Almost 5 years after Fugazi played the St. Stephen’s Church cafeteria in Washington D.C., the band returned to perform a second (and last) time at the legendary and peculiar punk music venue, drawing enough of a crowd to fill the Church Hall.
As it happens, this particular recording showcases a Washington Free Clinic benefit concert, a clinic which “has been around since 1968, and [it] is the revolutionary option for alternative healthcare in Washington, D.C." according to the opening remarks, which also address the issue of safer sex and the use of condoms or dentals dams when, for instance, getting some rimming done.
The show had been put together by Positive Force DC, an all-volunteer social activist group, which tries to help punks or anyone else interested in turning their talk into action. According to a recent article by Jerad Walker (http://wamu.org/programs/metro_connection/14/10/17/the_unlikely_bond_between_a_dc_church_and_the_punk_music_scene), “[t]he group does this mainly by organizing benefit shows for various charities, movements, and non-profits. Most of these concerts are held at church halls and other religious organizations — a surprising fact to the uninitiated that isn’t lost on [Mark] Andersen [of Positive Force].”
The author quotes Andersen as mentioning: “If you look past the surface, there are parts of those religious communities who actually share a common spirit with punks”, with St. Stephen’s Church, committed to radical social change, being one such community.
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Jerad Walker quite interestingly further illustrates this point by referring to both Ian and his father Bill MacKaye on the matter: “According to Bill MacKaye, the priest [pastor Bill Wendt, at the time presiding over the first racially-integrated Episcopal Church in D.C.] led an ongoing effort to break down other barriers between the church and the community it served. In the 1970s, St. Stephen was one of the first Episcopal churches to ordain female priests and church leaders, even quietly blessed gay unions as early as 1976. Bill’s son Ian MacKaye says this progressive streak extended to the musical programs as well. 'As a kid going to church there, I found most of the church stuff pretty boring but the music stuff I loved,' recalls Ian. ‘They would have steel drums, for instance, would play or they’d have a lot of folk musicians. They had rock bands play. When Jesus Christ Superstar, the play, came down — I think it was at the National Theater or something — the band from Jesus Christ Superstar played at St. Stephen’s. It was incredible.’”
What is remarkable about the set list here is that the band only draws from the available full-length albums Repeater (5 songs) and Steady Diet of Nothing (another 5 songs), as well as from the yet to be released In On The Kill Takeralbum (no less than 6 songs), with just one song from the 3 Songs 7” to start off the gig, and during which the mix is being settled (note that Ian observingly quips “you act like a bunch of people who have never licked an asshole” before launching into Joe #1). Not a single song is taken from the first two EPs, in spite of repeated requests from the audience to play Waiting Room.
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However, you do get another tentative version of Facet Squared early on, with the opening guitar chords not quite demanding the listener’s full attention yet, and Ian still playing around with his lyrics while using a vocal tone that in parts differs from the eventual studio take of the song as well.
Sieve-Fisted Find follows suit, and while I always enjoy the directness and up-tempo groove of this song, I feel its potential gets curbed here because the guitars are still a bit low in the mix at this point. It does merge seamlessly with Reclamation though, the latter unfortunately coming off rather lackluster.
During the first interlude, Guy admits that the band has “been holing up over at[his] parents’ house, writing some new songs.” What follows is the live premiere of the Kill Taker staple Rend It. And while the song starts out promising and Guy’s first lines catch some reverb, adding to the mood, the live experiment falls apart mid-song, coming off disjointed. Still, it is nice to listen to this work-in-progress, both musically and lyrically.
The rendering of Greed is fierce yet precise, and as such is the track that really lights this show up and gets things going for me personally. Two Beats Off, another live staple which lends itself nicely to some improvisation, cashes in on the momentum; the vocals and instruments sounding damn great by now and being well balanced.
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Although really subtle, if you listen closely, you can discern Joe striking up the bass line of Sweet and Low during the second interlude for a couple of seconds, after which the band launches into Great Cop. While the band premiered an instrumental version of this song in the course of the previous gig at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles some two months earlier, Ian now adds some vocals and lyrics to the song. While the song is starting to gel instrumentally, the lyrics are still provisional.
Some more Steady Diet is up next, with the subsequent three songs taken from this album. These songs merge effortlessly and sound convincing, with Runaway Return in particular eliciting discernible enthusiasm by the band and audience alike.
After a short intermission, Ian dedicates the next track to “the occupants of [a] car that was driving down 66 when it got shot up”, introducing Instrument as a song about “chickens coming home to roost.” The version of the song presented here pretty much ties in with the performance at the January 25 gig at the Hollywood Palladium a couple of months earlier. Once again, you get a boiling, simmering take on the song which unfortunately still lacks some of the punch it packs on the studio album and in later live takes.
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Last Chance for a Slow Dance ensues, and is already shaping up nicely as a pretty much definite version of the great song.
Shut the Door closes out the main set and it can be noted that the version of the song presented here is absolutely phenomenal. Joe and Brendan put in a whole lotta groove and feeling that’ll grab the listener by the pelvis while Guy and Ian throw guitar hooks left and right, Ian’s vocals both beckoning and threatening. Plus, Joey Picuri really works his magic behind the soundboard on this one, adding subtle yet well-timed and highly effective sounds effects. Stellar.
The band rolls out some more with a killer encore, which includes another full early version of Cassavetes, as well as tremendous takes on both Stacks and Reprovisional (this one literally brings the gig to a grinding halt), adding to the list of highlights.
Footage of the show surfaced recently and can be retraced through Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud1cfCMqLJ4). Note that the introductory remarks are missing, as well as the set closer Reprovisional (the video recording cuts off after Cassavetes).

Yes! "Shut the Door" is great. Fiery early version of "Rend It." If people want a great unique show and aren't sure which to get, this one might be the one.

As already mentioned, great versions of Shut the Door and Reprovisional (this one literally "grinds" down to a halt). Note the interesting "work in progress", both musically and lyrically during Rend It (première) and Great Cop. All in all, another great sounding recording of a solid performance!

"Reprovisional" and "Shut the Door" are especially jaw-dropping here.

Jaw-dropping "Shut the Door."