A new law in Washington D.C. requires people who stand right in front of the band and shoot pictures to wear a t-shirt listing their IQ. Fugazi fans come in all shapes and sizes -- including, as you can see in the bottom center of the picture, 12" oscillating floor fans. Your tax dollars at work.

An early song by Tsunami (a popular DC band in the nineties) made the proclamation that "punk" means "cuddle", not "asshole". Well, it's a good song, and I love the word "cuddle", even "cuddlecore", but "punk" always meant "asshole" to me. It was bands like Flipper, or fellas like Malcolm McLaren and Andy Kaufman, who personified "punk" for me. Punk was about making your fans writhe, or polluting great moments of opera with silly, inane raps (way to go Malcolm!). Punk was about pissing Judd Hirsch off. Punk was all about pissing off Judd Hirsch. He ain't no sex bomb, baby, and it's this kind of attitude which made Fugazi a band I had an easy time overlooking at record stores. They've garnered such a big reputation based on clean living, well-behaved shows, and a true, almost irritatingly sincere love for their community.

Rather than charge twenty bucks, then play with their backs before an audience, it's damn near impossible to see a show in DC where Fugazi charge admission to their local fans. Those sweet, cuddly bastards! For their Tuesday show at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, held on the National Mall, they played free again for us in the capital, but charged the organizers so that money would be raised for W.I.S.H. (a DC organization that helps grant the means toward self-sufficiency for inner city families in need). Of course, Smithsonian is funded by tax dollars, so you could argue that you're paying a little for this Fugazi performance, but we citizens of DC are exempt! I'm told there's a box on our 1040s where we can check whether or not we saw Fugazi rock the house.

Anyway, Ian MacKaye and his impeccably named bandmates (Brendan Canty, Guy Piccioto, Joe Lally and Unnamed Drummer #2: fantastic names for newborns, don't you think ?) really did rock the house. Perhaps they don't have the greatest gift for melodies -- at least this show suggested as much -- but here is a band that can truly inspire with their revved-up playing. For all the people who support their issues, and paranoia toward politicians,I doubt there's a better "weapon" against the enemy, as they inspired me almost immediately to want to be like Ian (or any of them)!

Fugazi's strength comes from the overpowering charisma of their arguable leader, Ian MacKaye, and from all the energy they put forth -- especially Brendan and Guy, who seemed so eager at times to smash his guitar like Pete Townshend -- as they perform their songs. (This is a trait they share with Superchunk, and is undoubtedly why each of these bands has such a loyal following.)

This particular set on the Mall will go down as probably the only one of its kind that the Folk Festival will ever have. (Please don't get the false impression that this festival -- despite Smithsonian's amazing music collection -- is hip or knowledgeable. Wisconsin was celebrated last year, and all we got to see was old people singing Wisconsin's state song. Besides this year, I always go just to see the cows and horses, not the music.) Since I never really followed Fugazi much, God knows what they played, but the variety as such seemed to cover their whole career. There was the straightforward, more traditionally melodic intensity of 13 Songs, the often slower stuff of recent releases and the heavy, slightly jazzy noise experiments which they've toyed with throughout their career. Of these, I recognized only a few for certain, including "Waiting Room", a punk anthem of monster proportions, and "Dear Justice Letter", which might have been revised to be about gay boyscout leaders. (I couldn't really tell what they were saying, but they made lots of boyish gestures.) There was also a song, presented with a long introduction, that was about keeping one's ideas (and sound) fresh. This song came after a sincere but over-elevated statement regarding how go-go music -- a persistent Washington phenomenom, great when seen live or in a Spike Lee film, but never translatable on record -- is probably the best music form ever. They also said how the city's culture is such a great secret and how it will always be neglected in a place where Presidents and senators reside. True enough, but Fugazi actually have gotten their well-deserved props. Outside of me, who else hadn't given them the time of day? I guess I'll always think the Teenbeat bands are the great secret, not groups like Fugazi or Dismemberment Plan, but that's beside the point. The song was about staying relevant and meaningful, and Fugazi continue to leap in different, always interesting directions. If their intent is to always "mutate the signature" sound of the band, as Guy once said in an interview, then they surely succeeded. Every song sounded fresh and new, with none of their songs blending into each other.

Among the people packed into the "DC Music Night" for Tuesday's show, there weren't just young kids, fellow musicians or folks like me. It wasn't just a gathering for people with tattoos, vintage clothing, or Blonde Redhead t-shirts. Rather, there were also a bunch of tourists, no doubt curious of the huge gathering, as well as deaf people and middle-aged mothers who probably babysat the musicians back in the day. It was a great mix of people, all of them respectful, and none of them wanting to leave. There were even sone Tibetans there, whose own exhibit will probably get more popular when the Dalai Lama visits. Why they were specifically there, I don't know. Was it the simple desire to see a good show, or something more serious, like determining whether punk music like Fugazi's could create a similar positive effect on their country ? Well, I bet it could. I learned from this Fugazi concert that it's their intense passion which will make their group, and not bands like Unrest, forever remembered in the official histories of DC music.

While I'd always rather listen to Unrest in my apartment, I doubt there is any band around which will move me more heavily at a live show than Fugazi. With no offense to my church, this performance by Fugazi seemed to do a better job in redirecting my path away from apathy and disgust, and toward the cuddle waiting in the bright lights of punk. I will see Fugazi again on August 7 at Fort Reno, which is near American University. Wherever you are in this world, just ask your nearby gasoline attendant for directions, and I'll see you there.