On the dot two months into their 1992 European tour, Fugazi would play its first and, surprisingly, only show in the city of Köln (or Cologne) in Germany and from this cassette recording it appears to have gone down in history as a hot, steamy and stifling ordeal.

“Leave some air for us too, thank you...”, Ian forebodes right off the bat, and a couple of songs in Guy muses that their predicament reminds him of “those fine Washington D.C. summers, lounging on the porch, eating melon, kicking back...” At one point, Guy even references their infamous 1990 gig in Gainesville, Florida which appears to have been one of their most grilling experiences ever.

Even though I have not really been able to gather more details in relation to the venue of choice, Rhenania, Ian does paint a bit of a better picture, introducing Long Division as “the sort of song you play hanging out with 700 people in a little German concrete bunker.”

Note that the sound quality of the recording takes a couple of songs to balance out (up until Styrofoam) but once it does, the listener will find that Guy rarely sounded more up close and personal, Rend It being a case in point.

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This tape showcases 18 live tracks in total, and draws from In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (3), Repeater (5), 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (3) and 7 Songs EP (2) respectively.

This includes rareish 1992 live renderings of the Steady Diet instrumental (here as a set opener to boot), as well as Bulldog Front (tagged Beautiful Child by The Blow Monkeys as per usual). Overall, I find that this performance comes along nicely and certainly grows in strength as the set continues.

Turnover is the first song that packs a good punch with some nice reverb on the snare, followed by four single guitar songs which will surely have provided Guy with ample opportunity to go off. Promises is a strong main set closer and you get another two great encores and some James Brown (Super Bad, and Talkin’ Loud And Sayin’ Nothing) over the PA, bookending the second encore.

And what I love about these encores is that Guy, not Ian, unusually prolongs the “crack, crack, crack” motif coming off Long Division and leading into Blueprint, and that the version of Sweet and Low that ensues is the first one out of dozens I have listened to up until now that includes some improvised and befitting lyrics by Guy, a memorable and wonderful treat.

Banter is rather scarce this time around, yet Margin Walker is dedicated to “the former tenants of the squat that got torn down”, further mentioning that they “went out to diner and went by and already the bulldozers had taken it down, money doesn’t sleep.”

So far the best concert of my life!

I was there but... too late. The Show was sold out and I had to stay outside. It was obvious that inside one of the greatest gigs that Cologne ever saw was going on. I´m glad to find the tapes 25 years later. Thank you for sharing!

This was the greatest concert ever!!!