20 years ago today! I remember this show just like it happened yesterday.
This was also my one and only time getting to finally see Fugazi - and they were amazing. The thing that stood out to me was how fucking LOUD the show was, and this was after I had already lost a good amount of my hearing from rock shows.
The first and only time I got to see Fugazi. 19 year freshman at NYU, not having a ticket to this show, and taking the sub up there alone. The club was on the west side of midtown. Street hustlers trying to hawk tickets a block or two east of the Roxy for like $25 or $30. By a miracle found a true Fugazi fan had an extra ticket and sold me it at face value, $5 baby!
I got into the show just as The Ex was finishing their set. I remember wishing I had gotten to see the set but just so happy that I had gotten in. The Roxy was lame. Typical night club with a huge dance floor and high back huge seats with lounge tables around the perimeter of the dance floor. I went to two shows there in that time frame, Fugazi and H20. Either at this one or H20 dork ass club kids were waiting in line to get in to the club as the concert was letting out.
Anyhow the show was amazing. One of my college dorm mats had asked me to go to Rage Against The Machine that night elsewhere in NYC. Don't regret my decision. There was a good size crowd. I remember Guy in the middle of the show making a positive comment about the WTO protests in Seattle, which had just happened in the past couple of days, basically saying I think, hey if you break some windows, you can get some good press.
The highlight of the night was Reclamation. I was not a die hard fan at that point, and I owned every album except Steady Diet. I literally heard Reclamation for the first time at this concert. SIMPLY MIND BLOWING. I remember the guys next to me flipping out when the song began, just so amazed that they were there. I also remember the two drums kicking ass and some trumpet thrown in at random parts of the show.
Hands down one of the best concerts of my life. There is something that can't be described when the band is completely into what they are doing in the moment and the crowd knows it. BTW, NYU is lame and overpriced, transferred out the following year!
I'm indebted to Fugazi for having the Ex open for them at this show...impossible to think of my musical life without either of these bands.
I'm pretty sure it was Amy Pickering. Joan Jett never made it to the stage.
My first Fugazi show! I hope it's available for download soon...
Not sure but Joan Jett was to the left of the stage screaming every word of suggestion... I can't recall if she came out on stage. Guy was wearing a Runaways tshirt!
At this show, a female artist came out and sang Suggestion. Anyone know who she was?
1. | Intro | |
2. | Number 5 | |
3. | Merchandise | |
4. | Place Position | |
5. | Reclamation | |
6. | FD | |
7. | Five Corporations | |
8. | Interlude 1 | |
9. | Oh | |
10. | Closed Captioned | |
11. | Recap Modotti | |
12. | Floating Boy | |
13. | Bed For The Scraping | |
14. | Furniture | |
15. | Margin Walker | |
16. | Suggestion | |
17. | Interlude 2 | |
18. | Arpeggiator | |
19. | Rend It | |
20. | Birthday Pony | |
21. | Smallpox Champion | |
22. | Encore | |
23. | By You | |
24. | Argument | |
25. | Target | |
26. | Repeater |
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.
This recording is great, all the performances are strong and the pace does not let up. It sounded clear and balanced all the way through, apparently some tracks have some distortion but I did not notice it. It has some nice surprises, like Guy's "if that's what it takes" comments on media bias, people singing happy birthday to Joe, and the intro to 'Do You Like Me' which transitions unexpectedly into 'Target'. Recommended.