The title of this film, as announced by Fugazi’s lead singer, Ian MacKaye, ushers in a 96-minute collage of fan-recorded live footage, an appropriately democratic showcase for the campaigning American punks.
Fugazi’s enduring popularity in Ireland, evidenced by this month’s lightning-quick sales of tickets for their splinter group Messesthetics and for this new crowdsourced concert doc, was born from a series of legendary shows that started in 1988.
The band, comprising MacKaye, Guy Picciotto, Joe Lally and Brendan Canty, has previously been chronicled on screen in Jem Cohen’s documentary Instrument, from 1999, and aurally in recordings of 750 of their gigs, including several celebrated Irish dates, available through Dischord Records.
The passion for archiving Fugazi concerts is understandable. The hard-edged sound, reggae backbeat and lyrical calls to arms set them apart from their grungier 1990s contemporaries. A spoken-word snippet of Suggestion, Fugazi’s iconic anti-rape anthem, reminds you of MacKaye’s writing pedigree.
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As performers the band are simultaneously electrifying and hugely accessible. Even plucked from the archives, these are the best gigs you’ll see in 2025. This celebration of “the fans and their cameras” is curated – rather than directed – by Joe Gross, Joseph Pattisall and Jeff Krulik. That DIY ethos reflects the band’s fierce independence.
Fugazi have been on hiatus since finishing a tour of Ireland and Britain in 2002. They continue to play in various formations and side projects – and have declined several lucrative offers to headline such corporate festivals as Coachella.
In common with Fugazi’s tours, which frequently funded social and charitable causes, ticket profits from Dublin screenings of the new documentary will be donated to Novas, the Irish homelessness charity.
