[kj] Top 50 songs of 2000-2010

[B. Oliver Sheppard]

I have had the good fortune to see Fugazi live twice. Both times were 
EXTREMELY intense, in different senses.

The first time was right after the big Nirvana "Nevermind" phenomenon 
that split the up-til-then obscure punk underground wide open. Fugazi 
were still charging $5 door ticket prices, refusing to put UPC codes on 
their albums (as Dischord Records still refuses to o - no UPC codes, 
ever), did not sell any merchandise beyond cassettes, vinyl, and CD (and 
still don't, btw; if you see a Fugazi shirt, bumper sticker, etc., it is 
unauthorized - though the band seems not to care and has never gone 
after bootleggers).

So the crowd that showed up at the first Fugazi show I saw, which right 
after the release of the amazing 1993  _In on the Killtaker_, was this 
crazy mix of jocks who were now into punk overnight magically thanks to 
Nirvana and, uhm, Lemonheads, and weird "alternative rock" shit like 
that -- and also older school folks into Minor Threat fans who knew 
where the band was coming from, etc. It was volatile. Tense.

The audience was a swarming mass of chaos from the get-go. Ian MacKaye 
stopped the show several times because of the violence of the crowd. 
Someone threw a shoe at him afterwards, during a song, and MacKaye 
stopped the show, demanded to know who threw the shoe, could not play 
until the person was pointed out -- and audience members pointed the 
culprit out, and Ian jumped into the audience, produced a $5 dollar bill 
from his pocket (the door price) and walked the man out of the venue. 
Then they went back on stage and blasted through amazing songs like 
"Merchandise" and "Great Cop, etc." It was intense. This was a venue 
called The Bomb Factory in dallas. Another stipulation of Fugazi was all 
shows had to be al-ages - no exceptions.

So, maybe I am biased from the times I saw Fugazi live. each time there 
was a weird air of unpredictability, since Fugazi refused to raise door 
prices above $6 per person until their end in 2001 (excuse me, 
"indefinite hiatus"). The low door price meant any hooligan could come 
in who didn't know shit about the band, think it was a KORN show, and 
try to act like a douchebag, and Fugazi were always very up front about 
stopping songs, confronting people, escorting folks out, etc., etc. Not 
that that was ALWAYS what they did. But, yes, they are one of the bands 
who were definitely better live than on record. And on record they were 
damn cool, too.

Except for "End Hits" from 1998. :)

The second time I saw Fugazi live was with Euro anarcho post-punk band 
The Ex at San Fran's Maritime Hall. That is whole other story.

-0liver


On 4/19/10 1:51 PM, jpwhkj at aol.com wrote:

> Several people I know - all big Joke fans - reckon Fugazi are the only 

> more intense live band than KJ.

> Never seen 'em myself - what do people think?

> Jamie

>


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