The band a few shows into the epic fall 1993 tour. Ian throws some great commentary at first and the room welcomes the band with loud cheers. Then we get probably the coolest way to start a Fugazi show - Joe #1. Such a great riff and a menacing atmosphere.
The recording sounds great right from the start. A powerful, surprisingly balanced wall of sound fills the stereo as we are taken to a pair of tracks from the In On The Killtaker album. The vocals feel a bit more decipherable than average to me, considering this era of FLS recordings. What also pleases me here is the prominence of Joe's bass. Guy's voice seems a bit under the weather occasionally but it's not a big deal as he pushes on with his signature energy regardless. The added effects are really well infused to the mix, especially later in the set, ie. in Turnover and Repeater.
Some technical difficulties cut the initial flow, but there's some fun banter to make up for it. The band picks up the pace with explosive performances, Nice New Outfit being an energetic highlight. Reclamation is as huge and attitude-filled to the brim as ever, but stops abrubtly as Ian has to go and have a long discussion with the house security. Apparently they've been throwing people out for no good reason, and someone from the crew also threatens Ian for pointing this out. After a long while the show continues but unfortunately the band just cut straight to the next song without picking up Reclamation where it was left off, which would have been interesting to hear.
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Instrument gets a heavy performance nonetheless and starts a great flow where another highlight is a snappy Long Division leading to an anthemic Blueprint during which Brendan throws some cool variations on the kit. The row of classics continues as Waiting Room and Bad Mouth get glorious, singalong-fueled displays.
The general mood in the room seems to be better and the band is able to bash out strong performances one after another. Returning The Screw is massive, and the explosion of Repeater brings the main set to the finish.
The encores are played as hard as possible with especially Shut The Door getting a heavy, noisy and angry treatment. There's a low, booming sound added from the soundboard during the long jam and it gives the song an exceptionally terrifying edge. Then for a fleeting moment all is better in the world as Sweet and Low closes the evening.
Here we have another easily recommendable tape from the 1993 tour. Complete and steady recording throughout, no problems with the mix, and showcasing the band on their snappiest, dealing amazingly with confrontation, and giving the enthusiastic crowd every ounce of energy they have.
Over 8 years after I commented, I FINALLY digitized my VHS-C copy of this show. It unfortunately only captures up to the intro of Smallpox Champion.
https://youtu.be/02-VGs-Cfe8
FYI - the comment about the VHS-C recording should be by Erich Lehman, not Andrew Good. Not sure why it's glitching!
I have the flyer for this show, and a poor VHS-C recording I took from up on the second floor. The audio is pretty horrible on it, but I'll see if I have it digitized somewhere and send this stuff in to you guys! SO stoked to see this come to fruitiion!
I will be downloading this one, for sure. I remember being so jealous that I knew people who got to see this show before I really knew who Fugazi were.
1. | Intro | |
2. | Joe #1 | |
3. | Facet Squared | |
4. | Public Witness Program | |
5. | Interlude 1 | |
6. | Styrofoam | |
7. | Nice New Outfit | |
8. | Reclamation | |
9. | Interlude 2 | |
10. | Instrument | |
11. | Cassavetes | |
12. | Long Division | |
13. | Blueprint | |
14. | Interlude 3 | |
15. | Waiting Room | |
16. | Margin Walker | |
17. | Bad Mouth | |
18. | Interlude 4 | |
19. | Smallpox Champion | |
20. | Returning the Screw | |
21. | Turnover | |
22. | Repeater | |
23. | Encore 1 | |
24. | Rend It | |
25. | Interlude 5 | |
26. | Great Cop | |
27. | Shut the Door | |
28. | Sweet and Low | |
29. | 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.
Some of Ian's banter with the crowd is imaginative and humorous. He says something along the lines of "imagine we're survivors of a plane crash on a snowy mountainside ... and I'm the fucked-up captain who tells people what to do", then a bit further on "we haven't reached the cannibalism stage, that comes later". This seems to refer to the incident involving Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which became known as The Tragedy / Miracle of the Andes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_Air_Force_Flight_571