Between April 5 and April 21, 2001, Fugazi embarked on their “Four Corners” tour of the United States to kick off the 2001 tour itinerary with 15 shows in as many as 10 states (Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana and Pennsylvania), their longest string of shows in 2001 and about half of their total amount of gigs that year (32 shows).

The Ogden Theater in Denver, Colorado turned out to be the first stop of the tour and hosted two shows on consecutive nights. According to an article titled “Ten of Our Favorite Concerts From the Ogden’s 100-Year History” by the Westword Staff (“The independent voice of Denver since 1977”),

“The Ogden was built in 1917, and it was opened as a theater in 1919 by John Thompson, who also ran what is now called the Bluebird Theater. Originally home to organ recitals, lectures and vaudeville acts, including Harry Houdini, the space became a movie theater in 1937. In the early ’90s, Doug Kauffman of Nobody in Particular Presents turned the Ogden back into a music venue. In 2006, NIPP leased the venue to AEG Live, and the Ogden has continued to be one of Denver’s most vibrant concert halls, with everyone leaving a mark on its stage, from just-breaking-big bands to fan-favorite nostalgia acts and singular one-offs from musical icons.”

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I spent some time with the recordings of both Fugazi gigs at the Ogden Theater these last couple of weeks, and enjoy these a whole damn lot. The band hadn’t performed live since concluding their Scandinavian run some 6 months earlier, on October 10, 2000 and while both performances surely include a handful of shaky transitions and the occasional missed chord or hiccup, the band’s musicianship, work ethic and ardor come out on top. As such, both recordings essentially portray a band that found its bearings rapidly, came out swinging and had the welcoming audience eating out of its hand.

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The recording of the second night showcases another 27 songs, taken off of The Argument (4) (unreleased at the time), Furniture EP (1) (unreleased at the time), End Hits (6), Red Medicine (4), In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (1), Repeater (2), 3 Songs 7” (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs EP (3). This includes a bunch of rare live performances for that year, such as Turnover, Stacks, Suggestion (the band has to start over after Ian singles out and addresses a couple of guys for fighting), Break-In, Bad Mouth, Instrument, Walken’s Syndrome or Forensic Scene.

Overall, this one has the better flow and more exceptional set list in my opinion. Still, some personal highlights include the fast-paced, flawless opening string of songs up until the first interlude, Turnover, Burning (with additional percussion by Jerry Busher), Argument into Blueprint into Instrument closing out the main set, Strangelight, a dub-injected version of Target (which has the audience participating in some double time hand-clapping) or Forensic Scene.

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There is some fun banter by Guy as well, leading into Oh, “while we were driving out, we drove straight to Denver from D.C., it’s the first place we’re playing, on the way out, these guys were listening to the radio in the van, and there’s this show on NPR called ‘Money Talk’, are you familiar with this show, they started using a fragment of one of the songs we played a while back [plays the ‘Morse’ intro notes to Facet Squared], that’s like the theme song to ‘Money Talk’ now, and ever since they’ve been using this without our permission, the economy has been in a tailspin, the show about the markets uses a Fugazi song, the economy crumbles, let’s hope they play a few more of our songs on the radio.”

Footage of the second night at the Ogden Theater, shot up-close from the audience, is available through YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/MrPoon113/search?query=fugazi).

The sound quality of both recordings is easily really good and highly enjoyable, the vocals and instruments clear and well balanced in the mix, the guitars laid out nicely in stereo, even though the volume levels are slightly wavering occasionally, particularly during the louder parts. There are some marginal cuts between tracks on both nights, but nothing disruptive.