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Photo © by Michael Koenig

4 Additional Photos & flyers

If you have photos from this show write us at fugazilive[at]dischord.com .

Comments

By: gunter habets over 2 years ago

This recording documents the last out of eight times Fugazi performed in Athens, Georgia, which played out at the 40 Watt Club as it did every single time since their first show in Athens on June 3, 1988.

As per Ian, “until recently, I think there were two cities in the country that we had played like numerous shows but always at the same place, one was in Austin, Texas at the Liberty Lunch, and the other one is right here at the 40 Watt, and we’ve gotten word that the Liberty Lunch has been shut down or it’s all over […] but the 40 Watt is still here so, here’s one, I guess we just wanna say thanks to the 40 Watt for having us some many times over the years.”

Clocking in at 1 hour and 55 minutes, this recording surely preserves one of the longest, perhaps even the longest performance in the live history of the band.

During the introductory remarks, Ian addresses someone in the crowd, asking if he is “the guy that played the 3 hours of Fugazi today”, adding: “Well, thanks. I am surprised you’re here actually, I’d think you’d be fucking sick of us by now…” while towards the end of the show, Ian reiterates that “it just occurred to me, if you played Fugazi songs for 3 hours today, you’re working on your fifth fucking hour of us” and grants him a request by way of “reward” which results in Great Cop. It appears that the “DJ” in question is John Farrar, current co-host of the Live On 4 Legs podcast which pays tribute to the Pearl Jam live repertoire.

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By: gunter habets over 2 years ago

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While the recording sounds excellent overall, as noted (see the submission by Antti V below), I find that a good part of the set is a bit of a hodgepodge and it is not until Break that it really starts grabbing my attention. But those last nine songs are pretty much perfect and elevate the overall performance.

It certainly offers really good live versions of a number of songs, yet absolute highlights in my book include KYEO, a song “particularly appropriate given the fact that people in Seattle try to make us think about a somewhat dubious World Trade Organization, so-called civilized American police force shot them with rubber bullets, and a so-called truthful American media portrayed it as a bunch of fucking thugs breaking windows but the thugs are on the other side of the badge, so just when you though it was safe… the troops are quiet tonight, but it’s not alright cause they are planning something…”, as well as an early live rendering of Ex-Spectator and a standout performance of Sweet and Low which features various nice additional yet subtle touches and embellishments on guitars and drums (accentuated by sound-man Nick Pellicciotto) and unusually ends with some drawn-out guitar feedback.

While the set list draws from all available work at the time (or even unreleased at the time), note that it includes just one song off of Margin Walker EP and 7 Songs debut EP each, as well as just two songs off of Repeater.

By: Antti V almost 3 years ago

I gotta say, this is definitely one of the best sounding FLS offerings I've had the pleasure to listen to so far. There's some mix settling going on during Number 5, but after that it's a breeze. So I would easily rate this as "excellent". The mix breathes, the stereo field is fully utilized and every instrument and vocal is clear. The drum sound is as good as it gets. The added effects are not over-used, but instead add some very nice color and atmosphere.

Be prepared that there is some minimal digital crackling here and there. It didn't really bother me though, as it's only a few times.

The band start off with some amusingly casual chatting. A pretty classic show structure follows at first in the form of flowing rockers with Place Position being a personal highlight. As a sidenote, I'm pretty sure you can hear Brendan yelling in delight behind the kit on a lot of songs which is a lot of fun.

Stacks is a perfect addition to the set and after that it's all a highlight for me, as the band practically flies through awesome performances one after another. A psychedelic Floating Boy merging seamlessly into a superbly dynamic Argument is just pure Fugazi bliss for me. Another really cool seamless merge is from Oh to Closed Captioned. More of these merges follow but I don't want to spoil them all.

The band play a really long set, representing basically their whole repertoire. A lot of tight rockers are balanced with some sweet moments. The final encore shows this especially well with punk fury, rocking wit and tenderness all thrown into play. Ex-Spectator is starting to be very confident albeit still instrumental here. Sweet And Low is definitely one of the coolest versions I've ever heard.

I gotta give a special mention to how amazingly Fugazi utilize dynamics in their performance at this point. A recording of this caliber really shows that off.

A highly recommended mammoth of a show!

By: DC Baker over 8 years ago

Just purchased the download and starting to listen. Brings back memories of that night and the sound quality is fantastic. Thanks!

By: John Farrar over 10 years ago

Maybe the best show I ever saw, not just because I got to request "Great Cop"

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Fugazi Live Series FLS0959 Fugazi Athens, GA USA 12/18/1999

If you had a different price in mind for this download Click Here.
Show Date:
 1999-12-18
Venue:
 40 Watt
Door Price:
 6
Attendance:
 900
Played with:
 Allscars, Faraquet
Recorded by
 Nick Pellicciotto
Mastered by
 Warren Russell-Smith
Original Source:
 DAT
Sound Quality:
 Poor Good Very Good Excellent
Play Sample Track
1. Intro
2. Number 5
3. Cassavetes
4. And The Same
5. Place Position
6. Styrofoam
7. Public Witness Program
8. Interlude 1
9. Stacks
10. Recap Modotti
11. FD
12. Furniture
13. Floating Boy
14. Argument
15. Give Me The Cure
16. Song #1
17. Arpeggiator
18. Oh
19. Closed Captioned
20. Runaway Return
21. Interlude 2
22. Five Corporations
23. Interlude 3
24. Turnover
25. Bed For The Scraping
26. Caustic Acrostic
27. Break
28. Forensic Scene
29. Pink Frosty
30. Target
31. Interlude 4
32. KYEO
33. Encore
34. Ex-Spectator Instrumental
35. Interlude 6
36. Great Cop
37. Do You Like Me
38. Sweet and Low

Please Note: Available recordings have been mastered to correct for volume shifts, drop outs, etc. but some sonic anomalies will still exist, especially early in the set when the mix is being settled. The band has rated each show for sound quality and set the general price of a download at $5 per show. If you have a different price in mind feel free to utilize the alternative pricing option.