Homecoming gig at the legendary 09:30 Club in D.C., after a 2 month + tour through Europe in the fall of 1990. It sparked the 1991 Fugazi tour itinerary which resulted in a total of 112 live performances that same year.

Together with the concert on the following night (see FLS #0307), both of these D.C. gigs add to the long list of hometown benefits the band played over the years. As it turns out, these two concerts aimed at raising awareness and support for Whitman-Walker Clinic.

The sound quality of both recordings is rightly labelled as “good” in my opinion, being overall enjoyable yet somewhat curbed since the guitars and bass are repeatedly low in the mix, the audio is slightly muffled and because of occasional sonic discrepancies, cf. brief volume drops or bits of distortion.

Regardless, these recordings are definitely worthwhile, and provide a collection of live tracks which are as relevant today as they were at the time.

Although the recording of the second performance has a more jovial mood to it, both recordings offer little in-between song chatter aside from references to the iconic Punk Percussion or Gulf War Protest show which would take place in Lafayette Park in front of the White House a couple of days later.

However, you do get lengthy and elaborate introductory remarks, presenting a testimony by someone suffering from AIDS, as well as detailed information regarding the Whitman-Walker Clinic services.

Musically, it can be noted that each bootleg showcases a total of 19 live tracks. In between these two gigs, the Repeater album is played in its entirety, while 6 identical tracks of the (at the time) upcoming Steady Diet of Nothing album were played on both occasions (note the live debut of Dear Justice Letter).

(…)

(…)

Other than this, both set lists feature a rather similar selection of songs, including the familiar Long Division / Blueprint (slower studio version compared to later, faster renderings) combo.

As to the first concert, I particularly enjoy the way Guy ad-libs his way through Two Beats Off in pretty decent French, Turnover, Shut the Door, Repeater and Reprovisional.

Personal highlights from the second gig are And The Same (over the opening chords, Ian adds some words I can only figure out in part, “he said to me, there’s only one thing that’s true and that’s you”), Latin Roots which is dedicated to the kid who has “been coming to shows for a lot of years, (…) a scourge, (…) by the name of Charlie” [arguably Charlie Moats, a major supporter of the band early on who can be seen quite often in Fugazi photographs as well as in early footage of the band such as featured in the Instrument documentary, dancing on stage wearing nothing but a skirt], Give Me The Cure, the drawn-out Long Division intro, the Summertime (by Ella Fitzgerald) tag on Two Beats Off, and Shut the Door, a song “about dying” which “goes out to a friend of ours that died of pneumonia a few years ago” [Ian might be referring to Toni Young who was part of the D.C. hardcore scene in the 70’s and 80’s and played in three bands (Peer Pressure, Red C & Dove) before dying of pneumonia in the mid 80’s] and Repeater to end the set.

“Barriers… you break through them… you are immortal… you die alone… in the age of dis… ease… passion is still possible… be caring… be careful.”

Powerful show. 2 Speakers from Whitman-Walker at the beginning. The first one mentions he has AIDS. The second one mentions that if you have AIDS you will probably die from it. Heavy stuff. Give Me the Cure takes on a little more urgency.