My tiny Fugazi story, I happened to be recording at Southern Studios the day after they played at the Rex in London in '99, on a table downstairs was a load of fresh fruit and drinks and stuff, obviously the remains of last night's rider, with a post-it note saying 'From Fugazi', thoughtful dudes.
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 2 April 2020 09:40 (four years ago) link
as the years go by, seeing one of those last tour shows in London still stands out as one of my top 5 shows of all time. the anticipation was crazy as it had been a few years since they'd hit the UK at that point i think, travelled up from southampton for it (which always felt like a big event) - and they played something from pretty much every record (as if they knew this was the last run).... and fuck that was 2002. I was 18. half my life ago! show was:
Ex-SpectatorDo You Like MeFacet SquaredPublic Witness ProgramLong DivisionOhCashoutTargetFurnitureLife and LimbPromisesBurningSong #1Give Me the CureBad MouthRecap ModottiThe KillTurnoverBack to BaseNumber 5NightshopEpic ProblemLatin RootsBreakPlace PositionArgumentFull Disclosure
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Thursday, 2 April 2020 10:40 (four years ago) link
and yeah, by the time i saw this show i had probably watched Instrument 20 times easily. its probably the perfect gig of actual reality matching my huge teenage expectations.
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Thursday, 2 April 2020 10:41 (four years ago) link
Missed the London shows on that final tour but reviewed the Brighton show, it was unforgettable. My snapper Nick got an amazing photo of Guy doing the splits.
― Pinche Cumbion Bien Loco (stevie), Thursday, 2 April 2020 12:00 (four years ago) link
Okay not exactly the splits, but... The members of excellent support band Cat On Form just out of focus sitting onstage in the background. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickstevens/4010684125
― Pinche Cumbion Bien Loco (stevie), Thursday, 2 April 2020 12:02 (four years ago) link
Great pic!
― JRN, Thursday, 2 April 2020 15:25 (four years ago) link
If my family wasn't all working from home within a few feet of the stereo I would be blasting Fugazi right now.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 2 April 2020 16:04 (four years ago) link
I went to a screening of Over the Edge in October last year and Guy and Kathi sat in the same row as me. Guy had a real stay-at-home-dad vibe to him. Comfortable cardigan, sensible shoes. Looked like life was treating him well. I didn't bother them.
― Position Position, Thursday, 2 April 2020 16:54 (four years ago) link
Some time around I want to say 1999 my friends and I threw a party in D.C., and Guy showed up. From memory he was wearing sunglasses and faux leather pants, though that may have been Ian Svenonius. Or maybe it was both of them dressed like that? Anyway, I remember Guy walking around for a few minutes and then just leaving, which was the right decision.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 2 April 2020 17:35 (four years ago) link
The Jazz Band Rejects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3wGLfEKxNY
― Kibbutzki (Jaap Schip), Wednesday, 29 April 2020 09:45 (four years ago) link
the Chicago one also rules
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Wednesday, 29 April 2020 11:58 (four years ago) link
Was gonna say I already posted that upthread (March 8), but this is a different performance.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 29 April 2020 14:35 (four years ago) link
Coriky (Ian, Amy, Joe) album is out today. Also saw on FB that Joe Lally is giving private online bass lessons
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 13 June 2020 01:29 (three years ago) link
possibly the last, closest thing we will ever get to new fugazi
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Saturday, 13 June 2020 02:36 (three years ago) link
unless of course they announce "btw, all those private sessions we did that were just for us? we actually filmed and recorded allllll of 'em."
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Saturday, 13 June 2020 02:45 (three years ago) link
took a little while to click w me but the coriky album is really good! huge step up from the evens stuff, joe lally is essential here imo
― adam, Thursday, 9 July 2020 13:12 (three years ago) link
Agree. It's similar to the Evens but much stronger.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Thursday, 9 July 2020 16:14 (three years ago) link
for me one of those rare cases where the better singer is the less interesting to listen to. good album tho
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 9 July 2020 16:21 (three years ago) link
My heart leaps every time I see this bumped. You know why ;)
― Davek (davek_00), Thursday, 9 July 2020 18:03 (three years ago) link
Both prospects (reunion/RIP) make my heart skip.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 9 July 2020 18:08 (three years ago) link
The next project is going to be Ugifaz, and will feature either Ian, Joe and Brendan or Guy, Joe and Brendan on each song but never all four, because they are not reuniting
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 9 July 2020 20:02 (three years ago) link
Finally watched Instrument (it's on Amazon Prime - in the UK, at least). Fantastic film and what a fucking band. They're obviously a unit (Lally as the still centre) but fair to say it's Picciotto's film? I only saw them in (relatively) large venues so his dervish thing wasn't as pronounced. I didn't see any wine, fwiw.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Thursday, 9 July 2020 21:21 (three years ago) link
FWIW, I don't think Guy ever identified himself as straight edge. Well, I mean, to some extent none of them ever identified as that, per se. But I think Ian is the only one who didn't eat meat, didn't drink, etc., at least at the start, but none of them are fundamentalists, afaict. I found this good 1995 interview in some Swedish zine:
Petter: Ok, over to another subject. I’ve thought about leaving the straight edge phenomenon out of the interview because I think you’re probably fed up with talking about it. Last time I read someting about it I think you said something about you getting shit for drinking tea, or something like that. You feel ok to talk about this?Ian: Well, yeah…. I don’t know what you’ve read… I think I might have said that I think there are parts, elements, of the straight edge movement that are too fundamental. And when someone gives me shit about drinking tea, I think, “Mind your fucking business!” It’s my point of view. When I wrote this song, Straight Edge, I was not trying to create a set of rules. I was trying to talk about my own decisions and my own life and the right to live my life however I want to. Cause I’m the one that’s in this body. So, it’s only about my right to live however I damn well please. People interpreted it as, like, a code of behaviour. If you adhere to that you belong to like this mass of like, some kind of, whatever… Union of young men! For the most part. Ahm, I’m just not interested in that. Because, in the beginning, I was straight in a world full of kids who smoked pot, did drugs or whatever. So I felt very alone and I wanted to talk about, like, my validity as a human being, even if I didn’t do what everybody else said. Ten years later I see… Or fifteen years later now… It’s not such of a problem now, maybe in the late eighties it was more of a problem… I see kids who are trying to inflict their opinions on other people, and their opinions are… You shouldn’t be doing this, you shouldn’t be doing this, you shouldn’t be doing this… It’s sort of the opposite of what I intended. On the other hand, I’ve met plenty of people who were straight that were totally cool. And the other hand, I should say is that, I know that when you are a teenager, that when you’re growing up, it’s hard man. I mean, you’re faced with a lot of decisions… You have to make a lot of decisions about a lot of things and I understand why people want to belong to something! And, if that’s like… If that’s my fault, if I created something that kids want to belong to, I’m glad that it was something that doesn't… You know, fucked them up.Petter: What about these “hardline” assholes then, who object women’s rights, talking about killing women who’ve had an abortion and hate on people with addiction problems…Ian: I know these kids you’re talking about but you’re talking about a minority and even to discuss them as any kind of… To discuss them in any, like, sort of connection with what you call the straight edge movement, I think is a disservice to straight edge kids. It’s a french… Man, you’re talking about maybe 25 people! Maybe a hundred. But out of like five billion, that’s not a lot of people. And I think that, you know… On radio in America, I hear about these white power skinheads… On the national radio, they talk about white power skinheads! And it’s not that many white power skinheads. There is some, and they’re extreme, and they’re fucked up and they’re dangerous, but when you talk about them on the radio, suddenly there’s a thousand, or there’s a million, because people hear about it and then they start saying like, “They’re there, they’re there!”, and then kids go like, that’s what I wanna be… I mean, I think you have to be very careful when you talk about stuff like this. Martin: Even if you might disagree with some things in the straight edge movement, do you still think it could turn out to be something positive?Ian: No. And that’s because I don’t recognize it as a movement. I’m interested in human beings. I’ve met people who were part of that who I think are good people. I’ve also met people who I don’t think are good people. But my point is, is that I don’t condemn everybody who says they’re straight edge, I try to see them as individuals, that’s all. I don’t want to say that, “all straight edge is all this or all that”. It’s a tough thing for me to talk about, because you know…Petter: I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of it.Ian: I’ve heard a lot and I also think that a lot of ways… Ahm… I’m in no position to comment about it because I don’t hang out with kids who are part of that. Because for me, like I said, we’re on a whole different… My community is in a different place. And I think it always has been.
Ian: Well, yeah…. I don’t know what you’ve read… I think I might have said that I think there are parts, elements, of the straight edge movement that are too fundamental. And when someone gives me shit about drinking tea, I think, “Mind your fucking business!” It’s my point of view. When I wrote this song, Straight Edge, I was not trying to create a set of rules. I was trying to talk about my own decisions and my own life and the right to live my life however I want to. Cause I’m the one that’s in this body. So, it’s only about my right to live however I damn well please. People interpreted it as, like, a code of behaviour. If you adhere to that you belong to like this mass of like, some kind of, whatever… Union of young men! For the most part. Ahm, I’m just not interested in that. Because, in the beginning, I was straight in a world full of kids who smoked pot, did drugs or whatever. So I felt very alone and I wanted to talk about, like, my validity as a human being, even if I didn’t do what everybody else said. Ten years later I see… Or fifteen years later now… It’s not such of a problem now, maybe in the late eighties it was more of a problem… I see kids who are trying to inflict their opinions on other people, and their opinions are… You shouldn’t be doing this, you shouldn’t be doing this, you shouldn’t be doing this… It’s sort of the opposite of what I intended. On the other hand, I’ve met plenty of people who were straight that were totally cool. And the other hand, I should say is that, I know that when you are a teenager, that when you’re growing up, it’s hard man. I mean, you’re faced with a lot of decisions… You have to make a lot of decisions about a lot of things and I understand why people want to belong to something! And, if that’s like… If that’s my fault, if I created something that kids want to belong to, I’m glad that it was something that doesn't… You know, fucked them up.
Petter: What about these “hardline” assholes then, who object women’s rights, talking about killing women who’ve had an abortion and hate on people with addiction problems…
Ian: I know these kids you’re talking about but you’re talking about a minority and even to discuss them as any kind of… To discuss them in any, like, sort of connection with what you call the straight edge movement, I think is a disservice to straight edge kids. It’s a french… Man, you’re talking about maybe 25 people! Maybe a hundred. But out of like five billion, that’s not a lot of people. And I think that, you know… On radio in America, I hear about these white power skinheads… On the national radio, they talk about white power skinheads! And it’s not that many white power skinheads. There is some, and they’re extreme, and they’re fucked up and they’re dangerous, but when you talk about them on the radio, suddenly there’s a thousand, or there’s a million, because people hear about it and then they start saying like, “They’re there, they’re there!”, and then kids go like, that’s what I wanna be… I mean, I think you have to be very careful when you talk about stuff like this.
Martin: Even if you might disagree with some things in the straight edge movement, do you still think it could turn out to be something positive?
Ian: No. And that’s because I don’t recognize it as a movement. I’m interested in human beings. I’ve met people who were part of that who I think are good people. I’ve also met people who I don’t think are good people. But my point is, is that I don’t condemn everybody who says they’re straight edge, I try to see them as individuals, that’s all. I don’t want to say that, “all straight edge is all this or all that”. It’s a tough thing for me to talk about, because you know…Petter: I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of it.
Ian: I’ve heard a lot and I also think that a lot of ways… Ahm… I’m in no position to comment about it because I don’t hang out with kids who are part of that. Because for me, like I said, we’re on a whole different… My community is in a different place. And I think it always has been.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 9 July 2020 21:31 (three years ago) link
Meanwhile:
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/tons-of-80s-dc-hardcore-live-videos-unearthed-fugazi-dag-nasty-govt-issue-descendents-more/
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 10 July 2020 04:09 (three years ago) link
Plus
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/watch-a-just-released-full-fugazi-concert-video-from-1999/
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 10 July 2020 04:13 (three years ago) link
Nice high quality gig herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zjwPGh4Zw0
― Pinche Cumbion Bien Loco (stevie), Friday, 10 July 2020 09:41 (three years ago) link
I don’t condemn everybody who says they’re straight edge, I try to see them as individuals, that’s all. I don’t want to say that, “all straight edge is all this or all that”
hmmm
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 10 July 2020 09:46 (three years ago) link
I thought that comment about the Touch&Go scene being the guys who “smoke cigars and eat ribs” (I assume this was a contemporaneous interview from the Azerrad book) was a kind of unnecessarily shitty thing to say and an example of the kind of cliched hardcore gatekeeping purity the lazier critics dismiss him/Dischord for
― Master of Treacle, Friday, 10 July 2020 14:33 (three years ago) link
Or seeing that Ian is friends with Albini & Corey Rusk you could see it as a cutting joke at the expense of people you know. I mean Pegboy has pretty thick skin I think.
"Smoke cigars and eat ribs" is pretty mild as far as vicious scene attacks go.
― chr1sb3singer, Friday, 10 July 2020 14:44 (three years ago) link
in 2020 honestly who cares anymore?
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 10 July 2020 15:35 (three years ago) link
Cows?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 10 July 2020 16:01 (three years ago) link
Cows were definitely not a straight edge band
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 10 July 2020 16:11 (three years ago) link
Ha.
Coriky album is growing on me, although at times I wish I heard newer sounds from them other than just the Evens derived indie-folk. I love Joe Lally’s dub reggae and Ruts derived bass. On solo efforts he tried some more avant-jazzy stuff . Ha, not sure what I think he should do- Most more contemporary Jamaican sounds rely on programmed rhythms I guess. Other times I wish Ian’s vocal range would spread wider. I read someone suggest that this is the first time they have heard Ian’s guitar playing as reflecting some of the 60s era guitarists Ian says he listens to like Hendrix. I am not familiar with Amy Farina’s music interests but I do like her vocals . Qualms aside, the album is growing on me.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 10 July 2020 16:31 (three years ago) link
Ian says he listens to like Hendrix.
No joke, complete coincidence, yesterday was a very rare day I put on some Hendrix. I had it streaming on shuffle, and it played some song called "Jungle" from some leftovers album I don't own."Both Sides of the Sky?" Anyway, the second half of the song caught my ears, because it sounded a lot like the stuff Fugazi would explore, specifically "Suggestion." And then the next song I heard at random was a version of "Machine Gun" from "Live at Fillmore," and it sounded a bit like what Fugazi (at its jammiest, c. "End Hits") was up to as well! I can't find a link to "Jungle," but here is that version of "Machine Gun:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw2L_vGUMtE
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 10 July 2020 17:59 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEOqSYWYFTY
!!
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 24 July 2020 15:24 (three years ago) link
I definitely didn't expect the Coriky album to suck or anything but I' really surprised by how much I like it given that I have never really connected with the Evens and always tended to prefer Guy's songs to Ian's. Really strong album though. Lally is a treasure
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 5 September 2020 19:38 (three years ago) link
also I was just made aware there is a second Messthetics LP which I guess flew under the radar. I liked the first one quite a bit
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 5 September 2020 19:39 (three years ago) link
Messthetics are ok to me. Guitarist Anthony Pirog gets too Art rock prog rock in his playing in the group for me. He is capable of playing anything- I have seen him do 50s rnb and rockabilly as well as avant-garde jazz. Ha, I liked him best doing the ‘50s stuff more than what he does in Messthetics. Brendan and Joe have that Fugazi rhythm section sound down of course.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 10 September 2020 13:46 (three years ago) link
the messthetics records are pretty corny, it's like listening to hot rats, but sometimes the mood is right and it really hits
― adam, Thursday, 10 September 2020 13:50 (three years ago) link
guys who can "play anything" are rarely guys I really enjoy listening to somehow
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 10 September 2020 14:04 (three years ago) link
the messthetics records are pretty corny, it's like listening to hot rats,
does not compute
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 10 September 2020 17:35 (three years ago) link
I saw Messthetics play once, and I think I would have preferred just listening to Brendan and Joe, tbh.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 10 September 2020 17:44 (three years ago) link
https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/singers/ian-mackaye-net-worth-2/
― na (NA), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 20:57 (three years ago) link
well he saved so much not buying beer or drugs, why not?
― underminer of twenty years of excellent contribution to this borad (dan m), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 21:01 (three years ago) link
He still owns Dischord, right? So ... yeah, he's probably worth that, sure.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 6 January 2021 21:17 (three years ago) link
lol of course I looked at Rollins as well and he is $6 mil
― howls of non-specificity (sleeve), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 21:18 (three years ago) link
those websites are notoriously unreliable. i just thought it was funny he was on there at all.
― na (NA), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 21:20 (three years ago) link
Rollins listens to records on a pair of speakers worth like $250k, $6mn seems like it might actually be low.
― Joe Biden Stan Account (milo z), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 21:21 (three years ago) link
Rollins also acts.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 6 January 2021 21:23 (three years ago) link
I'm broadly pro-Rollins, but "acts" very much in scare quotes!
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 21:25 (three years ago) link