#fls2001

Photo © by Kelly Maron

Fugazi, Fort Reno, Washington, D.C. USA 8/13/2001 (FLS #1013)

Ever since 1968, Fort Reno has provided the space and opportunity for an annual free all-ages summer concert series. According to the Dischord website, “The Fort Reno Summer Concert Series is an all volunteer Washington, DC institution which has presented free shows in the park for more than 40 years. The bills often feature a mixture of young bands just starting out alongside more seasoned bands -- all from the area's fertile independent music scene.”

Even though Fugazi would play the Fort Reno Park premises in Tenleytown almost every summer since 1988 until their indefinite hiatus in 2003 (with the exception of three editions, see also some of my earlier notes via here), a great deal of these recordings unfortunately are incomplete and/or suffer from significant audio discrepancies. Luckily, this one from 2001 is complete and sounds really good too, not considering a handful of sonic glitches, a bit of interference and the audience being low in the mix because of the soundboard recording and outdoor acoustics.

Actually, chances of the event washing out on a regular basis due to torrential rains and thunderstorms have been as high as Ian donning a Soulside tee shirt for the yearly occasion. By contrast, the circumstances surrounding this show in August of 2001, i.e. Fugazi’s second to last stay at Fort Reno, played out differently (at least in a meteorological way, not in the way of Ian’s sartorial choices).

In the course of the set, Guy paints a clearer picture, “I know a lot of people drove from pretty far away to come out to the show tonight, and a lot of people drove not knowing if there was even gonna be a show tonight, and uh, for those of you who haven’t been around the last couple of years, almost every time we play here there’s like an apocalyptic rainstorm every fucking year and it’s always like we’re all nibbling our fingernails and watching the lightning explode and everyone’s freaking out and then we get to play one or two songs and then everyone has to you know run under the umbrella’s for a while, but tonight Mother Nature went off early and we got to play a full set [...].”

The performance presented here might feel a bit rough around the edges, which can arguably be chalked up to the fact that this is the last show Fugazi played in 2001, a one-off gig in D.C. about a month after a two-week trek across the Midwest of the United States and Canada, as well as to the fact that both 2001 and 2002 pretty much rank at the bottom of the list in terms of (the number of) Fugazi live performances, with 32 shows each (compared to 134, 129 or 123 shows in 1993, 1990 and 1995 respectively). Considering this, it is not all that surprising that this show is pockmarked with some instrumental slip-ups or even the occasional lyrical flub. 

Nevertheless, it still is an overall interesting and enjoyable listen and it does have a nice flow to it, with many seamless transitions and song combinations, which is pretty remarkable since the band draws heavily from a body of songs that had not yet seen an album release at the time.

The set list showcases 22 songs, or actually even 23 if you count the instrumental intro which might very well be the only documented live version of this specific “link track” (one of many such little improvs, or so the saying goes). 

Out of the titled live cuts, no less than 7 are taken off of The Argument and 1 song off of the Furniture EP, recordings which would both see their official release some two months later, in October 2001. A handful of tracks off of their previous work complete the set: End Hits (3), Red Medicine (3), In on the Kill Taker (4), Repeater (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs debut EP (2). Unfortunately, Steady Diet of Nothing is not featured this time around.

There is little banter here, aside from Ian (ironically) chiding someone for demanding some banter before introducing Cashout, Guy inviting people to join in the World Bank protests which were to be held in D.C. in September of that year (little did he know that another turn of events was about to unfold on 9/11), or Ian thanking (the late) Father George [Dennis] for his continuous involvement with the summer concert series since its inception.

Footage of this show is available through YouTube (part one via here and part two via here) as is some more amazing photography by Shawn Scallen (via here).

Interestingly, mention of this particular Fort Reno gig is made in an article by Dave McKenna published for the Washington Post shortly after, as well as in a recent October 15, 2021 article by Tom Breihan published for Stereogum, celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Argument album.

The set list:

Photo © by Brian P. Duss

Fugazi, 9:30 Club, Washington D.C. USA 4/25/2001 (FLS #0997)

One out of just two shows Fugazi played in Washington D.C. in April of 2001, this one a benefit for the Washington Free Clinic & Prevention Works at the 9:30 Club (their last performance at this legendary venue).

If you want to get a good feel of what Brendan is up to behind his kit, this recording will be right up your alley since the drums are dominant in the mix. Ian’s vocals and Guy’s guitar by contrast are more difficult to discern, at least up until Closed Captioned. Chalking up the overall sound quality as “excellent” is stretching it in my opinion, particularly since there is some distortion in the left channel as well after Reclamation (see below) until around Cashout.

The recording of the performance itself is complete (contrary to the introductory remarks by Mark Andersen of Positive Force and the other speakers) and documents 24 songs.

The band draws from The Argument album (not yet released at the time) (8), the Furniture EP (not yet released) (2), End Hits (4), Red Medicine (2), In on the Kill Taker (3), Steady Diet of Nothing (2), Repeater (2) and the Margin Walker EP (1).

You get 3 new and (at the time) unreleased songs to open up the set, which is actually very heavy on (at the time) unreleased material overall, while you get only a couple of songs off of their earlier albums and even nothing off of the 7 Songs debut EP. The set list further does include rare 2001 performances of Exit Only and Full Disclosure.

My personal highlights of this show are the elusive Strangelight, the dub-injected jam on Promises to close out the night, as well as a slow burn, crushing version of Reclamation. 

Courtesy of Joseph Vesely, who attended the show, 

“one thing from the 9:30 club that i remember though is that i think they played the best version of ‘Reclamation’ that i have ever seen. it was really out of hand!! by the end of the song, both mic stands had been knocked over, and guy and ian were on their knees, with ian just sweating like mad.”

Note that Joe and Brendan dabble in “Lusty Scripps” during one of the interludes, and that Ian touches on the issue of health care and the reasons for this benefit concert before going into Arpeggiator.

Grainy, shaky footage of a handful of songs from this show (including Reclamation) is available, courtesy of Marcus Costa.

The set list:

Show Ticket courtesy of Jimmy Askew

Fugazi, Sacred Heart Church Hall, Washington D.C. USA 4/27/2001 (FLS #0998)

One out of just two shows Fugazi played in Washington D.C. in April of 2001, this one a benefit for Neighbors Consejo & Homes Not Jails.

Having hosted three memorable Fugazi shows before, all of which 10 years earlier (see for instance my entries for the Februari 15, 1991 or April 12, 1991 shows), Sacred Heart Church Hall is another venue that is deeply tied in with the live history of the band.

Much like the show at the 9:30 Club a couple of days before, the set list particularly draws from (at the time) unreleased material if that’s your jam, while only showcasing a couple of songs off of their earlier albums and nothing off of the 7 Songs debut EP.

The recording starts off with the opening notes of Argument and documents 19 songs total, taken off of The Argument album (7) (at the time still unreleased), Furniture EP (2) (at the time unreleased), End Hits (2), Red Medicine (2), In on the Kill Taker (3), Steady Diet of Nothing (1), Repeater (2) and the Margin Walker EP (1).

The audio quality of this one is pretty much impeccable, just some marginal cuts in between songs, and the recording documents an overall solid and enjoyable performance, even though Joe’s bass playing and singing does come off rather shaky during The Kill, something he makes up for leading the band into By You next (“maybe I’ll have a better time with this one”).

My personal highlights include early slots for Sieve-Fisted Find and Great Cop to get things going, a scarce and strong 2001 live rendering of Shut the Door with a cool, drawn-out improv (only 3 are currently listed for that year), an incredibly rare Hello Morning (only 2 instances are currently listed in total) as well as Strangelight to close out the night. Plus Ian delivers some interesting “everybody wants somewhere” introductory remarks going into Cashout, which ties in with the theme of the benefit at hand.

Courtesy of Joseph Vesely, who attended the show,

“the sacred heart show was particularly cool for me because it was such an interesting location. and i enjoyed all of the information tables as well. and its also great to know that we’re all coming together for some really helpful causes and its great to be a part of that. they also played some stuff that i have wanted to see for so long. older stuff. older highlights for me were: ‘Sieve-fisted Find’, ‘By You’, and ‘Shut The Door’.”

The set list:

Live photo taken on 4/6/2001 by anonymous

Fugazi, Ogden Theater, Denver, CO USA 4/5/2001 (FLS #0982) & 4/6/2001 (FLS #0983)

Between April 5 and April 21, 2001, Fugazi embarked on their “Four Corners” tour of the United States to kick off the 2001 tour itinerary with 15 shows in as many as 10 states (Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana and Pennsylvania), their longest string of shows in 2001 and about half of their total amount of gigs that year (32 shows).

The Ogden Theater in Denver, Colorado turned out to be the first stop of the tour and hosted two shows on consecutive nights. According to an article titled “Ten of Our Favorite Concerts From the Ogden’s 100-Year History” by the Westword Staff (“The independent voice of Denver since 1977”),

“The Ogden was built in 1917, and it was opened as a theater in 1919 by John Thompson, who also ran what is now called the Bluebird Theater. Originally home to organ recitals, lectures and vaudeville acts, including Harry Houdini, the space became a movie theater in 1937. In the early ’90s, Doug Kauffman of Nobody in Particular Presents turned the Ogden back into a music venue. In 2006, NIPP leased the venue to AEG Live, and the Ogden has continued to be one of Denver’s most vibrant concert halls, with everyone leaving a mark on its stage, from just-breaking-big bands to fan-favorite nostalgia acts and singular one-offs from musical icons.”

Being back in Denver sparks memories for the band, as Guy reminisces, “it’s been a very long time since we’ve been to Denver, does anybody remember, not the last time when we played the Fillmore [formerly the Mammoth Events Center] but a few times back when we played here and we had this idea that we were gonna have a can drive, a food drive, remember that, I think it was like four or five bucks and then a can of food and then we were gonna distribute the food to people, but then it turned into this big riot and all the kids in the street started throwing the cans at windows, do you remember this, it was seriously fucking nuts, just a pleasant memory from the scrapbook for you all.”

I spent some time with the recordings of both Fugazi gigs at the Ogden Theater these last couple of weeks, and enjoy these a whole damn lot. The band hadn’t performed live since concluding their Scandinavian run some 6 months earlier, on October 10, 2000 and while both performances surely include a handful of shaky transitions and the occasional missed chord or hiccup, the band’s musicianship, work ethic and ardor come out on top. As such, both recordings essentially portray a band that found its bearings rapidly, came out swinging and had the welcoming audience eating out of its hand.

The recording of the first night includes a total of 28 songs, taken off of The Argument (6) (at the time not yet released), Furniture EP (1) (at the time not yet released), End Hits (5), Red Medicine (2), In on the Kill Taker (6), Steady Diet of Nothing (2), Repeater (3), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs EP (2). This includes some rare live renderings for 2001 such as Full Disclosure, Give Me The Cure or Cassavetes.

Some of my highlights here are Sieve-Fisted Find, Cashout (considering Ian very often introduced this one, it is clear he takes the subject to heart, “we came into Denver yesterday and as we drove around we saw one million housing projects like people building condominiums, condominiums, condominiums, town houses, town houses, town houses, and, you know in Washington D.C. it’s the same thing, it’s like everywhere you look there’s houses being built, houses being built, prices are going up so this is a song about where exactly people are supposed to live at this fucking point”), the live debut of The Kill (Guy’s eerie guitar play sounds fantastic while Joe is still coming into his own on this one, “we’re trying something new, I haven’t got it down totally, give me a break”), Last Chance For a Slow Dance, Arpeggiator (with Jerry Busher on second drums), Blueprint, another dubby version of Promises (reverb on the snare, distortion on the vocals and a thunderous thump on the kick drum) or Sweet and Low (the reverb on the guitars is just mesmerizing).

The recording of the second night showcases another 27 songs, taken off of The Argument (4) (unreleased at the time), Furniture EP (1) (unreleased at the time), End Hits (6), Red Medicine (4), In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (1), Repeater (2), 3 Songs 7” (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and 7 Songs EP (3). This includes a bunch of rare live performances for that year, such as Turnover, Stacks, Suggestion (the band has to start over after Ian singles out and addresses a couple of guys for fighting), Break-In, Bad Mouth, Instrument, Walken’s Syndrome or Forensic Scene.

Overall, this one has the better flow and more exceptional set list in my opinion. Still, some personal highlights include the fast-paced, flawless opening string of songs up until the first interlude, Turnover, Burning (with additional percussion by Jerry Busher), Argument into Blueprint into Instrument closing out the main set, Strangelight, a dub-injected version of Target (which has the audience participating in some double time hand-clapping) or Forensic Scene.

There is some fun banter by Guy as well, leading into Oh, “while we were driving out, we drove straight to Denver from D.C., it’s the first place we’re playing, on the way out, these guys were listening to the radio in the van, and there’s this show on NPR called ‘Money Talk’, are you familiar with this show, they started using a fragment of one of the songs we played a while back [plays the ‘Morse’ intro notes to Facet Squared], that’s like the theme song to ‘Money Talk’ now, and ever since they’ve been using this without our permission, the economy has been in a tailspin, the show about the markets uses a Fugazi song, the economy crumbles, let’s hope they play a few more of our songs on the radio.”

Footage of the second night at the Ogden Theater, shot up-close from the audience, is available through YouTube.

The sound quality of both recordings is easily really good and highly enjoyable, the vocals and instruments clear and well balanced in the mix, the guitars laid out nicely in stereo, even though the volume levels are slightly wavering occasionally, particularly during the louder parts. There are some marginal cuts between tracks on both nights, but nothing disruptive.

The set lists:

April 5, 2001:

1. Intro 2. Ex-Spectator 3. Sieve-Fisted Find 4. Reclamation 5. Interlude 1 6. Full Disclosure 7. Long Division 8. Rend It 9. Interlude 2 10. Cashout 11. Smallpox Champion 12. Merchandise 13. Interlude 3 14. The Kill 15. Last Chance For a Slow Dance 16. Closed Captioned 17. Arpeggiator 18. Nightshop 19. Bed For The Scraping 20. Give Me The Cure 21. Waiting Room 22. Public Witness Program 23. Argument 24. Blueprint 25. Encore 1 26. Break 27. Number 5 28. Oh 29. Promises 30. Encore 2 31. Target 32. Five Corporations 33. Cassavetes 34. Sweet and Low 35. Outro

April 6, 2001:

Photos © by Justin Staller

Fugazi, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA USA 4/21/2001 (FLS #0996)

This recording documents the last out of 7 times Fugazi would play Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and this one wraps up their “Four Corners” tour of the United States between April 5 and April 21, 2001, which kicked off the 2001 tour itinerary with 15 shows in as many as 10 states (Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana and Pennsylvania), their longest string of shows in 2001 and about half of their total amount of gigs that year (32 shows).

Like in 1998, this concert took place at Carnegie Mellon University, here as a free show under a tent in a parking lot. As per Sean Urban, who attended this show,

“not being from there, i was pretty clueless where to go to. i knew it was at cmu, but that’s about it. a good rule of thumb when looking for fugazi is follow the punk kids. that will usually work, but not in pittsburgh. everyone i saw was a punk kid, and they were all walking in different directions! well, we finally found the venue. it was at a carnival, complete with ferris wheel. the stage was under a tent, next to a whole bunch of frat displays. looking out i could see a cardboard castle like from the land of make believe [mr. rogers from tv], and a sign that said something like, ‘sigma delta’s neighborhood.’ yes, it was strange.”

With 1 hour and 10 minutes on the clock because of the band running late, a tight curfew, the obligatory Minor Threat request, someone appearing to have lost consciousness during Closed Captioned, and guitar issues seemingly marring a number of songs (cf. Reclamation, Nightshop, Arpeggiator), this is not the tightest of performances, but the recording of the show astonishingly does clock in at 1 hour and 14 minutes, having Ian and the band live up to their promise to “play as fast as humanly possible.”

The band gets 20 live songs in, drawing from The Argument (4) (unreleased at the time), Furniture EP (1) (unreleased at the time), End Hits (4), Red Medicine (2), In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (2), Repeater (1) and 7 Songs EP (2).

According to the aforementioned Sean Urban, 

“a funny moment came about halfway through the show when ian asked if we had ridden on the ferris wheel or eaten the funnel cakes. this guy in the crowd then started passing out pretzels to everyone. he threw one to ian, prompting guy to say ‘great catch.’ guy got a pretzel thrown at him too, but pretended to miss and let it hit the stage. the crowd shouted at ian to ‘eat the pretzel!’ i think he just laughed off that suggestion.”

My highlight probably is the early live version of The Kill (at the time not yet released) that follows the pretzel episode (the guitar picking left and right is quite cool), in combination with a scarce 2001 live rendering of Give Me The Cure into Waiting Room during which Ian reiterates the pretzel schtick (“that pretzel was very greasy and my hands are now slippery”), as well as (another) solid take on Sweet and Low to close out the set.

The audio quality, particularly Brendan’s snare drum, is rather sharp on the ears during the first couple of songs, but pretty much balances out towards the end of Do You Like Me and can be chalked up as “very good” indeed.

Although this show might be memorable for its location, it will probably be less so for its performance within the overall context of the Fugazi live catalogue, unless of course you were actually there to experience it all in person.

The set list: