The very first Fugazi show in the state of Washington, played at the former 123 Arts venue in Spokane, with about 100 people attending the event. A show that allegedly inspired at least one of the attendees, Dan Hoerner, to become a musician as he went on to form the critically acclaimed Seattle-based band Sunny Day Real Estate.
As would often be the case, Fugazi has to put up with a number of individuals engaging in violent dancing, which pretty much defines the dynamics of this particular gig. Yet as would also usually be the case, the band embraces the situation at hand to effectively deal with it instead of ignoring it, exploring creative ways to do so.
In this regard, Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins mention this show in their book Dance of Days, as they cite Guy as recalling: "Four or five kids who were really drunk kept hitting everyone else who just wanted to dance and get into it. So we said, 'Everyone who wants to dance how they please, come up onstage'. Everyone came up onstage and me and Ian went out on the floor and faced the stage, Ian playing guitar and those four or five guys thrashed all around us and I just danced with them and they were trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. It just shattered the whole mystique [of the pit]. After that song, everyone went back on the floor and the show changed." All of it can be retraced from this recorded document (Interlude 5 into Joe #1).
The result is an outspoken, confrontational, high-strung yet overall solid performance. Even though the quality of the recording is far from excellent and the acoustics sound somewhat suppressed, I most definitely enjoyed it and can easily recommend it.
Note that the intro to this show cuts off and merges abruptly into Song #1 of which the opening verses are missing. Glueman closes the set, as was the case on the previous night.