Roughly 6 years after their memorable April 28, 1993 gig at the Veteran's Memorial Hall in Watsonville, California, Fugazi would return to this venue one more time. The recording presented here documents the occasion.
Ian clearly remembers the previous Watsonville stopover, adding, "last time we were here in 1993, it was sort of an unusual event because, usually the larger shows, we play a lot of larger shows, they tend to be in more commercial or established venues, and this is one of the few, sort of, independent, completely independent kind of shows or venues that we ever get to play, so we consider this a rather important place so everyone let's take care of this place and each other."
The sound quality of the recording admittedly is very good, the mix rather well balanced, with nothing much to report in terms of discrepancies.
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Yet while the band delivers an unadulterated and solid performance which merits attention and is worth checking out, I feel it does not quite live up to and is not as thrilling as the 1993 show. To be honest, I never quite warmed to the Red Medicine tracks Birthday Pony or Bed For The Scraping, the latter which, in my humble opinion, falls short as an appropriate set closer to boot here and leaves me somewhat hanging.
Note that Interlude 1 features some Lusty Scripps bass lines, as well as Ian reciprocating, "Pardon me? Six Pack? Not only have you got the wrong band, sir, you have the wrong decade" after someone puts in a Black Flag request. Later on in the set, the uptempo Number 5 instrumental gets dedicated to "the gentleman on the front row [in 1993] who for the entire show yelled at us: 'Play faster, play harder'", that man "who is here again tonight."
Presented here are 20 songs total, off of the Furniture EP (1), End Hits (7), Red Medicine (3), In on the Kill Taker (2), Steady Diet of Nothing (1), Repeater (1), Margin Walker EP (2) and the S/T EP (3).
As to this particular venue, it is interesting to mention that the place is rumoured to be haunted by the apparition of a small boy in old-fashioned attire, who has been seen running across the main stage of the building during events. The "ghost boy" has also been attributed rustling the curtains on stage in the auditorium or bouncing a ball when the auditorium is empty for the night. Reportedly, many visitors have heard his laughter echoing through the room (cf. http://backpackerverse.com/child-wraith-spotted-at-veterans-memorial-building-in-watsonville/).
Great memories of this show... would love to relive them.
I would love to hear this show. I was in the Muggs and we had a fantastic time at the show! Thrilling. Great crowd. There was someone connected to me that took photos but I never saw them.
1. | Intro | |
2. | Arpeggiator | |
3. | And The Same | |
4. | Do You Like Me | |
5. | Interlude 1 | |
6. | Break | |
7. | Place Position | |
8. | Birthday Pony | |
9. | Public Witness Program | |
10. | Reclamation | |
11. | Recap Modotti | |
12. | Turnover | |
13. | Closed Captioned | |
14. | Smallpox Champion | |
15. | Promises | |
16. | FD | |
17. | Interlude 2 | |
18. | Number 5 | |
19. | Waiting Room | |
20. | Give Me The Cure | |
21. | Bad Mouth | |
22. | No Surprise | |
23. | Bed For The Scraping | |
24. | Outro |
Please Note: Available recordings have been mastered to correct for volume shifts, drop outs, etc. but some sonic anomalies will still exist, especially early in the set when the mix is being settled. The band has rated each show for sound quality and set the general price of a download at $5 per show. If you have a different price in mind feel free to utilize the alternative pricing option.
Thank you Ian for stopping the show and telling everyone to step back. It was an amazing show.
Watching you guys walk in to the hall through the crowd is ingrained into my mind. I wanted to talk to you all but it was better undisturbed.