The final trio of tunes is a splendid bunch of anthems. Requests for Long Division can be heard during the show and the song gets an ecstatic response when Ian finally starts the riff. Guy then leads a stirring Rend It to close the show. He may have some troubles this evening, but it doesn't affect the powerful performance at all.

The show pretty much flies by, clocking in just over an hour. There's a hard curfew approaching and the band hits a "fucking bullmarch" as Guy puts it. Consequently the banter is scarce but good-humoured throughout. The audience is ardent, and rather cooperative about the barricade situation, at least after a few grave warnings. Even the crowd surfing seems to keep at bay. And once the sound draws the listener in, this turns into a very interesting and an easily recommendable entry. 

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Joe #1 3. Exit Only 4. Greed 5. Interlude 1 6. Blueprint 7. Interlude 2 8. Stacks 9. Public Witness Program 10. Interlude 3 11. Instrument 12. Sieve-Fisted Find 13. Reclamation 14. Interlude 4 15. Smallpox Champion 16. Returning the Screw 17. Burning  18. Interlude 5 19. Waiting Room 20. Margin Walker 21. Bad Mouth 22. Interlude 6 23. Turnover 24. Long Division 25. Rend It 26. Outro

#FLS1993 #fugazi #dischord #national guard armory #columbia #south carolina #antti väärälä

[anothersievefistedfind]

Show ticket courtesy of Matt Zeleznik

Fugazi, Metropol, Pittsburgh, PA USA 8/20/1993 (FLS #0564)

(Words below submitted by Antti Väärälä)

Fugazi in Pittsburgh, PA, during the first part of the fall 1993 US tour, coming from a pair of shows in Trenton, NJ, and a really cool show in Mechanicsburg. The band gigged in Pittsburgh generously over the years, and played three out of the seven times at the Metropol. After nearly 15 years as Pittsburgh's flagship music venue for small-scale live entertainment, Metropol closed its doors in 2002.

Ian cools down the very enthusiastic and stage-rushing crowd with his friendly opening remarks, and speaks highly of the Pittsburgh show two years earlier. Pretty soon the music rolls on with the ominous guitar noises of Smallpox Champion.

The sound is a bit lackluster to my ears, as the rhythm section of Brendan and Joe feels a tad distant and thin. On the other hand, the guitars are prominent, and the vocals cut through nicely most of the time. The rating "good" is just right for this in my book, and there are stronger sounding recordings from this era. The most positive thing about this tape is how well the room's atmosphere is felt, and the band's amazingly unified playing.

The initial flow is denied as the band has to stop a couple of times at the start of the show. Smallpox Champion barely makes it to the end as crowd surfing has to be addressed. Latin Roots stops abruptly at the start to Joey Picuri's alarm calls, as people keep pushing against the soundboard. After some still friendly pleas from the band the show is allowed to properly continue. Poor Latin Roots never picks up, but what we get instead is a crushing rendition of Reclamation and a fiery, Brendan-led Turnover.

Burning is a fine additon to the set, and this is the first of only three times the song got played during the whole fall 1993 tour. Another delightful rarity comes back to back with Burning as the band hits Song #1 with force. The band push onwards to play new songs with passion, and throw in classic tracks for good measure.

The encore banter is quite funny here, as there's a lot of enthusiastic requesting from the crowd, including one for Blueprint which was played just minutes before. In hindsight it can be said in the requester's defence that the performance was in fact a bit sloppy occasionally. Luckily it's all friendly fun in the end, and Ian proceeds to dedicate Great Cop to himself after having further explained the band's attitude towards stage diving. The song gets a properly raging treatment as is usual with Fugazi encores. Promises is another highlight with a fantastic, noisy jam in the middle.

Sound-wise this entry left me a bit cold, but there are a lot of good things to balance it out. The banter and other shenanigans are entertaining and it's interesting to hear the band perform at the early stages of the tour, having the fresh In On The Killtaker album to promote. There are some slips and whoopsies in the playing but the amazing energy easily makes up for it.

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Smallpox Champion 3. Interlude 1 4. Facet Squared 5. Latin Roots 6. Interlude 2 7. Reclamation 8. Turnover 9. Instrument 10. Public Witness Program 11. And The Same 12. Exit Only 13. Interlude 3 14. Waiting Room 15. Burning 16. Interlude 4 17. Song #1 18. Interlude 5 19. Returning The Screw 20. Interlude 6 21. Cassavetes 22. Repeater 23. Blueprint 24. Encore 25. Great Cop 26. Walken's Syndrome 27. Promises 28. Sweet and Low 29. Outro

#FLS1993 #fugazi #dischord #metropol #pittsburgh #pennsylvania #antti väärälä

[anothersievefistedfind]

Enjoying this one today, again. This tape is absolutely phenomenal. Suggestion is the turning point here, the song that really lights this motherfucker up, and from here on out, it’s just highlights really. Note the Sweet and Low & Slow Dance combination. Guy urging their sound engineer Joey [Picuri] to “bring up the house man, bring up the house” in anticipation of another prodigious version of Glueman gives me chills every time I hear it. And only just now it fully registered with me that Irma Thomas comes on over the PA right after Fugazi finishes their set, appropriately singing We Got Something Good. We sure do Ms Thomas, we sure do...

Photos © by Jim Saah

Fugazi, Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany 6/28/1992 (FLS #0478)

“Welcome to the big top! We’re on all three rings tonight…”

Initially released as volume six of a first set of twenty live recordings on CD in April 2004, several band members fondly remember this particular concert and mark it as excellent to this very day. What makes this gig even more interesting is that it is a one-off experience which took place at the rather peculiar Tempodrom venue in the city of Berlin and played out in front of nearly 3000 people.

Or, as Brendan recalls: “One of our best shows ever I think, if memory serves me well. In a circus tent. I think Christo [A/N: Hristo Vladimirov Yavachev, a Bulgarian-American artist, whose work includes the wrapping of public buildings] had the Reichstag wrapped right next door.”

Listening to this recording again and again, I can only agree. It is a pleasure to hear Guy rejoice in the first rays of sunshine well into the tour, as well as to hear Ian count in German during Repeater, or to hear him shout “Glueman” into his guitar pickup over and over again while the last of the feedback dies down and closes out the set.

Such little happenings, combined with a very balanced set list that draws generously from all available albums at that time as well as from the yet to be released In on the Kill Taker album (date of release June 30, 1993 - note the Cassavetes instrumental that kicks off this show) and a killer overall performance make this show a definite keeper and another highlight addition to the series. Jetzt Geht’s Los!

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Cassavetes 3. And The Same 4. Exit Only 5. Merchandise 6. Turnover 7. Reclamation 8. Rend It 9. Facet Squared 10. Latin Roots 11. Suggestion 12. Burning 13. Waiting Room 14. Margin Walker 15. Long Division 16. Blueprint 17. Promises 18. Sweet and Low 19. Last Chance for a Slow Dance 20. Repeater 21. Song #1 22. Glueman

#fugazi is the GOAT #FLS1992 #tempodrom #berlin #germany #highlight