The 1999 Fugazi show at Juarez Hall in Bakersfield, CA turns out to be one of my favourite recordings from their West Coast leg of the tour, because it essentially captures the low-key setting of this gig.

Interestingly, it played out in front of merely 400 attendees at a modest venue, which is rather remarkable by 1999 standards since the band had been well established by then.

I feel the set list flows really well here, spontaneously and naturally. The musicianship is spot-on, with few if any mistakes dotted around the place.

While the audio levels are fairly well balanced overall, Joe’s bass predominates, a throbbing metronome. My only gripe is that the instrumentation occasionally drowns out the vocals (e.g. Recap Modotti, Merchandise) and that the select audience is low in the mix, their enthusiasm just a faint, occasional trace throughout the recording.

Burning just might be the pinnacle of the show for me, as I can easily picture Ian hacking away at his guitar, until the absolute fierce breakdown comes crashing, a sonic onslaught.

The set list is short on rarities for the occasion, and offers just a single track off In on the Kill Taker, merely two tracks off of Red Medicine. Their other work, End Hits (6), Steady Diet of Nothing (3), Repeater (4), Margin Walker EP (3) and the 7 Songs EP (2) provides the rest of the songs, adding up to a total of 21 live tracks.