This show and the one on the previous night are the only shows Fugazi ever played on Japan’s northernmost main island Hokkaido, and both of them took place in the city of Sapporo. These performances wrap up a short run of 9 gigs in Japan as part of the 1996 US / Asia / Australia tour.

As was the case at the other Japanese gigs, both of these shows played out in front of very small audiences of some 150 people, so there is little here to mention in terms of stage banter or interaction with the crowd. Most of the time you hardly even notice the live audience is there.

Out of the two shows in Sapporo, Hokkaido, I feel that this one is the most engaging and has the better set list and flow.

It showcases some 21 live cuts and draws from the (at the time yet unreleased) End Hits album (4), Red Medicine (7), In on the Kill Taker (6), Repeater (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs EP (2). Unfortunately not a single song off Steady Diet of Nothing or the 3 Songs seven-inch make the selection this time around.

My favorite moments include a rather rare 1996 live rendering of Turnover (the playing on this one is fucking fierce) as well as the only performance of Suggestion that year, Give Me The Cure, a soaring Do You Like Me closing out the main set, the laid-back and jazzy Floating Boy (in instrumental form) segueing into Repeater, the smudgy, throbbing guitar feedback on By You, and Brendan using his tom toms to lead the band into the soulful, swaying combo of Fell, Destroyed into Sweet and Low (notice some slight dubby reverb on the drums) to end the set.

The audio quality is basically really good, but do note that the first two songs suffer from some sonic discrepancies and that it takes a couple more for the mix and particularly the vocals to get sorted. At times Ian appears quite hoarse, yet he keeps pushing it, going balls out.

Solid version of Turnover.