#fls1992

Fugazi, Rote Fabrik, Zürich, Switzerland 6/18/1992 (FLS #0470)

Out of the five times Fugazi played in the city of Zürich, Switzerland (1988, 1990, 1992, 1995 and 1999), the venue of choice turned out to be the Rote Fabrik no less than four times, and for good reason, or so it seems:

“The Rote Fabrik, which enjoys a beautiful location overlooking Lake Zurich, is the alternative counterpart to the classic cultural institutions in the city center.

The well-known cultural center unites concerts, art interventions, movie screenings, and theater performances on social and cultural themes under one roof.

Also located on the Rote Fabrik site are the Shedhalle, an institution for contemporary and critical art, and the restaurant, Ziegel oh Lac.

(...)

The Rote Fabrik was a silk-weaving mill until 1940. After it was shut down, many of the rooms stood empty or were used for storage. In the 1970s and 80s, the Zurich youth movement protested against this. They wanted their own, independent cultural center and thought that the factory site would be the ideal place for this.

However, initially the youth movement was not taken very seriously. Only after numerous demonstrations and even riots was the factory site rented out to the ‘Interessengemeinschaft Rote Fabrik’ on a trial basis (incidentally, this interest group still exists today). Soon bands such as Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bad Religion, and Manu Chao were playing legendary concerts here, long before they became known in Europe. Günter Grass and Alice Schwarzer held readings in the club room, while performances and discussion evenings with an interested young public took place in the factory theater.

The temporary arrangement finally became a permanent enterprise in 1987, and the concept of the Rote Fabrik is still functioning to this day.”

Banter is rather easygoing from the get-go, as Ian lets the audience in on some of the events that made up their day, concluding “(...) that’s what we do for a living, we dry shoes to hairdryers… meanwhile we’re Fugazi from Washington D.C., have a nice time...”

Still, make no mistake about it, since a lot of the songs that are about to follow, e.g. Dear Justice Letter and Reclamation, were as much of an indictment of the state of affairs in the United States then as they are now, unfortunately.

The audience behaves rather disciplined throughout the evening, yet Styrofoam does feature a bit of an interruption towards the ending of the song while Ian intervenes to keep someone from stage-diving (you can catch it via the link to the video footage below).

More importantly, note the different tag and Beatles reference on Two Beats Off. It is one that I haven’t heard before if I am not mistaken. Guy Picciotto has been so kind and generous to provide some more backstory, painting a clearer picture: “It does seem like in the first verse of the song I am doing a conflation of the lyric from the Beatles’ song GLASS ONION with their other song FIXING A HOLE. I took the line about ‘fixing a hole in the ocean’ from GLASS ONION and ‘where the rain comes in’ is from FIXING A HOLE which in fact GLASS ONION is referencing so the whole thing is a bit circular.  The rest of the song I am making shit up and none of them are from any cover songs.  There is a part where I sing something like ‘I like to paint by numbers / cos I can’t keep in the lines / I like to paint by numbers / to waste (my) time’ and later there is a part about wanting to reach for the moon. I think I was in a free-associating frame of mind because I have no good explanation for why that is what I came up with except that I was improvising and that is what came out.”

The recording offers 21 live songs in total, which is slightly above the crop for this particular tour. These cuts are taken off of In on the Kill Taker (2), Steady Diet of Nothing (6), Repeater (8), Margin Walker EP (3) and the self-titled or 7 Songs EP (2) respectively.

This includes a rather rare 1992 live rendering of Burning Too, as well as standout versions of Repeater and, most definitely, Reprovisional which showcases a lengthy, drawn-out build-up and sounds colossal. 

Basically, this one is a show that grows on me as it unfolds, one that culminates in a strong finale with two impeccable encores which includes an unusually late slot for Turnover that has Brendan pounding the snare.

The recording sounds quite good overall. Do note that the volume drops slightly towards the end of Merchandise, and that the vocals or even instrumentation appear slightly louder in the right channel for a good part of the recording, at least after Two Beats Off.

Partial footage of this show (Rend It intro, Merchandise, Dear Justice Letter, Styrofoam, Reclamation) was included in a video on the hardcore scene in Switzerland in 1992 and has been uploaded by the Swiss National TV (SRF) in the course of the digitization process of their archive. It can be accessed via here. These clips certainly portray the band going at it with fervor.

The set list:

Stills, pulled from video footage © by Michael Sanderson

Fugazi, Riverside, Newcastle, England 5/15/1992 (FLS #0442)

On May 15, 1992, Fugazi returned to the Riverside, “one of Newcastle’s most iconic live music venues” (and allegedly a band favorite as well) some two weeks into a grueling European tour that would last for about two and a half months.

The recording of this show surely is a fun and enjoyable entry, and a cool addition to the Fugazi Live Series. It portrays a band in a good and humorous mood, as well as a lively and avid audience. 

The band surprisingly opens with the live debut of Sweet and Low (based on the available recordings so far), true to the 1993 studio version, to ease into the set, and ups the ante right after with a string of heavy hitters, including an early live rendering of banger Instrument.

Although the vocals are rather low in the mix for the first couple of songs, and the overall sound a bit muddy, the audio quality fortunately ramps up significantly towards the end of Sieve-Fisted Find, following a notable and sudden volume drop. From here on out, the recording is quite a delight to listen to. Notice Brendan’s wonderful use of the hi-hat and cymbals while performing Exit Only and Reclamation, pure bliss!

Other highlights include Shut the Door, or Great Cop which is appropriately dedicated to some punter urging the band to “fucking get on with it.”

Michael Sanderson, having attended the gig, jotted down some of the banter and events that marked the occasion:

Fugazi are in a good mood and talk to the audience throughout. For the encore Brendan walks on and talks into the microphone, it seems whenever he can get the chance, he’s up at the front with a mic stuck in his face!! (a closet singer perhaps?) Ian, Joe and Guy then come on ‘This song is a new one, so if you can guess what it’s called we’ll play it!’ people shout and scream titles... ‘It’s a new one you’ve never heard it!!’ scream scream ‘No that’s not it!’ scream scream ‘That’s close!’

Frantically, someone down the front is yelling ‘fucking get on with it’ as if his life depended on it!

‘The most impatient man I know’ says Guy

‘Fucking get on with it!’

‘Are you comfortable?’ questions Ian

‘Fucking get on with it!’

‘This man must be heard to be believed’ says Guy as he passes the mic over to him and gets more of the same only now amplified.

‘See? Do you have a bus to catch?’ with that they set off into ‘Great Cop’ Stacks and finish off with Margin Walker.

Newcastle conquered once again.

More small talk relates to the introduction of the “living room concept” by Guy, or to Ian and Guy commending local band Crane, dedicating Waiting Room to this “most underrated band in England” as well.

This tape presents 19 live tracks in total. This includes no less than four early live performances and the aforementioned live debut off of the In on the Kill Taker album which would not see its release for almost another year. Steady Diet of Nothing (4), Repeater (5), Margin Walker EP (2) and the debut S/T or 7 Songs EP (3) provided the rest of the live cuts for the evening.

The set list:

Photo © Wikipedia

Fugazi, Schlachthof, Bremen, Germany 7/3/1992 (FLS #0483)

This tape documents the last date Fugazi played on German soil at the tail end of the 2 1/2 month European tour in 1992, just before wrapping up with three shows in Scandinavia and one in the Netherlands.

Venue of choice in Bremen was, as it has been on all four occasions the band hit this city over the years, the Schlachthof, “located on the site of the former municipal slaughterhouse [...], near the main train station, and [...] the largest cultural center in Bremen.”

Let me get out of the way that the sound quality of this recording is easily really good, well balanced, clear and highly enjoyable.

The performance is sprinkled with plenty of treats, and starts off nicely with a version of Joe #1 (tagged Phantom of the Opera) that includes some mesmerizing reverb on the guitars, sounding great. Last Chance for a Slow Dance catches some more cool reverb, this time on Guy’s vocals, rendering his lines “Flare fakes a flower, A burnt-out shower, No one can see” hauntingly beautiful. 

Last Chance transitions smoothly into an early slotted Promises, followed by great versions of Turnover and Suggestion, during which Ian even addresses the audience in the German language and invites anyone interested to make use of the mic. Margin Walker makes for another seamless combination, even though a segment of the song is missing due to an unfortunate cassette flip. 

Give Me The Cure is a bit of a turning point for this show, with Ian’s guitar being slightly out of tune and, mostly, because of some animosity emerging between the band and some of the patrons after the song. While the reasons for this are rather unclear from the recording, it appears it might have had something to do with a handful of people persistently insulting the band and trying to tell them what to play.

Frustration gradually builds, yet if anything, the band take it into stride and up the ante, turning an already strong performance into a genuine powerplay, busting out a string of songs to address the situation and taunts at hand in a most appropriate fashion. 

Listen closely as Ian steps away from the mic while singing Long Division, “the quietest song ever played”, and Brendan merely plays off of his infamous bell. Ian, Guy and even Brendan (behind the drum kit) then team up on the “crack, crack, crack” spiel which heralds another fantastic version of Blueprint to close out the main set. And the band do not let up, adding some more self-deprecating banter and a forceful combination of songs, Great Cop into Rend It into Repeater, to the musical downpour.

You get some cool snare hits and guitar play leading into Two Beats Off, and a drawn-out yet overall restrained version of Shut the Door to finish the set strong, clocking in at 9 1/2 minutes, and closing out with ominous guitar feedback.

The tape features a complete set of 20 live tracks, making up one of the longer performances of this tour, and drawing quite evenly from the (at the time) upcoming In on the Kill Taker album (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (4), Repeater (5), 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (3) as well as the 7 Songs debut EP (3).

Surely another entry in the series to take notice of. “Vielen Dank.”

The set list:

Photo © by Achim Friederich

Fugazi, Rhenania, Köln (Cologne), Germany 7/1/1992 (FLS #0481)

On the dot two months into their 1992 European tour, Fugazi would play its first and, surprisingly, only show in the city of Köln (or Cologne) in Germany and from this cassette recording it appears to have gone down in history as a hot, steamy and stifling ordeal. 

“Leave some air for us too, thank you...”, Ian forebodes right off the bat, and a couple of songs in Guy muses that their predicament reminds him of “those fine Washington D.C. summers, lounging on the porch, eating melon, kicking back...” At one point, Guy even references their infamous 1990 gig in Gainesville, Florida which appears to have been one of their most grilling experiences ever.

Even though I have not really been able to gather more details in relation to the venue of choice, Rhenania, Ian does paint a bit of a better picture, introducing Long Division as “the sort of song you play hanging out with 700 people in a little German concrete bunker.”

Note that the sound quality of the recording takes a couple of songs to balance out (up until Styrofoam) but once it does, the listener will find that Guy rarely sounded more up close and personal, Rend It being a case in point.

This tape showcases 18 live tracks in total, and draws from In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (3), Repeater (5), 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (3) and 7 Songs EP (2) respectively.

This includes rareish 1992 live renderings of the Steady Diet instrumental (here as a set opener to boot), as well as Bulldog Front (tagged Beautiful Child by The Blow Monkeys as per usual). Overall, I find that this performance comes along nicely and certainly grows in strength as the set continues. 

Turnover is the first song that packs a good punch with some nice reverb on the snare, followed by four single guitar songs which will surely have provided Guy with ample opportunity to go off. Promises is a strong main set closer and you get another two great encores and some James Brown (Super Bad, and Talkin’ Loud And Sayin’ Nothing) over the PA, bookending the second encore.

And what I love about these encores is that Guy, not Ian, unusually prolongs the “crack, crack, crack” motif coming off Long Division and leading into Blueprint, and that the version of Sweet and Low that ensues is the first one out of dozens I have listened to up until now that includes some improvised and befitting lyrics by Guy, a memorable and wonderful treat.

Banter is rather scarce this time around, yet Margin Walker is dedicated to “the former tenants of the squat that got torn down”, further mentioning that the band “went out to diner and went by and already the bulldozers had taken it down, money doesn’t sleep.”

The set list:

Photos © by Jim Saah

Fugazi, Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany 6/28/1992 (FLS #0478)

“Welcome to the big top! We’re on all three rings tonight...”

Initially released as volume six of a first set of twenty live recordings on CD in April 2004, several band members fondly remember this particular concert and mark it as excellent to this very day. What makes this gig even more interesting is that it is a one-off experience which took place at the rather peculiar Tempodrom venue in the city of Berlin and played out in front of nearly 3000 people.

Or, as Brendan recalls: “One of our best shows ever I think, if memory serves me well. In a circus tent. I think Christo [A/N: Hristo Vladimirov Yavachev, a Bulgarian-American artist, whose work includes the wrapping of public buildings] had the Reichstag wrapped right next door.”

Listening to this recording again and again, I can only agree. It is a pleasure to hear Guy rejoice in the first rays of sunshine well into the tour, as well as to hear Ian count in German during Repeater, or to hear him shout “Glueman” into his guitar pickup over and over again while the last of the feedback dies down and closes out the set.

Such little happenings, combined with a very balanced set list that draws generously from all available albums at that time as well as from the yet to be released In on the Kill Taker album (date of release June 30, 1993 - note the Cassavetes instrumental that kicks off this show) and a killer overall performance make this show a definite keeper and another highlight addition to the series. Jetzt Geht’s Los!

The set list:

Ticket for Nottingham, England, May 8, 1992, courtesy Martin Hinrich

Fugazi, Nottingham Polytechnic, Nottingham, England 5/8/1992 (FLS #0437)

Really cool show early on in the 1992 European leg of the tour, coming off a great gig in Norwich on the previous night and leading up to a stellar concert at the Brixton Academy in London in the following night.

I am hearing all kinds of interesting stuff, including stand-out versions of Two Beats Off (note the tags and Ian’s ominous guitar licks), Burning (Guy drops the first verse and is winging it, this is a mesmerizing version) or Shut the Door. 

I also like the work-in-progress on this early performance of Rend It (the a cappella part is not there yet) as well as the Sweet and Low tease going into Exit Only. 

Add to this some fun banter, a great mood and plenty of bangers and you have a keeper.

Presented are just 17 songs, drawn from In on the Kill Taker (2), Steady Diet of Nothing (4), Repeater (5), Margin Walker EP (4) and 7 Songs EP (2) respectively.

The set list:

Fugazi @ l’Elysée Montmartre, Paris, France, 5/27/1992

“Fugazi's Repeater came out on this day in 1990. We got lucky enough to play some shows with them in Europe in 1992. This show at the Elysée Montmartre was incredible and this beautiful placed burned down in 2011 but was rebuilt.”