Fugazi reaches the state of New York on the fall 1993 tour of the US. They did have a quick detour to the state a few weeks earlier, playing one of the tour's highlight shows in Buffalo before heading north to Canada. Albany, a vibrant town some 130 miles north of New York City, welcomes Fugazi for the first and only time. Tonight's show takes place at S.U.N.Y. Albany's Memorial Athletic Facility, as Ian informs in the fun opening remarks. Guy joins in and the show gets a good-humored start.

This entry sounds quite good, a step brighter than some of the muddier ones from the era. The room's air is caught on tape and it gives the recording a spacey feel. There's a slight harshness when you crank the volume on the headphones. The mix balance is adequate and the unified power of the band is well conveyed. I could groan about Joe's bass having too little presence, and a flat drum sound, but overall this is a good, steady quality recording throughout.

The first part of the show suffers from quite a few stops. The band has warned the crowd not to push forward because of the low stage. This action takes place despite the warnings and thus the band have to take pauses between songs. Still, the mood stays humorous and jovial throughout. The band rocks out exciting tracks, but it feels like the nearly uncontrollable dancing causes occasional distractions in the playing.

Returning The Screw gets a strong rendition after some fun banter from Ian and Guy. It seems the band is now more relaxed and just lets the music flow. Smallpox Champion continues with the same energy.
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Unfortunately the stop-start feel of the show's first part returns after a punchy Margin Walker and the heavy duo of Promises and Rend It. Maybe the onstage sound was lacking because the playing here is not quite on par with the usual level of tightness when compared to other entries from the tour. The rowdy behavior also seems to keep up, which causes its own distractions.

One highlight to mention is the very rare appearance of Steady Diet. Played on a special request, the rendition finds the band at their most inspired sounding this evening. A great instrumental in the Fugazi catalog, and always a delight to hear. This the seventh and last rendition of the song for the whole year of 1993. Also an era rarity, KYEO gets a strong performance with the whole band rocking out hard.

Overall this feels like a bit of an off night for the band. I'm sure the unstable stage, crowd shenanigans and a possible monitoring problem played a big part in this. What's good here is the exceptionally humorous banter throughout. The addition of Steady Diet, a few hot performances and an adequate sound are other positive aspects of this entry.

This concert was awesome. Perfect fall night, decent crowd, spark in the atmosphere. Spinannes had some powerhouse drumming and Very Pleasant Neighbor were terrific. Fugazi was seriously rocking. Probably the best concert I've ever been to. Actually, what I set the standard to.