I had high hopes for this one, as several pieces appeared to fall into place, leading me to believe that this just might be a recording and show for the ages, one to cherish and to enjoy again and again.

Set at the Capitol Theater venue in Olympia, Washington, a band-favorite where Fugazi would play certainly one of their most iconic gigs some two years later, this May 8, 1993 recording simply sounds great and features a promising set list that even includes a guest appearance by Stan The Man entertaining the audience with a bit of a House of the Rising Sun (The Animals) & (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay (Otis Redding) improv to kick things off in rather remarkable fashion.

Ian’s familiar, comforting drawn-out guitar chords heralding Turnover follow suit and once this song hits, the band is off to an upbeat, high gear start with the next couple of songs. However, soon after, both Public Witness Program and Two Beats Off get cut short due to some lengthy altercations with a group of neonazi’s (or “Romans”) Sieg Heiling the band and generally disrupting the show.

There’s still an attempt to salvage and salve the situation at hand, yet Ian’s words leading into Long Division are quite foreboding, “this is a song called Long Division, and it’s about separation, a lot of people thought it was about math but it’s really not, it’s about separation, because sometimes in the world there are people that you do need to separate from, and there’s nothing wrong with that, because otherwise they just drag you down, and so forth.”

(...)

(...)

The poor company, or “Roman Emperors” are shown the door right after, which causes another lenghty interruption. Interestingly though, the following selection of songs (Blueprint into Facet Squared into Rend It) fits the turn of events quite well and most appropriately appears to convey the mood and position of the band on a number of related topics.

As such, this recording is an interesting entry and addition to the series, showcasing a solid performance once it finally does get going (23 Beats Off transitioning smoothly into Exit Only is a treat, as is the little “polka” improv into Repeater), yet probably not one I will revisit frequently because of the overly disruptive nature of the show.

Further note that a lyrical flub pretty much spoils Last Chance for a Slow Dance, and that the audio recording presented here is incomplete as can be concluded from the video footage (with generally poor audio) of the complete show that surprisingly exists (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pipkrEN40wY). Listening to this bootleg, it peters out eventually, and as such lacks the memorable jam and breakdown of Promises as well as set closer Sweet and Low in its entirety. Alas.

The recording documents 21 songs (Promises being incomplete as mentioned), taken off of In on the Kill Taker (7) which was slated for release by the end of June 1993, equally drawing from the Steady Diet of Nothing (5) and Repeater (5) album, as well as - to a lesser extent - from the 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs debut EP (2).

This show defined Fugazi for me. I watched as some Nazis got refunded for their tickets and asked to leave. After the show I nervously went on stage to me Ian. He thanked me for coming. This was my hero, my idol and he was the definition cool. Confident and humble and an incredible musician. I learned that its nice to be important but its more important to be nice.

I went to this show as well when I was a student at Evergreen. I remember watching as Guy rolled up his sleeves in preparation for a fight, while Ian calmly told one of the skinheads to go to a library. Somebody put footage of this show up on YouTube. The quality is poor, but after 25 years... it's a miracle it exists at all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pipkrEN40wY

The Nazi's missed a great show.

This was a heavy show. Some Nazi punks/skins showed up to push people around and antagonize the band by Seig Heil-ing them. After stopping and starting the show several times the band and the crowd told 'em to get lost with their $5 refunds in hand. That's what each of the interludes are on here. It was quite the experience for my first Fugazi show!