Set at the Trocadero, Fugazi performed a two-night stint in the city of Philadelphia on the tail end of their 1993 US tour before heading off to Japan, Australia and New Zealand later that fall (see also the next show).

I mentioned some specifics related to this particular venue earlier, while jotting down my notes for the successive 1995 shows which played out at the same place.

In the meantime, the Troc unfortunately appears to have closed its doors due to difficulties as an independently run venue among “bigger rooms run by bigger concert corporations.” It hosted its final shows at the end of May and beginning of June, 2019.

I spent the last couple of days immensely enjoying these two shows, for a couple of reasons. First off, both of these recordings are hands down some of the best sounding live recordings I have ever heard. Everything sounds clear, crisp, balanced, lush and up-front, a true pleasure to take in.

As to the performance, it can be noted that 1993 had its share of outstanding Fugazi concerts, with the band in full swing and touring in support of their In on the Kill Taker album released in June 1993, reaching new heights.

And while these 1993 Philly concerts in my opinion do not quite live up to the intensity and brilliance of the Roseland Ballroom gigs in New York City a couple of nights before (in my humble opinion the Philadelphia set lists are less varied, less off the wall, and less complementary, the atmosphere less volatile), they do rank way up there with the best of shows in my book.

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Both gigs at the Troc feature outstanding and wonderful performances with several highlights, and both gigs offer repeated altercations and confrontations because of shoes thrown, moshing, stage diving, crowdsurfing, or close encounters with some of the security staff.

While the first night unusually opens with the staple Reprovisional and follows up with top-shelf renditions of, for instance, Turnover (Ian gets both the soaring and chugging guitar parts just right), a rareish 1993 performance of Burning, or Promises, and while Instrument definitely is one of my favorite Fugazi songs, I do feel it leaves me hanging a bit here as set closer. The encore actually loses momentum because of an interruption during Exit Only. The band resumes the song, but in instrumental form (which is unique in itself), followed by an early instrumental take on Fell, Destroyed. As per Ian, “we’re totally out of rhythm now, so we’re just gonna bore the fuck out of you.”

Even though I think the 1993 Philadelphia shows together form a wonderful set and I can easily suggest for other enthusiasts to get both, I generally do favor the recorded document of the concert on the second night, which does feature a strong encore and forceful set closers, including a great version of Shut the Door and a nice, drawn-out rendering of Sweet and Low which ends on a serene note.

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Other interesting happenings from the second night include Guy interrupting Rend It a couple of lines in, getting called a fag, which leads him to retort that “your mother must be a man” before resuming the song. Note that he reiterates the issue ingeniously when ad-libbing through Two Beats Off (“loser, a lucky loser, I am a faggot, up against the wall”), which features a new tag as well (arguably You Won’t Find It Again by The Go-Betweens although I am not quite sure).

Or listen closely as Ian suddenly aborts Faced Squared early on, while the rest of the band continues to jam, leaving the listener to wonder what is going on. From the comments that ensue, it becomes clear that Ian escorted a crowd-surfer off the stage, “carrying him around”, and has him apologize to the people up front for kicking them in the head with his “Doc Martens or whatever the fuck you have on your feet.”

The recording of the first night offers 21 live tracks, the recording of the second night being slightly shorter with 19 live songs. Between these two shows, the band draws 9 different songs from the In on the Kill Taker album, 8 different songs from Repeater, 5 from Steady Diet of Nothing, 4 from the Margin Walker EP, 2 from the 7 Songs debut EP, and 1 from the upcoming Red Medicine album.