Only days before their legendary two-night stand at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, Fugazi played another 3 shows on as many nights in the state of New York, the one in Binghamton - attended by some 700 enthusiastic patrons - the last of these three.
The recording of this one-off show is a delight in my book, plain and simple, with particularly standout renditions of Song #1, Give Me The Cure, Two Beats Off (tagged The Place I Love), Shut the Door or Sweet and Low.
A “go with it” kind of show!
Another show from the US tour in the fall of 1993. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite eras in the Fugazi Live Series.
This here gig in the small town of Binghamton, NY, is one of the most fun I've yet to listen. I don't want to spoil the banter but let's just go with it and say that there's a lot of it and it's great! We also get something that's actually dangerously close to a Brendan drum solo..!
The sound of the recording is a bit muddy to my ears, as the low end is a little overpowering. Ian's guitar is slightly prominent on the left side of the stereo field, but on the other hand I can somehow separate nicely how Ian's SG is the low end commander and Guy's Rickenbacker flies more in the high end. The vocals tend to drown a bit, and I could use more of Joe's powerful tone. The band is in a muscular condition after touring very, very hard, and overall this mix emphasizes that unified wall of sound to my ears, and I really like it.
The band jam on through their beautiful brand of punk without any trouble from the audience. Both Ian and Guy praise the people for being so cool, and I think these kind of shows were few and far between in the heyday of stage diving. And in my opinion it's great to listen to some really positive vibes too as it brings out a different side of Fugazi.
Long Division makes it's way into Blueprint in a really cool way and it results in a truly anthemic performance. Other highlight for me is a nice, long Shut The Door that feels somehow extra experimental here. I definitely get mental images of a horrifying crack den during the improvised part! Then it's time for Sweet And Low, and the performance continues that experimental feeling, with all kinds of little flourishes added.
I totally recommend this entry especially for the banter, and many cool performances!
Very happy to find this today. Thank you for recording the shows and taking the time to master and release them for download. Brings back memories which are always priceless. Well worth the Fugazi $5.
1. | Intro | |
2. | Facet Squared | |
3. | Public Witness Program | |
4. | Greed | |
5. | Sieve-Fisted Find | |
6. | Reclamation | |
7. | Interlude 1 | |
8. | Runaway Return | |
9. | Instrument | |
10. | Cassavetes | |
11. | Long Division | |
12. | Blueprint | |
13. | Interlude 2 | |
14. | Song #1 | |
15. | Give Me The Cure | |
16. | Interlude 3 | |
17. | Waiting Room | |
18. | Interlude 4 | |
19. | Smallpox Champion | |
20. | Returning The Screw | |
21. | Interlude 5 | |
22. | Two Beats Off | |
23. | Merchandise | |
24. | Encore | |
25. | Repeater | |
26. | Rend It | |
27. | Interlude 6 | |
28. | Shut The Door | |
29. | Sweet and Low | |
30. | Outro |
Please Note: Available recordings have been mastered to correct for volume shifts, drop outs, etc. but some sonic anomalies will still exist, especially early in the set when the mix is being settled. The band has rated each show for sound quality and set the general price of a download at $5 per show. If you have a different price in mind feel free to utilize the alternative pricing option.
Man this was an awesome show!!! I was one of the 700ish.