I have been researching this for some time and to my surprise there seems to be a recording of this concert. It was one of the most extreme (if not THE most extremely intense) concerts I have ever been to. It was on a very hot summer's evening down at the river in this then-squatted venue (a former dock warehose) - which has now been redeveloped into a posh housing estate. I had gotten my ticket well in advance but there was still a huge crowd outside hoping to somehow gain access. The organizers seemed to wait for the regular patrons to have entered and then admitted a huge number of the waiting crowd to stack into the medium-sized hall. Which resulted into the room being packed to the point where you could hardly breathe even before the band came on stage. You can't imagine what happened when they began playing. The walls and even the ceiling were instantly dripping with condensation and people began tearing their clothes off because everything was so hot and wet. This resulted in this whole room being a sweaty slimy glitchy mass of bodies contracting and jumping up and down. And still, magically, there was no violence, not even agression - but still breathing became difficult and staying on top and not fainting was not easy. The intensity of the show was absolutely stunning and at the time the band really hit home with my views on the world and the feelings of my then 23-year-old me. I have been to hundreds of shows ever since and none has touched me and influenced me more than this one. It was my last summer in my home city of Cologne before moving to Berlin to become a stage director, and thus for me this evening over the years has gained an almost mythical meaning in my biography. Thanks to Ian, Guy, Joe and Brendan for this thrilling experience and the life-long artistic inspiration!

On the dot two months into their 1992 European tour, Fugazi would play its first and, surprisingly, only show in the city of Köln (or Cologne) in Germany and from this cassette recording it appears to have gone down in history as a hot, steamy and stifling ordeal.

“Leave some air for us too, thank you...”, Ian forebodes right off the bat, and a couple of songs in Guy muses that their predicament reminds him of “those fine Washington D.C. summers, lounging on the porch, eating melon, kicking back...” At one point, Guy even references their infamous 1990 gig in Gainesville, Florida which appears to have been one of their most grilling experiences ever.

Even though I have not really been able to gather more details in relation to the venue of choice, Rhenania, Ian does paint a bit of a better picture, introducing Long Division as “the sort of song you play hanging out with 700 people in a little German concrete bunker.”

Note that the sound quality of the recording takes a couple of songs to balance out (up until Styrofoam) but once it does, the listener will find that Guy rarely sounded more up close and personal, Rend It being a case in point.

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This tape showcases 18 live tracks in total, and draws from In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (3), Repeater (5), 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (3) and 7 Songs EP (2) respectively.

This includes rareish 1992 live renderings of the Steady Diet instrumental (here as a set opener to boot), as well as Bulldog Front (tagged Beautiful Child by The Blow Monkeys as per usual). Overall, I find that this performance comes along nicely and certainly grows in strength as the set continues.

Turnover is the first song that packs a good punch with some nice reverb on the snare, followed by four single guitar songs which will surely have provided Guy with ample opportunity to go off. Promises is a strong main set closer and you get another two great encores and some James Brown (Super Bad, and Talkin’ Loud And Sayin’ Nothing) over the PA, bookending the second encore.

And what I love about these encores is that Guy, not Ian, unusually prolongs the “crack, crack, crack” motif coming off Long Division and leading into Blueprint, and that the version of Sweet and Low that ensues is the first one out of dozens I have listened to up until now that includes some improvised and befitting lyrics by Guy, a memorable and wonderful treat.

Banter is rather scarce this time around, yet Margin Walker is dedicated to “the former tenants of the squat that got torn down”, further mentioning that they “went out to diner and went by and already the bulldozers had taken it down, money doesn’t sleep.”

So far the best concert of my life!

I was there but... too late. The Show was sold out and I had to stay outside. It was obvious that inside one of the greatest gigs that Cologne ever saw was going on. I´m glad to find the tapes 25 years later. Thank you for sharing!

This was the greatest concert ever!!!