Fugazi: C or D?

(the song, spock, is "margin walker.")

These days the term "emo" is like the Blob/Borg, threatening to absord everything in its path: "I really like emo, you know, like the Beatles and Moby."

No, sir, I don't like it one bit.

I think it's the only genre term I've ever seen change completely over the course of 4-5 years. I suppose that can be blamed, in part, on the people making it -- the term started with just-post-hardcore bands like Cap'N Jazz and would up stuck on bashy- poppy-punk bands like the Promise Ring (members of Cap'N Jazz). Regardless, any term variously applied to refer to Mineral, Karate, and the Get-Up Kids is beginning to lack meaning.

But so the question now is: with the Cap'N Jazz guys reforming as the Owls, will "emo" go back to being what it was, leaving the Get-Up Kids as just "crap?" Or will the Owls play funk, leading us to start referring to Parliament as "emo?"

Emo: supposed to have started with Rites of Spring is my understanding, who led to Fugazi. Now the term is meaningless, for reasons laid out expertly by Nitsuh.

North of America: not emo at all. Math rock, pure math rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guvwUUCvsKs&feature=share

^^Not showing up for me. What is it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guvwUUCvsKs

I love how Albini said for years that Fugazi was one of the few bands he respected so much he'd record them for free. And then he recorded them and they didn't use it.

Hmm. I can sorta see why they scrapped this, but I say that as someone very, very familiar with IOTKT as it was released

But none of these versions are better than the album versions

(see also: First Demo. How many times have you listened to that one since you bought it?)

Ian Mackaye of Fugazi/Minor Threat/ Dischord Records at the #JuggaloMarch pic.twitter.com/acrebJ4zCd

— #retiredpunk (@NickKarpPhotos) September 17, 2017

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/018/MI0002018821.jpg

Saw that! Watched Brendan Canty playing drums with Lizzi from GangGang Dance & guitarist Dana Vorhees at the Hirshhorn Museum Yoko Ono tribute. Canty & Joe Lally will be backing Daniel Johnston on his upcoming DC gig.

Koolest Wizards jumbotron screengrab of all time? pic.twitter.com/XV6Xt4R8D1

— Chris _ _ Richards (@Chris__Richards) November 10, 2017

Also, had no idea Lally and Canty were in a new band together.

(With Anthony Pirog)

& Rites of Spring really surprised me

Welp, that rules.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0nFZe_e-qc

new canty/lally/pirog track

Another track here https://themessthetics.bandcamp.com/track/serpent-tongue

Messthetics album release is March 23. Brendan Canty is also gonna be busy touring with MC5 50th anniversary group with Wayne Kramer and others

End hits fucking rules

^otm

all fugazi albums rule

Steady Diet of Nothing doesn't imo but that's about it

No, that one rules, too. A lot.

Steady Diet a lot better than End Hits - the former a much better showcase for the rhythm section, which is the band's strongest point.

(what I mean is the instrumental-side of Fugazi is better in the context of short, tightly wound interplay where the bass/drums are at the forefront - 'jammy' Fugazi isn't the best Fugazi IMO)

i'd call red medicine jammy, end hits i guess is playing-wise but towards much more frictive ends? anyway that era is my favorite of theirs, i think the rhythm section gets plenty of shine and the compositions especially on end hits hit a great balance of punch and spaciousness (both of which iirc steady diet lacks a bit i comparison to their other records variously, though it still rules)

the argument hits that balance the most smoothly and so might be their best (it's a good record to end on as it ties together strands of their previous modes to creates its own). i listen to it less though bc i love their jammy mode

There is a case to be made that The Argument=Red Medicine/End Hits. End Hits is the one I listen to the least, for no good reason.

In On The Kill Taker is the band's most aggro album. "Facet Squared" - an awesome rush, but why even bother with lyrics? Blaaaargh!

...and their best, IMO. Probably their loudest album but also more dynamically nuanced than the earlier stuff. Plus "Sweet and Low" (an example of why I'm iffy about the longer, later material - they perfected the "this is a Fugazi instrumental" here)

"Facet Squared" - an awesome rush, but why even bother with lyrics? Blaaaargh!

ah but Facet Squared includes one of my absolute favourite Ian lines - "We draw lines and we stand behind them / That's why flags are such ugly things"

I love the lyrics to Facet Squared. 'Cool's eternal but it's always dated' has the ring of a stolen revealed truth.

Yeah, but did you catch any of those lyrics without a lyrics sheet?

Steady Diet is the one that most consistently slays from beginning to end imo. Maybe others have higher highs but it's still my favorite to play in the car.

xp "Irony is the refuge of the educated" was a line ahead of its time imo

That and "I hate the sound of guitars" are the fugazi lyrics I think about most

Messthetics LP is awesome, gotta check out more music by this Anthony Pirog guy

Good podcast interview w/Ian about some of the music that mattered to him: http://wypr.org/post/essential-tremors-ian-mackaye

Fugazi rules. my first album of theirs was "Red Medicine" and i was shocked it was only $10. soon enough picked up "Repeater" and listened to those two a lot in my first year of college. kept up with them off an on and always enjoyed their stuff. i remember really liking the "Instrument" movie, which was the last thing i heard of them.

i got to see them play a show in early 2000s. it was of course a great show, and they stopped it midway through to throw out somebody in the audience who was being unduly aggressive. as a small person who always had to be cautious around mosh pits at shows, seeing this in action was very much appreciated!

No one wants to discuss this Mesthetics record, huh? Quit living in the past!

Mostly kidding here. But this record is great and should be getting more attention.

Fuck it, I'm starting a thread

fwiw they were incredible the three times I saw them in the 90's, I can see how the bigger cities might be different.

The other thing about Fugazi doing $5 shows as they got bigger and bigger... the barrier to entry was so low you got yahoos just there to be disruptive/violent, whatever. If they got kicked out of the venue by security, so what, they were only out $5, right? I saw Fugazi at least 5 times... and I don't think I ever saw a memorable, moving, amazing performance, due to the constant policing from stage by Ian...which was (arguably) due to the too-low ticket price.

― jaywbabcock, Friday, 12 July 2024 21:06 (yesterday) link

The low barrier to entrance was def a contributing factor to the meathead factor which at shows in the early 90s just post Nirvana was insane and I def saw shows that Ian stopped in order to protect audience members that could interrupt the the flow of the show and let the energy out of the room.

Once in Chicago in a huge theater dude jumped on stage like seconds into "Birthday Pony" and Ian completely stopped the show and said they weren't going to play the song now cuz of this asshole and it felt like he was going a little too far, honestly for a moment I thought maybe the whole band was going to leave the stage.

Thankfully I never saw a gig with more than one or two of these sorts of incidents and I can def see how having to stop the gig every other song or whatever would totally kill the vibe.

I saw them for the first time at a tiny place in Vermont and it was a day or two after the Rodney King video had come out and the Gulf War had started (or was about to). That was life-changing. I saw them a little later in Detroit (the day after the first Lolapalooza had come through) and the skinhead faction had come in, and it was a bit scary and pretty violent (Nation of Ulysses opened though, which was great).

That's an interesting idea that the $5 ticket encouraged the bullshit. But they would not have been Fugazi if they charged as much as the other bands. And part of what is so great about them is how they were always working out the contradictions of their situation (like eventually having women come on stage to sing "Suggestion").

Man I could use an ice cream right now though.

Not saying it encourage it, but there were def people who were at shows, esp in the early 90s, becuz it was only 5 bucks and didn't have any vested interest in the music or thought it was going to be a Minor Threat show or just wanted to "stir shit up"

https://cinemadfilm.com/project/we-are-fugazi/

Cinemad Film is now booking the We Are Fugazi film worldwide. You can contact them if you want a theatre or space near you to book it. A few upcoming screenings listed there

It just screened in London earlier tonight

The one time I saw Fugazi was in the summer of 1991, height of craziness, in a huge venue in West Vancouver with like 6-7 other bands. Ian stopped the show over & over becuz dudes would not stop stage diving. It was a wreck. There were definitely moments of transportation, but my overwhelming memory of the gig remains of this stern, hectoring man, hollering at people in the crowd to stop doing various things. I think at one point he said something like “Did you think you were here to see Minor Threat?”

Looks like that show was recorded if you wanna go down memory lane

https://dischord.com/fugazi_live_series/vancouver-bc-canada-81991

This thread finally got me off my ass to dl the Live Series recordings of the two shows I attended

I remember 1993 being a bit grim and stolid and 1996 being funky and fun - listening to the 1996 recording first and it is great!

the best goddamn live band I ever saw

otm

Looks like that show was recorded if you wanna go down memory lane

https://dischord.com/fugazi_live_series/vancouver-bc-canada-81991🕸

the best goddamn live band I ever saw

otm

Also cuz of this thread I finally dl'd my first Fugazi show, May 23 1993, first of three nights in a row at First Ave (pretty certain I went to all three), during which they played nearly their entire catalog to that point

https://dischord.com/fugazi_live_series/minneapolis-mn-usa-52393

It sounds great, and I remember it all like yesterday, the "Great Cop" intro sent chills down my spine just like it did 31 yrs ago. I missed them by about a week in 1991 when a tape with the eps, Repeater & Steady Diet was pressed into my hand at an end of summer party and I was told to make myself familiar with the music, so by the time they finally came back 18 months (a fucking lifetime) later I was a rabid fanatic

There are little dubby touches to the live sound here & there (echo on Ian's vocal in "Repeater" for inst) that blew my mind at the time

Man, this doc still hasn't come to Chicago has it?

Doesn't look like it. I will again ask one of the producers of the film who I know. He had told me that Cinemad film distributor who I mentioned earlier, was going to send emails out in January to a bunch of arthouse theatres

Tell him to hit up the Globe and the Plaza in Calgary, AB, as well as the Calgary Underground Film Festival!

I’d love to see this.

Ray, you didn't see it at the run at the AFI Silver in Md., near DC? That's where I saw it. It's a great doc.

Bring that shit to the Music Box! Or some other theater in the Chicago/Milwaukee megalopolis plz!

The guy handling it says : cool, who from chicago? i'm getting a few people who don't run theaters who want to rent a screen to show it, it's just too complicated and they will lose money so i ask them to get the theater booker to hit me up.

Cinemad contact email to send them theatre contact info is

Filmplante at gmail dot com

https://cinemadfilm.com/project/we-are-fugazi

There’s also a contact form email on the link

https://cinemadfilm.com/contact/

oh yeah

balmat.bandcamp.com/album/second

Hi friends!

we are thrilled to unveil Balmat’s best-kept secret: Second LP by Stephen Vitiello, Brendan Canty and Hahn Rowe

Oh cool. Rowe from Hugo Largo. Guest Geologist also plays hurdy gurdy in newish band JMB Co Mother'fers . And Brendan & Geologist recorded their parts in a studio 5 minutes form me.

Drums, bass, piano by Brendan Canty.
Violin, viola, 12-string acoustic and bowed electric guitar, bass by Hahn Rowe.
Guitar, Rhodes, sampler, loops, modular synthesizer by Stephen Vitiello.
Additional performance: Hurdy-gurdy on Mrphgtrs1 by Geologist.
Resonant dustpan on Rasun112 by Don Godwin.

Brendan and Geologist recorded by Don Godwin at Tonal Park.
Hahn recorded at his place.

yah I am actually a big Hahn Rowe/Hugo Largo fan so this is fab news

not out for another 2 months tho!

I like that the one song streaming on Bandcamp has a bit of motorik feel and isn’t just atmospheric ambient. Geologist’s JMB group has a motorik sound and when I last saw them live , Brendan Canty was in the audience watching them

A Day in DC with Fugazi Drummer Brendan Canty

Fugazi have announced that, starting this month, they’re releasing a selection of their archival concert recordings on Bandcamp and streaming services. The post-hardcore luminaries are releasing the first two installments, recordings of their first-ever show on September 3, 1987, and to-date final performance on November 4, 2002, this Friday (May 2). More live concert tapes will be uploaded each month on through the end of 2025.

Nice! I know these are (or were) available through their website, but it always felt daunting to dive in. I like the idea of a drip feed of (presumably) well curated and selected live shows to enjoy.

I have a pile of CDRs that iirc Joe burned and sent to me years back. I believe that was their first released batch.

So many quality shows among the archives. I have several. Best way to dive in is pick a local show -- even if it was one you never made it to. Then I would pick out shows that seemed interesting -- interesting city, venue... Something I heard about anecdotally. If money is tight, do the pay what you can. You can also do searches by songs, cities, countries, year... Sometimes it's great to just plug in some random values and see where it takes you.

Which shows are considered the best ones (if there's such a consensus)?

A friend of mine once gifted me a bunch when I just got an iPod and I lost everything when a bad connection corrupted its hard drive. (Had to reformat it to get it working again.) One of them was entirely in-between song chatter that was hilarious, especially when they deal with hecklers - at one point, they tell one he probably walked into the wrong venue because their kind of entertainment was clearly not for him. "A Perfect Storm is down that way!"

A Perfect Storm is a pretty good movie

not as good as live Fugazi, though

Listening to the final show now, and man, what a band ...

Huh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHa4yvpXF0A

Steve Soto (Agent Orange/Adolescents) on bass, RIP primo.

Put in a holding cell 4 years ago for borrowing Fugazi music

Manic Hispanic is a legendary cover band from Orange County that plays punk classics with a humorous Chicano twist.

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2021-09-08/manic-hispanic-is-back-in-brown-after-the-passing-of-two-legendary-bandmates

Fugazi Live Series FLS0225
Fugazi
Omaha, NE USA 6/10/1990
Show Date:
1990-06-10
Venue:
Sokol Hall
Door Price:
5
Attendance:
800
Played with:
Sideshow, Fish Hippos, C. Palmquist's Band
Recorded by
Joey Picuri
Mastered by
Warren Russell-Smith
Original Source:
Cassette
Sound Quality:
Poor Good Very Good Excellent

Trivia #1:

This was actually Fish Hippos last show before they moved from Omaha to California. They announced at this show that they would become "311".

Prompted by learning trivia #2:

Today marks 35 years since our first gig opening for Fugazi at Sokol Hall in Omaha! Thank you to my bandmates and the 311 community for 35 years of pursuing Unity and spreading love and positivity. Very grateful!

btw Stephen Vitiello has a new record out with Canty on drums (plus Hahn Rowe!)

https://balmat.bandcamp.com/album/second

UMS and I saw the We Are Fugazi doc a couple weeks back and even though I had seen a grip of it on youtube over the yrs it was still great, really well done, maybe a skooch too long

This was actually Fish Hippos last show before they moved from Omaha to California. They announced at this show that they would become "311".

Investigate 311

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQwJBtdMTqM

5-14-25 Sound Unseen at Trylon Cinema Minneapolis MN
06-14-25 Speed Art Museum Louisville KY
06-18-25 MeetFactory Prague Czech Republic
07-13-25 AFI Silver Washington DC

Screenings listed American style with month first. Still no Chicago one it appears despite notice to booking agent from me and others

xpost I saw that, there is no way Kirk knows the song, lol, he's just jammin'.

Listened to the recently posted Roseland set last night (which I didn't realize that in addition to bandcamp they would be posting them on all streaming services), I think I had a tape of this gig way back in the 90s, the guitars are so maxed out on the recording, sounds great

I saw the We Are Fugazi doc but having seen it I’d say don’t go out of your way to catch it — it’s less than professional (which normally I don’t care, but I don’t need to see a video recording of your iPhone while the audio of the conversation plays over) and talking heads style from “the people that were there” which is just about my least favorite doc format, and I mean the footage is great but not as revelatory in a 20 years of YouTube world as it once might have been. Not saying it’s a bad time or not to see it but if it hasn’t come to your town yet or whatever you’re not particularly missing out I’d say.

We are Fugazi doc update re Chicago--

Booking agent says -Music Box in Chicago wants it, they just dont have a date yet. should be August or later. Its the best place in town for it.

hooray