#fls2002

Fugazi, Mass Art Gymnasium, Boston, MA USA 4/19/2002 - photo © by Edwina Hay

Fugazi, Mass Art Gymnasium, Boston, MA USA 4/19/2002 (FLS #1029) & 4/20/2002 (FLS #1030)

Not having played in Boston proper for 11 years (i.e. since their one-off show at the Channel on March 17, 1991) due to the lack of promoters willing to do shows in larger venues for low ticket prices and the city suddenly ruling all ages shows illegal, Fugazi would finally return to play two consecutive nights at the Mass Art Gymnasium (MassArt), “[f]ounded in 1873, [...] one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded free-standing art school in the United States, and [...] the first art college in the United States to grant an artistic degree” (via). 

Moreover, and according to the MassArt website, it is “a place with wide reach, where the hardest, most important, and most rewarding work of [their] students, staff, and affiliates, is to keep [their] eyes open [!] and continue expanding [their] vision.” In other words, a place most suitable to host a couple of Fugazi shows and have some 1500 enthusiasts share in the experience each night. 

Interestingly, these shows in Boston played out while Washington D.C. was preparing for another round of large-scale protests on April 20th. According to an April 14, 2002 article “D.C. Protest Organizers Take On New Cause” by Manny Fern and ez published in the Washington Post, 

“Those opposed to global capitalism and the U.S. policies that support it, others who have decried the war in Afghanistan and activists who objected to widespread arrests of Muslims in the United States have joined pro-Palestinian groups to march for a common cause.”

In their lengthy follow-up article, “Demonstrators Rally to Palestinian Cause”, published on April 21, 2002 in the Washington Post, the authors provide some more details as to how these events unfolded,

“Tens of thousands converged on downtown Washington yesterday to demonstrate for a variety of causes, but it was the numbers and passion of busloads of Arab Americans and their supporters that dominated the streets.

Eager to make their presence felt and their voices heard in the nation's capital as never before, Arab and Muslim families marched and chanted for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, overwhelming the messages of those with other causes in a peaceful day of downtown rallies and marches.”

Considering the nature and backdrop of these events, it only makes sense that the demonstrations run like a thread through both Fugazi shows in Boston. Leading into the song Argument on the first night, Ian gives a lengthy address touching on the causes of the demonstrations, his concerns and doubts in relation to the media coverage and on the band playing shows in Boston instead of standing with the demonstrators in Washington D.C., concluding that “[t]he fact of the matter is that, wherever you are, in the world, if you disagree with war, then you should be protesting every day, no matter where you are, so right now, this is the beginning of the protest.”

The recording of the first night documents a collection of songs that are performed very well for the most part and blend nicely together, with some cool extras, cf. the vocals catching some nice reverb on Oh, a memorable version of Ex-Spectator, Guy’s “public housing” rap into Dear Justice Letter, a cool double shot of Joe with The Kill / By You combo, or a rare 2002 live appearance of Bad Mouth.

However, there are a couple of reasons that will probably keep me from revisiting this one anytime soon. My main gripe is that the recording is incomplete. The introduction is missing as well as the actual last three songs of the set, i.e. Arpeggiator, Sweet and Low and Repeater. Guy’s vocals are low in the mix on Sieve-Fisted Find and kind of get stuck in the left channel for most of the recording. Also, the recording skips a couple of times during Cashout.

And so my preference lies with the recording of the second night, which fortunately is complete and better sounding overall, even though Brendan’s snare drum comes off a bit harsh the first couple of songs. This one too has a nice flow to it and documents a really good performance (never mind the guitar soloing towards the end of Strangelight is a bit off). 

My highlights here include a nice little midsection with 4 early songs which provide Guy with ample opportunity to lay down his guitar and go off, rare 2002 live versions of Song #1 and Last Chance for a Slow Dance (this one’s a beauty), another nice double dose of Joe by way of Recap Modotti / By You played back-to-back, and last but definitely not least, more remarks by Ian about protests “to celebrate the idea that not the entire country is insane, there are some people who are sane” as an introduction to an outstanding rendering of KYEO which has Ian catering some more to the issues of the day:

“Important bulletin, we have from unconfirmed sources, an alleged plot to possibly blow up five streets in an unnamed city, somewhere in this country, we can’t say it’s gonna happen, but we can’t say it’s not gonna happen, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t walk on the street, we actually don’t know what it means, we just want you to be scared...”

The troops are quiet tonight, But it's not alright, Because we know they're planning something. Don't you know things have settled down, 

Down, down but silence is a dangerous sound, 

”Because when you’re scared, you’re off-balance, and when you’re off-balance, you can’t reason, when you can’t reason it’s very hard to recognize that something is being done in your name that you would not like to have been done, or you would not like people to do, so get on-balance, don’t be scared...”

The troops are quiet tonight, But it's not alright, Because we know they're planning something. Don't you know things have settled down,

Down, down but SILENCE is a dangerous sound,

We must, we must, We must keep our eyes open, See what we see, What once was promised now will be. Still uncertain? Get off that hang, Don't wait for the bang, The tools, They will be swinging, But we will not be beaten down.

Note that videos of both performances circulate on YouTube (see below). These have been synched-up with the recordings presented here, with permission of the band. On an interesting side note, and according to Ian, “ryanne hodson, who is credited with the video editing was responsible for uploading hundreds of the FLS shows on the site. she’s been a real friend and booster to the project.”

Ironically, the footage of the first show is pretty much complete (contrary to the incomplete audio recording) while the footage of the second show is missing about 30 minutes of the performance (contrary to the complete audio recording).

The set lists:

April 19, 2002 (incomplete):

1. Break 2. Sieve-Fisted Find 3. Reclamation 4. Oh 5. Ex-Spectator 6. Interlude 1 7. Dear Justice Letter 8. Interlude 2 9. Stacks 10. The Kill 11. By You 12. Interlude 3 13. Forensic Scene 14. Cashout 15. Nightshop 16. Bad Mouth 17. Break-In 18. Interlude 4 19. Furniture 20. Blueprint 21. Encore 22. Argument 23. Full Disclosure 24. Long Division 25. No Surprise

April 20, 2002 (complete):

Photo © by Chris Plavidal

Fugazi, Ridglea Theater, Fort Worth, Texas, USA 4/1/2002 (FLS #1023)

And here we find ourselves at the Ridglea Theater in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 1, 2002, the last of 5 dates in the state of Texas and some 10 shows into a 14 date jaunt through the southern states of the US in the spring of that year.

Even though Fugazi played in the state of Texas numerous times over the years, they only performed twice in Fort Worth, once at the Ridglea Theater in 2002 and once way back in 1989 at the Axis, which appears to have been another notable show, as can be understood from Ian’s reminiscing opening remarks during which he inquires about some “skinheads that were gonna do a drive-by shooting” at the time.

Even though the band miss a beat here and there (cf. Number 5, Full Disclosure) and even start off in the wrong key leading into Waiting Room (which leads Ian to quip “in the business we call that a key change”), this performance at the Ridglea Theater is one I enjoyed very much, not only because the sound quality of the recording is pretty much impeccable (never mind a slight volume drop about halfway opener Turnover) but especially because this selection of songs meshes so incredibly well together.

Plus, you get some wonderful song renditions. Particularly worth mentioning in my book are Burning with some cool additional percussion leading into the song, Give Me The Cure featuring Guy’s “expand the definition of terrorism” rap, Cashout with Ian extending the “everybody wants somewhere” lyric at the end of the song which results in a bit of a back-and-forth with the audience, a blistering version of Smallpox Champion to close out the main set, Forensic Scene and a dubby version of Promises with some added distortion, reverb on the snare and a deep deep thump on the kick drum.

The only thing that kind of curbs my enthusiasm and might prevent me from revisiting this show on a regular basis, is that the recording skips from time to time (note that the original source is a CD). A significant part of Guilford Fall appears to be missing because of this and a number of other songs (Epic Problem, Break and definitely Promises) suffer cuts as well which is very unfortunate.

Banter is few and far between this time around, and basically limited to the band calling out a number of patrons for disruptive behavior, and having someone come up to apologize in public for kicking a woman in the head (cf. “Wrestler boys” rap and “triage station” rap).

Compared to some other shows from the 2002 spring run, this recording includes a relatively shorter set of some 20 live tracks, drawing from The Argument (4), Furniture EP (1), End Hits (3), Red Medicine (2), In on the Kill Taker (3), Repeater (1), 3 Songs 7″ (1), Margin Walker EP (2) and 7 Songs debut EP (3).

The set list:

Photo © by Andrea Cover

Fugazi, Sunset Station, San Antonio, TX USA 3/29/2002 (FLS #1020)

Not too long ago I posted my entry in relation to the first and definitely memorable Fugazi show in San Antonio, Texas on May 7, 1990 at the Cameo Theater.

It turns out the band played in San Antonio three more times over the years, twice at the Showcase Special Events Center (1993 and 1995) as well as once at the Sunset Station on their last tour to date in 2002 which is the concert documented here.

There’s some more backstory to this 2002 event in a piece “Keeping It Real” by Daniel Estrada in the San Antonio Current: 

“On tour behind its latest release, The Argument, Fugazi wanted desperately to make its way to San Antonio. Since Fugazi’s last show here six years ago, MacKaye lost touch with his San Antonio contact and could not secure a venue. After setting up the Austin show at Emo’s, MacKaye asked his correspondent there if he knew a potential San Antonio contact. After much research and deliberation, the correspondent gave MacKaye a phone number for Mark Fleming of the San Antonio band White Heat (former B-Side Project).

Fleming recalls: ‘I got home from work one day and the phone rang and it showed ‘unavailable’ on the caller ID. I usually don’t answer it because it’s usually telemarketers, but for some reason I answered it and the guy on the phone said… ‘My name’s Ian MacKaye from Fugazi’.’ To Fleming’s surprise, the phone call proved authentic and when asked if he could set up a venue with a couple of local acts to open the show, Fleming enthusiastically said he would.”

The recording leads the listener through some introductory remarks by the band, which includes them asking if anyone has been to the basketball game (the women’s Final Four is said to have been held at the neighboring Alamodome), laying out some ground rules for people to be on their best behavior and thanking everyone for having the band down again in San Antonio.

The band played 25 live songs in total on this occasion. Most of these are taken off of The Argument (6) and Red Medicine (5), followed by End Hits (4), Repeater (3), Furniture EP (2), 7 Songs EP (2), and with only one song each off of In on the Kill Taker, Steady Diet of Nothing and Margin Walker EP.

The show has some difficulty getting off the ground and gaining momentum due to safety concerns with people in the front getting injured due to people shoving forward, which gets addressed, and Ian calls out some people as rude and cowards as well for throwing drinks and stuff at the band from the balcony.

The performance itself feels rather hit-or-miss with some mistakes dotted around. The botched guitar play on Full Disclosure comes to mind, as well as Joe’s vocals on The Kill which are notably off (you can hear Joe apologize for the “disaster” after the song).

There are highlights as well though and I feel these include the set list flow on a number of occasions. Birthday Pony into Do You Like Me into a great version of Cashout (with some cool “sliding sounds” on the guitar intro) works well and Blueprint into Waiting Room into Burning (with some nice distortion on the vocals) shreds and is great fun! Also, it’s cool and revelatory to listen closely as the band picks up on Ian’s last guitar note that reverberates after Nightshop to go straight into Repeater.

The closing string of songs unfortunately misses coherence in my opinion which is accentuated by The Argument and Five Corporations being both incomplete and cut short. Furniture does not feel like a full-fledged set closer to me and rather surprisingly closes out the night.

To conclude it can be noted that the sound quality of the recording is really good (marked as “excellent” by the people at Dischord) once the mix settles and the volume levels balance out during the first couple of songs.

The set list:

Photos © by Glen E. Friedman

Fugazi, Fort Reno, Washington D.C., USA 7/1/2002 (FLS #1031)

On July 1, 2002, Fugazi played the 34th edition of the Fort Reno summer concert series, a returning feat and staple in the band’s tour chronology as I pointed out earlier via here. 

Yet as it turns out, this particular concert would be the very last Fugazi show on US soil. At this point in time, the United Kingdom and Ireland were still to host a string of (14) shows in the fall of 2002, which had been cancelled earlier (June 2002), allegedly due to the passing of a relative of a band member, but that would be it. After these shows, the hiatus was announced by the band and up until today, it still proves to be very much indefinite.

Having read a handful of show reviews related to the Fort Reno concert, it appears that the recording presented here is incomplete. The introductory remarks and three opening songs are missing (Cashout, Full Disclosure, Break). The actual fourth song, Smallpox Champion, fortunately is included but mislabelled as “Intro” in the set list below. In this regard, it can be mentioned as well that the song titles for Nightshop and Life and Limb are mixed up. 

Note that alternate and complete recordings of this particular gig exist. I have been able to trace at least one audience recording quickly, via here. It is worth mentioning as well that, with the exception of Oh and Ex-Spectator, Fugazi played the complete October 2001 album The Argument on this occasion, including a rare live take on Strangelight.

The sound quality of the recording is admittedly quite good, although the vocals are rather low in the mix and get buried during the more up-tempo parts. Other than that, there is occasional static interference as well as some sort of rustling sound which might be caused by the kick drum.

Footage of Full Disclosure, Epic Problem as well as of the set closer Song number 1 can be found on YouTube.

Banter is scarce, and pretty much limited to a critique of the state of the nation and post 9/11 policy of the George W. Bush administration (”a war of terrorism”). As to the logistics of the Fort Reno happenings, Ian gives a shout-out to Gus Sound before playing the set closer.

The set list:

Show Flyer by Tom Bejgrowicz courtesy of Ryan Russell. Tremendous photography © by Ryan Russell

Fugazi, Sloss Furnace, Birmingham, AL USA 3/25/2002 (FLS #1017)

Having played Birmingham, Alabama for the first time as early as 1991, Fugazi would not return until 2002. The recording featured here showcases their 2002 show, which turned out to be their first and last performance at the Sloss Furnace, “said to be one of the country's most haunted sites.”

With just 19 songs total, this is one of the shorter shows of the US leg of the 2002 tour. However, the band is on point and delivers, with little or no mistakes dotted around. And as per usual by now, Jerry Busher sits in to provide some additional percussion on Ex-Spectator and Burning.

Note that the band comes out swinging and pretty much pummels the audience with the string of songs opening the set. The introductory remarks reveal a bit of an altercation between Ian and a couple of attendees early on and some of their taunts (”don’t bitch about people dancing”) might very well have brought on the musical downpour that was to come.

More issues with some knuckleheads ensue throughout the show, and Ian ends up going off on a lengthy tangent, addressing the issue.

A paced and toned-down, yet very enjoyable encore follows suit, possibly to ease some of the tension, with Strangelight into Long Division into The Kill, before the band concludes the set with a bang by way of Blueprint.

The audio quality of this recording is really good overall (note some small audio cuts in-between songs). However, there do appear to have been some mic issues, eclipsing Guy’s vocals for about half of Nightshop, as well as his first line on Last Chance for a Slow Dance.

The set list:

Photo © by me

Fugazi, Tipitina’s, New Orleans, LA USA 3/27/2002 (FLS #1018)

Previously handpicked by the band and released in 2005 as part of the second batch of the original live series on CD (volume 27) (see photo insert), this recording documents the second and last time Fugazi played at Tipitina’s (for some more background related to this venue, see my entry for the 1996 show) as well as in New Orleans for that matter.

Presented here are 23 live tracks. Most of these are taken off of the October 2001 album The Argument (7) and Furniture EP (2), while most of the other albums add a fairly equal yet limited number of songs to the set list: End Hits (3), Red Medicine (3), Steady Diet of Nothing (2), Repeater (3), Margin Walker EP (2) and 7 Songs debut EP (1). Not a single song is taken off of In on the Kill Taker or the 3 Songs seven-inch.

Overall a strong performance and personal favorites here include Nightshop (prolonged drum intro), Closed Captioned,  Life and Limb and most definitely Shut The Door (main set closer). Actually, the whole encore that ensues is pretty much flawless. The Argument is the absolute pinnacle and a composed yet soulful take on Long Division closes out the evening.

Note that this recording features the only live rendering of Shut the Door on the US leg of the 2002 tour (caveat: at the time of writing, the Holyoke, Massachusetts show is not yet available for download) as well as the first out of only four live renderings of both Latin Roots and Lockdown in 2002, and the first out of only five live performances of Target in that same year.

Worth mentioning as well are some interesting introductory remarks going into Lockdown (“once you build a prison you have to find people to put in it” rap) , Cashout (“human beings are physical entities“ rap) or The Argument (“what the fuck is going on“ and “fundamentalism that could also be called patriotism, fundamentalism that is also called capitalism” rap).

Wrapped up and delivered in impeccable sound quality (Guy’s vocals rarely sounded more suave), this right here is a top-notch recording of a stellar gig. Definitely a highlight of the 2002 tour in my book.

The set list:

Signed & numbered (150) concert poster by Jermaine Rogers

Fugazi, International Ballroom, Houston,  TX USA 3/28/2002 (FLS #1019)

Coming off another great show at Tipitina’s in New Orleans, Fugazi made the approximately 400 mile drive to play in Houston, Texas on the following night. A recurrent feat, since the band toured Houston as early as 1988, having played the city 7 times in 6 different venues prior to this 2002 concert. 

A pitch for this particular gig in a piece by Jeremy Hart, published in the HoustonPress on the date of the show, reads: “One of the hardest-working, most dedicated, most talented bands in the history of rock music is finally coming to town (thanks to the efforts of Hands Up Houston), and this is your chance to switch off MTV and catch a glimpse of what the real underground looks like. Take it.”

Fugazi played 19 songs total, most of these are taken off of The Argument (5), followed by End Hits (3), Steady Diet of Nothing (3), the 7 Songs debut EP (3), and just one song each off of the Furniture EP, Red Medicine, In on the Kill Taker, Repeater, or the Margin Walker EP.

The recording documents the first out of just two performances in 2002 of both Nice New Outfit and Bulldog Front (the other ones date from the October 31, 2002 concert in Leeds, England), as well as the first out of six plays of Stacks in the course of the 2002 tour, the second out of five performances of Place Position, and the first out of seven performances of Promises (the version presented here stands out as well, because sound man Nick Pellicciotto is playing around with some reverb on the percussion which adds a very dubby vibe to the set closer).

Other things worth mentioning include praise by Ian for Hands Up Houston for booking the show, Joe and Brendan playing the Lusty Scripps intro during the third interlude, and some fun comments by Ian to curb another round of crowdsurfing, “I know that some people here are just riddled with nostalgia, nostalgia over things that maybe they don’t even have memories of, but would the people here do us a big favor and not crowd surf please, it’s a request, the band respectfully requests, respectfully, respectfully requests that people don’t lift other people up on their hands and pass them around because it’s just very tedious and ends up causing so much distraction we can’t get our work done up here so... however, there’s a booth in the back of the room over here, where you give a guy two dollars and he’ll carry you above his head for a few minutes, so it’s just another service that Fugazi is providing for all the people.”

I will not dwell on this recording since Guy’s mic is shot so you can only marginally pick up on his vocals throughout the set with the exception of Do You Like Me (second to last song). Since Guy and Ian take turns singing, the recording of every other song consequently suffers significantly from this. Also, note that the first bit of Night Shop right after the encore is missing.

The set list:

Photo © by Kelly Maron

Fugazi, Richmond, VA USA 3/22/02 (FLS #1014)

Outdoor kick-off gig of the 2002 Fugazi tour itinerary (their final year of touring to date), which played out at the University of Richmond (or Jenkins) Greek Amphitheater. 

2002 would see the band performing 32 times, a relatively modest year at that, offering 18 dates in the US and another 14 dates throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Considering temperature hovered about freezing point on this particular night in time, it is astonishing Fugazi still managed to bust out a 1 hour and 18 minutes spectacle, presenting 19 songs live in total, although I am not sure the recording actually is complete since it cuts off rather shortly after Epic Problem without so much as a thanks or a goodbye.

From the get-go, the mood is easygoing, the banter humorous and inter alia related to the particular meteorological circumstances of “the coldest gig you have ever been to.” It’s fun to catch Ian chuckling while suggesting someone to go home because the latter utters his hands are cold, or hear him calling people “surly little fucking bastards” for showering complaints on the band, or to hear Guy muse he’s “trying to figure out how [he] can play this song and put [his] hands in [his] pockets.”

I did not discern anything out of the ordinary as to the selection and order of the songs, but find it quite a feat that the band still delivers despite the freezing conditions, performing each song to a T. It appears to hint at meticulous and rigorous rehearsals and tour preparations.

Note that the audio quality of the band recording is nigh on perfect in my opinion, but on the downside, the audience is not all that audible in the mix, except for in-between songs.

The set list showcases work off of most albums - The Argument (8), Furniture EP (2), End Hits (2), In on the Kill Taker (3), Steady Diet of Nothing (2), Repeater (2) - but not a single song off of Red Medicine or the Margin Walker / 7 Songs EPs and 3 Songs 7 inch was played that night.

If you listen closely, you can overhear Ian mentioning they did not play anything from Red Medicine during an interlude near the end of the recording, and even though Brendan seems to suggest playing Back to Base, it turns out they skipped the album entirely this time around.

The set list: