Fugazi are a post-hardcore band from the United States, with a particular political and social conscience — and an influence that reverberated in the future of punk and alternative music. Always with a “do it yourself” ethic, they never wanted to leave the independent music industry for the big labels. This documentary is a testament to that ethos, comprising rare archive footage captured by fans at the band’s numerous gigs.
In the history of music, there is a monument of ethics called Fugazi, a band founded in 1986 and co-led by the charismatic Ian MacKaye, who had previously made his mark with the Dischord label and the no less influential Minor Threat. MacKaye and Fugazi became the beacon of a generation for their DIY aesthetic and attitude. On top of this, there was their concern for the community and the most marginalised people and an anti-capitalist and anti-consumerist code of ethics, which didn’t see profit as the main incentive and through which they defended, for example, the non-existence of official merchandising and the control of concert ticket prices to a maximum of 5 dollars, even in more recent times.
But this film is above all about another of the things that made Fugazi great and mythical. Their concerts. Every concert was an earthquake. A raw and brutal energy on stage, which spread in waves to the audience and often forced them to stop the concerts when they detected outbreaks of violent attitudes among the audience. To see a Fugazi concert is to feel like you’re close to something that is extinct. A time that no longer exists. Luckily for us, there are several concerts in this film, all filmed by fans and concert-goers. Unlike today, when it is often forbidden for the public to capture images and record the sound, Fugazi allowed and encouraged everyone to record their concerts with images and sound. In the history of music there is the before and after of seeing Fugazi live. For those who weren’t able to, we’re left with the images of the concerts. (Carlos Ramos)
