Not having played in Boston proper for 11 years (i.e. since their one-off show at the Channel on March 17, 1991) due to the lack of promoters willing to do shows in larger venues for low ticket prices and the city suddenly ruling all ages shows illegal, Fugazi would finally return to play two consecutive nights at the Mass Art Gymnasium (MassArt), “[f]ounded in 1873, [...] one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded free-standing art school in the United States, and [...] the first art college in the United States to grant an artistic degree” (via Wikipedia). 

Moreover, and according to the MassArt website, it is “a place with wide reach, where the hardest, most important, and most rewarding work of [their] students, staff, and affiliates, is to keep [their] eyes open [!] and continue expanding [their] vision.” In other words, a place most suitable to host a couple of Fugazi shows and have some 1500 enthusiasts share in the experience each night. 

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Interestingly, these shows in Boston played out while Washington D.C. was preparing for another round of large-scale protests on April 20th. According to an April 14, 2002 article “D.C. Protest Organizers Take On New Cause” by Manny Fern and ez published in the Washington Post, 

“Those opposed to global capitalism and the U.S. policies that support it, others who have decried the war in Afghanistan and activists who objected to widespread arrests of Muslims in the United States have joined pro-Palestinian groups to march for a common cause.”

In their lengthy follow-up article, “Demonstrators Rally to Palestinian Cause”, published on April 21, 2002 in the Washington Post, the authors provide some more details as to how these events unfolded,

“Tens of thousands converged on downtown Washington yesterday to demonstrate for a variety of causes, but it was the numbers and passion of busloads of Arab Americans and their supporters that dominated the streets.

Eager to make their presence felt and their voices heard in the nation's capital as never before, Arab and Muslim families marched and chanted for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, overwhelming the messages of those with other causes in a peaceful day of downtown rallies and marches.”

Considering the nature and backdrop of these events, it only makes sense that the demonstrations run like a thread through both Fugazi shows in Boston. Leading into the song Argument on the first night, Ian gives a lengthy address touching on the causes of the demonstrations, his concerns and doubts in relation to the media coverage and on the band playing shows in Boston instead of standing with the demonstrators in Washington D.C., concluding that “[t]he fact of the matter is that, wherever you are, in the world, if you disagree with war, then you should be protesting every day, no matter where you are, so right now, this is the beginning of the protest.”

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The recording of the first night (April 19, 2002) documents a collection of songs that are performed very well for the most part and blend nicely together, with some cool extras (cf. the vocals catching some nice reverb on Oh, a memorable version of Ex-Spectator, Guy’s “public housing” rap into Dear Justice Letter, a cool double shot of Joe with The Kill / By You combo, or a rare 2002 live appearance of Bad Mouth).

However, there are a couple of reasons that will probably keep me from revisiting this one anytime soon. My main gripe is that the recording is incomplete. The introduction is missing as well as the actual last three songs of the set, i.e. Arpeggiator, Sweet and Low and Repeater. Guy’s vocals are low in the mix on Sieve-Fisted Find and kind of get stuck in the left channel for most of the recording. Also, the recording skips a couple of times during Cashout.

And so my preference lies with the recording of the second night (April 20, 2002), which fortunately is complete and better sounding overall, even though Brendan’s snare drum comes off a bit harsh the first couple of songs. This one too has a nice flow to it and documents a really good performance (never mind the guitar soloing towards the end of Strangelight is a bit off). 

My highlights here include a nice little midsection with 4 early songs which provide Guy with ample opportunity to lay down his guitar and go off, rare 2002 live versions of Song #1 and Last Chance for a Slow Dance (this one’s a beauty), another nice double dose of Joe by way of Recap Modotti / By You played back-to-back, and last but definitely not least, more remarks by Ian about protests “to celebrate the idea that not the entire country is insane, there are some people who are sane” as an introduction to an outstanding rendering of KYEO which has Ian catering some more to the issues of the day:

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“Important bulletin, we have from unconfirmed sources, an alleged plot to possibly blow up five streets in an unnamed city, somewhere in this country, we can’t say it’s gonna happen, but we can’t say it’s not gonna happen, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t walk on the street, we actually don’t know what it means, we just want you to be scared...”
The troops are quiet tonight,
But it's not alright,
Because we know they're planning something.
Don't you know things have settled down, 
Down, down but silence is a dangerous sound, 
Because when you’re scared, you’re off-balance, and when you’re off-balance, you can’t reason, when you can’t reason it’s very hard to recognize that something is being done in your name that you would not like to have been done, or you would not like people to do, so get on-balance, don’t be scared...
The troops are quiet tonight,
But it's not alright,
Because we know they're planning something.
Don't you know things have settled down,
Down, down but SILENCE is a dangerous sound,
We must, we must,
We must keep our eyes open,
See what we see,
What once was promised now will be.
Still uncertain?
Get off that hang,
Don't wait for the bang,
The tools,
They will be swinging,
But we will not be beaten down.”

Note that videos of both performances circulate on YouTube (see references below). These have been synched-up with the recordings presented here, with permission of the band. On an interesting side note, and according to Ian, “ryanne hodson, who is credited with the video editing was responsible for uploading hundreds of the FLS shows on the site. she’s been a real friend and booster to the project.”

Ironically, the footage of the first show is pretty much complete (contrary to the incomplete audio recording) while the footage of the second show is missing about 30 minutes of the performance (contrary to the complete audio recording).

see the video of this show here--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6nqIbnDGmI

or

http://archive.org/details/fugazi_april_20_2002_massart_boston

It was fitting that this was my last fugazi show as it was 12 years to the day from my first fugazi show at the exact same venue.

Early in the show, Ian mentioned they had played the same venue exactly 12 years earlier and he remembered the raised basketball hoop above the stage. He asked if anyone had been at that show. I raised my hand as someone yelled “I was five!”

The show was just as intense as the one over a decade before.
Thank you, gentlemen.