#fls1998

[anothersievefistedfind]

Photos © by Tara Harris

Fugazi, George Mason University (Johnson Center Multipurpose Room), Fairfax, VA USA 12/4/1998 (FLS #890)

The only show Fugazi performed in the city of Fairfax, Virginia, a Rock for Choice benefit for the Clinic Defense Fund, capping off the 1998 tour itinerary which added up to a total of 42 shows that year.

The recording documents a tight and highly enjoyable performance, which has a great and organic flow to it. After some introductory remarks by a number of speakers, providing some background to the benefit, a high-energy string of songs opens a varied set (note that the first five songs draw from as many albums).

There are some interesting set list choices, such as an early Promises (with a remarkably restrained bridge) or Break-In (by special request) and Reclamation (to close out the main set) catering to the theme of the benefit. Also, Joe teases a slice of Lusty Scripps on bass into Closed Captioned, and the song combination FD into Pink Frosty into Glueman to close out the show is quite unique and works really well.

Banter is scarce, aside from Guy’s “lay our lives on the line” rap into No Surprise or Ian’s “I hope someday” rebuke (which is actually quite funny) into Long Distance Runner.

While many, if not most versions of Glueman build up to a blistering and complete sonic breakdown, this one does not. Instead, Brendan, Joe and Ian carry it through, until the proverbial chugging train grinds to a halt, Brendan’s kick drum a throbbing heart (note that Guy throws in a little bit of that “I don’t want you but I need you, I don’t like you but I love you” spontaneity during the bridge as well).

Presented are 24 live cuts, mainly off of End Hits (9) with some additional tracks off of Red Medicine (2), In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (2), Repeater (3), 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (2), 7 Songs debut EP (1). This includes rare to very rare 1998 live renderings of Exit Only, Last Chance for a Slow Dance, Long Distance Runner, Break-In, Glueman and Brendan #1.

The sound quality of the recording is pretty much phenomenal, the drums in particular. However, there are some volume shifts during And The Same and the audience is low in the mix overall.

Still, I consider this an all-round strong show and a Fugazi Live Series entry I can easily recommend.

The set list:

1. Opening Remarks 2. Break 3. Exit Only 4. Merchandise 5. Public Witness Program 6. And The Same 7. Interlude 1 8. Place Position 9. Back To Base 10. Sieve-Fisted Find 11. Interlude 2 12. Recap Modotti 13. Promises 14. No Surprise 15. Interlude 3 16. Long Distance Runner 17. Last Chance for a Slow Dance 18. Facet Squared 19. Break-In 20. Interlude 4 21. Closed Captioned 22. Arpeggiator 23. Reclamation 24. Encore 25. Brendan #1 26. Walken's Syndrome 27. Interlude 5 28. Five Corporations 29. FD 30. Pink Frosty 31. Glueman 32. Outro

[anothersievefistedfind]

Photo © by Dave Fisher

Fugazi, Phoenix Theater, Toronto, Canada 7/19/1998 (FLS #0863)

(Submitted by Antti Väärälä)

“First gig on Canadian soil in the summer of 1998. Apparently the band had some bad experiences while crossing the border which leads to a kind of cranky but energetic start. And I love the first part of the show with the pair of Red Medicine bangers right at the beginning. Especially Back To Base which to me works so much better when it's early on in the set. Personal favorite Exit Only makes an appearance so no complaints here.

There's a great flow of slower numbers next but unfortunately some guitar tuning issues mar the experience from Closed Captioned to Recap Modotti. Luckily an epic Burning saves the situation!

There's some pretty wild use of added reverb here and there. I would have preferred the mix mainly as it is - very clear with a big drum sound. The vocals and Ian's guitar are prominent on the front and kinda drown out Guy's guitar and Joe. What makes my day though is the totally excellent drum mix. And as a huge fan of Brendan's drumming I'm pleased to say listening to his playing here is a total blast. Check out ie. a super tight trio of Place Position, Facet Squared and Do You Like Me. Facet has a small structural bungle (not by Brendan) but no mind because the grooves and fills are mind-blowing.

All in all a very good listen that suffers a bit from the occasional wild reverb and an outta-tune guitar. If anything, grab this for the stellar drumming and some high-energy fast numbers.”

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Break 3. Downed City 4. Back to Base 5. Exit Only 6. Closed Captioned 7. Blueprint 8. Instrument 9. Recap Modotti 10. Burning 11. Waiting Room 12. Floating Boy 13. Pink Frosty 14. Target 15. Bed For The Scraping 16. Place Position 17. Facet Squared 18. Do You Like Me 19. Long Division 20. Encore 1 21. Arpeggiator 22. Caustic Acrostic 23. Five Corporations 24. Two Beats Off 25. Long Distance Runner 26. Version 27. Outro

[anothersievefistedfind]

Fugazi @ Teamsters’ Union Hall, Baltimore, MD 5/12/98 - Photo © by Christian Giannelli

[anothersievefistedfind]

Photos © by Shawn Breen

Fugazi, Teamsters’ Union Hall, Baltimore, MD USA 5/12/1998 (FLS #0859)

Eleventh and last show of the 1998 spring US tour, and the only time Fugazi performed at the Teamsters’ Union Hall in Baltimore. A Benefit for Homeless Persons Representation Project. Although the audio quality of this recording has been rated as “poor”, and rightly so considering the high-pitched, shrill and thin sound, a much better sounding video of the show has surfaced on YouTube recently (see below). As per Guy Picciotto,

“I wanted to point this video out to you that just went up on YOUTUBE earlier this year. It is a much better representation of this show ( one of our personal favorites ) then you can get from the recording we made available online through our Archive which is pretty poor in quality.  Often I don't often find much to enjoy from videos of us playing on YouTube but this one really does capture something in terms of the pleasure we got from those moments when we were able to lock in together musically.”

And so it goes. At the beginning of the show, Ian briefly portrays the Flood Zone security debacle in Richmond, VA on the night prior, and concludes that “anyway, here we are back in the halls again, back where we should be anyway and it is a pleasure”, before launching into Back to Base and maintaining a fast pace well into the set.

The focus is on all things music here, with little to no distractions for the rest of the gig, little to no talk or banter. They just play, and get lost in the interplay, while both Guy and Ian treat mere lookers-on to signature guitar play and (dance) moves to boot.

While this set list does not particularly win me over personally on paper, as far as the selection of a number of songs is concerned, I have to admit that it gels damn fine live on this occasion, and meshes organically. Presented are 21 songs, with 11 songs taken off of End Hits (only Caustic Acrostic and Foreman’s Dog are missing here), with just a couple of tracks from the preceding albums Red Medicine (4), Kill Taker (2), Steady Diet (1), Repeater (1), Margin Walker (1) and 7 Songs (1).

Note that Jerry Busher joins for some heavy-hitting dual percussion on Burning and Arpeggiator, as well as on trumpet during Floating Boy, which was routine by 1998. Recap Modotti and By You are played back-to-back and offer a double dose of Joe on vocals. Set closer Two Beats Off is cut short, unfortunately.

Whereas Guy relates the meaning of the song Place Position to the fact that “right now, Congress is considering some kind of law where labour workers from other countries can be brought over here and then work for cheap, without any access to any kind of immigration status or any kind of protections here, something they haven’t done since the ‘20s or ‘30s and it is completely insane, this is a song about our completely insane immigration policies”, it is interesting to mention that he still dubs the song “April March” even though the album End Hits had been released some two weeks before.

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Back To Base 3. Do You Like Me 4. Reclamation 5. Place Position 6. Five Corporations 7. Floating Boy 8. Break 9. Burning 10. Burning Too 11. Interlude 1 12. No Surprise 13. Recap Modotti 14. By You 15. Closed Captioned 16. Arpeggiator 17. Smallpox Champion 18. Returning The Screw 19. FD 20. Pink Frosty 21. Encore 22. Guilford Fall 23. Birthday Pony 24. Two Beats Off

[anothersievefistedfind]

Photo © by Antonia Tricarico

Fugazi, Flood Zone, Richmond, VA USA 5/11/1998 (FLS #0858)

Penultimate and shortest show of the 1998 spring US tour (11 dates), as well as the second and last time Fugazi would play the Flood Zone in Richmond, a venue that appears to have gone up for sale a couple of years ago.

The recording features just 18 songs total, taken off of the End Hits album (released a month prior) for the most part (8 songs), Red Medicine (1), In on the Kill Taker (3), Steady Diet (2), Repeater (2) and the Margin Walker EP (1). Note a rather rare live appearance of Foreman’s Dog, as well as the slow or toned-down mid-section of the set.

However, overall, it turned out to be quite a contentious show because the band takes offense at the misbehavior of the bouncers. Listen close as a first attempt at No Surprise (Interlude 3) is interrupted as Guy and Ian take aim at the security personnel for kicking someone out for no good reason, after which Ian appears to go out and find the person while the rest of the band goes into an impromptu jam.

After another, successful, stab at No Surprise, and going into Long Division, Ian muses, “it’s sort of a clash of cultures you know, there are people who behave in a way that they need to be taken care of, and there’s people who will take care of themselves, let’s be the people that take care of ourselves.” 

To little avail, since more turmoil and altercations between Ian and the bouncers ensue shortly after, halfway through Blueprint, and while the last note of the song is still in the air, the recording documents Ian saying “this is an unusual opportunity, this is a quite unusual thing to do but I really think it’s appropriate given the fucking situation” before barking “YOU’D MAKE A GREAT COP YOU FUCKING PIG” and bursting through Great Cop for the second time around on the same night, closing out the set!

Ian shares some more details of the story in Joe Gross’ 33 1/3 book on In on the Kill Taker, “Backstage, MacKaye found himself surrounded by the manager and the cops and security guys. [Ian MacKaye:] ‘They wanted to beat my fucking ass because I called them out. They tell me to get the fuck out of the building, so I have to sit in the van while the band loads out. We finally all assemble outside. I look at the guys and I say, ‘Hold on.’ I walk back into the venue. The band was like, ‘They are going to kill you.’ But I go up to the bar. I got the whole ‘you got a  lot of nerve coming back up here’ but it was fine. It was just the perfect song.”

The sound quality of the recording is very good, not considering some volume drops and sonic discrepancies during the first couple of songs, after which the mix settles. Joe’s bass in particular is the icing on the cake here. Note the distinct reverb on both Ian’s vocals and Guy’s guitar early on in the set, as well as on Joe’s vocals during Recap Modotti, but I am guessing sound engineer Nick Pellicciotto was playing around for effect here.

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Break 3. Place Position 4. Merchandise 5. Exit Only 6. Interlude 1 7. And The Same 8. Foreman's Dog 9. Interlude 2 10. Great Cop 11. Public Witness Program 12. Pink Frosty 13. Floating Boy 14. Closed Captioned 15. Recap Modotti 16. Rend It 17. Bed For The Scraping 18. Interlude 3 19. No Surprise 20. Long Division 21. Blueprint 22. Great Cop 23. Outro

[anothersievefistedfind]

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[anothersievefistedfind]

Fugazi, Columbus, OH USA 5/03/98 (FLS #851)

For their third out of eleven US gigs in the spring of 1998, Fugazi hit the state of Ohio and set up gear at the Newport Music Hall on High Street in Columbus, reportedly the last American venue at which John Lee Hooker performed before his death in 2001.

The recording puts the listener smack dab in the middle of things, as the introductory sequence and opening part of Merchandise are missing. Later on in the set list, it turns out Waiting Room unfortunately is incomplete as well, save for the closing chords.

Still, do not let that keep you from grabbing this download. Although it pretty much is a no-nonsense performance with not much going on in terms of dialogue, it is notably tight and sounds remarkable.

The set list features a heavy dose of End Hits songs (10 out of 13 songs), which saw its release a couple of days prior to this show, with a healthy selection of Kill Taker songs thrown in, as well as a handful of songs from each of the other albums for variety.

As mentioned, I think this is a great overall performance and recording, yet if pressed for highlights, I'd mention the subtle yet urging sway of Long Division, Close Captioned into Floating Boy, Do You Like Me (Ian puts in some additional guitar licks in the beginning of the song which works quite well), the brilliant combo No Surprise into Promises, and yet another outstanding version of Reprovisional.

The set list:

1. Merchandise 2. Place Position 3. And The Same 4. Public Witness Program 5. Back to Base 6. Interlude 1 7. Foreman's Dog 8. Recap Modotti 9. Long Division 10. Blueprint 11. Closed Captioned 12. Floating Boy 13. Reclamation 14. Do You Like Me 15. Five Corporations 16. Rend It 17. Arpeggiator 18. Encore 1 19. Waiting Room 20. FD 21. Break 22. No Surprise 23. Promises 24. Encore 2 25. Last Chance For A Slow Dance 26. Great Cop 27. Walken's Syndrome 28. Bed for the Scraping 29. Reprovisional 30. Outro

[anothersievefistedfind]

Fugazi, Pittsburgh, PA USA 5/02/98 (FLS #0850)

Guy Picciotto, photo © by Joshua Taneer

The second gig of the 1998 spring US tour. For the occasion, the band set up in the Rangos Ballroom at Carnegie Mellon University, and performed a benefit for the CMU Radio Station Tower Fund.

The recording starts off rough with mostly drums in the mix, but balances out after a few songs.

Once the mix settles (during Styrofoam), the experience really flows and is most enjoyable. Even before that I had fun listening closely as Brendan sets the pace on his drum kit. Crank up the volume and you get to feel the throbbing heart of the rhythm section.

Note that Ian drops the ball on the opening chords of a couple of songs (Bulldog Front, KYEO) and that some songs suffer from sonic irregularities or sudden volume shifts (e.g. By You, Rend It, KYEO), but these might very well be due to sound man Nick Pellicciotto playing around for effect.

As to the set list, End Hits is the main album of choice here, with no less than 9 songs thrown in and the other albums being notably less or even just marginally represented.

Ian MacKaye & Brendan Canty, photo © by Shawn Brackbill

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Birthday Pony 3. Place Position 4. Styrofoam 5. Bulldog Front 6. Reclamation 7. Guilford Fall 8. Break 9. Blueprint 10. Recap Modotti 11. By You 12. Arpeggiator 13. Closed Captioned 14. Two Beats Off 15. Bed for the Scraping 16. FD 17. Pink Frosty 18. Rend It 19. Burning 20. Waiting Room 21. No Surprise 22. KYEO 23. Outro