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Fugazi

Founded in the wake of the break-up of Embrace, Fugazi was formed by guitarist/vocalist Ian MacKaye, drummer Brendan Canty, and bassist Joe Lally. Guy Picciotto, Canty’s former bandmate in Rites of Spring, joined the band shortly thereafter and the group’s lineup was in place. Fugazi quickly became a cornerstone of the scene while exploring new musical territory drawing from a deep well of influences. Their music could be intimate or confrontational and concerts were a communal experience. Active for more than fifteen years before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2003, Fugazi performed locally and internationally extensively, all the while adhering to and spreading the D.C. DIY ethos through comprehensive transparency and accessibility.

Drawn from the Chris Baronner digital collection on D.C. punk, the Sharon Cheslow Punk Flyers, the John Davis collection on punk, the D.C. punk collection, the D.C. punk and indie fanzine collection, and the Jason Farrell collection at Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland.

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Fliers

Fugazi flyer with hand-drawn titles and details and a drawing of three figures in front of a bowl of pasta.

Fugazi, Marginal Man, Ignition, and Fire Party - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., September 3, 1987

Swiz and Fugazi flyer of an illustration of a muscular masked man jumping in front of a cityscape and a full moon.

Swiz and Fugazi - St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Washington D.C., September 26, 1987

Fugazi and King Face flyer of a photo of two people holding hands in front of a Mcdonalds.

Fugazi and King Face - d.c. Space, Washington, D.C., October 16, 1987

King Face flyer with a drawing of a woman tuning the TV with the title, 'Time for Truth'.

King Face, False Prophets, Fugazi, Fidelity Jones - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., March 3, 1988

Fugazi flyer with black-and-white stylized bubble letters of the title.

Fugazi and Laughing Hyenas - d.c. Space, Washington, D.C., March 30, 1988

The Cynics flyer with a cartoon of a man trying to pick up an annoyed woman surrounded by handwritten event details.

The Cynics, Fugazi, MFD and the Now - Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland, April 9, 1988

Fugazi flyer on red paper and black marker handwritten titles and event details.

Fugazi, the Smithtones and Twisted Teenage Plot - Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C., May 1, 1988

Fugazi lyric sheet printed on green paper.

Fugazi lyric sheet, July 1988

Fugazi flyer with a photograph of a street and text written in a mix of upper and lowercase letters. Title reads 'Beneft for Greenpeace'.

Fugazi, Ignition, Moss Icon, and Ulysses - Washington, D.C., July 28, 1988

Parasite flyer with four photos of actors dressed up as monsters and Michael Dukakis with handwritten text.

Parasite and Fugazi - d.c. Space, Washington, D.C., August 1, 1988

Alternatives flyer on yellow paper wth a cast photo of the Muppets, labelled with band names.

Alternatives Festival concert flier - Dupont Circle - Washington, D.C., September 11, 1988

Fugazi flyer with title and details written in bold print on a black background with a geometric border.

Fugazi, Honor Role, Edsel - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., October 6, 1988

Flier for State Of the Union benefit compilation with an image of two revolvers pointed at a globe.

Flier for State Of the Union benefit compilation, Washington, D.C., 1988

Fugazi flyer on green paper with a drawing of two people embracing, titled 'Benefit Jam 89...for outreach services, inc.'

Fugazi, Fire Party, Ignition, Why - Weinberg Center, Frederick, Maryland, January 13, 1989

Fugazi flyer in bold bubble letters, surrounded by illustrated curling ribbons on the borders.

Fugazi, Ulysses, and Jackhammer Orchestra - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., January 26, 1989 (Version 1)

Fugazi flyer with a photo of a boy looking straight at the camera.

Fugazi, Ulysses, and Jackhammer Orchestra - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., January 26, 1989 (Version 2)

Fugazi flyer (Front) with printed event details and the title, 'Create the condition you describe.'

Fugazi, King Face, Holy Rollers, and Edsel - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., March 24, 1989 (Front)

Fugazi flyer (Reverse) with song lyrics.

Fugazi, King Face, Holy Rollers, and Edsel - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., March 24, 1989 (Reverse)

Fugazi flyer on yellow paper with a photo of white crosses on a field, titled 'Injustice. What Can You Do?'

Fugazi, Holy Rollers and Edsel - Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., March 24, 1989

Fugazi flyer with text in large print on a pale background.

Fugazi and Bad Mutha Goose - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., July 19-20, 1989

Fugazi flyer with a handwritten list of 10 items with the final item being 'I NEED A GIRLFREIND'.

Fugazi and Soulside - Fort Reno Park, Washington, D.C., August 28, 1989

Fugazi flyer on yellow paper with a print of a fist inside of a heart outline, and the headline 'Stop gentrification, fight eviction'.

Fugazi, Shudder to Think, and Jawbox - Pierce Hall, Washington, D.C., September 22, 1989

Fugazi flyer with the title in large, bold type and a purple crayon drawing of a cow with two spots and the words, 'Moo moo cow says come to da show' next to it.

Fugazi, Shudder to Think, and Jawbox - Pierce Hall, Washington, D.C., September 22, 1989

Flier for an all-ages concert in black and yellow. There is a large image of a close-up of a suit and tie with bold text overlayed on it, and there is smaller text along the right margin.

Fugazi concert flier, St. Augustine's School, Washington, D.C., January 27, 1990

A flier for a benefit concert (for the Frederick Urban Drug and Alcohol Council) with a mint green background and black bold text.

Fugazi concert flier, Weinberg Center, Frederick, Maryland, February 16, 1990

Fugazi Flier for a benefit event for the Whitman Walker Clinic. Yellow background with large black text.

Fugazi concert flier, Washington, D.C. - January 1991

Flier with a black background and a centered image box of young black children looking out from behind a fence, and there is white bold text on all four sides outside of the image.

Punk Percussion Protest and Fugazi concert flier, White House, Washington, D.C. - January 12, 1991 (Front)

Fugazi October 1992 flyer with a quote from Ridley Scott about Blade Runner and the title, 'Benefit For Inner City Transformation'.

Fugazi concert flier, Washington, D.C., October 23, 1992

Fugazi flyer on orange paper with a caduceus surrounded by the text, 'Healthcare for the People'.

Fugazi, Hoover, Slant 6 concert flier – Ritchie Coliseum, College Park, Maryland, April 2, 1993

Fugazi flyer with a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. and the title 'King' written below it.

Fugazi, Pleasure, and Izalco concert flier, Sylvan Theater, Washington, D.C. - August 7, 1993

Fort Reno 1993 flyer on pink paper with the title 'Free Summer Concert' and a list of scheduled events.

Fort Reno concert schedule, Summer 1993

Fugazi September 1993 flyer with a historical illustration of a woman playing the lute and a man in a wig, overlaid with event details.

Fugazi concert flier - HUB Ballroom, University Park, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1993

Fugazi September 1993 flyer with a photo of four band members and the band name 'Fugazi' slanted upside-down at the top.

Fugazi concert flier - HUB Ballroom, University Park, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1993

Fugazi flyer with an abstract graphic of dots on a dark background and text written in typewriter typography.

Fugazi and Junkyard Band – Long Branch Community Center, Takoma Park, Maryland, November 20, 1994

Fugazi flyer with a cartoon drawing of four characters with band names written on their faces, and the title, 'A Benefit for WUMD Radio'.

Fugazi, Slant 6, Onespot Fringehead – UMBC Ballroom, Catonsville, Maryland, March 2, 1995

Fugazi flyer with a four-panel comic about homelessness, protesters, and a panel saying 'DO Something'.

Fugazi, Lungfish, and the Crainium – Teamsters’ Union Hall, Baltimore, Maryland, May 12, 1998

Fugazi flyer with a drawing of a building titled, 'Benefit for the Emmaus Community Center.'

Fugazi, Quix*o*tic, and Shine – Sanctuary Theatre, Washington, D.C., July 31, 1998

Fugazi flyer for a film titled 'Fugazi Instrument', mirrored at the bottom of the flyer.

Fugazi “Instrument” premiere flier – Sidwell Friends School Caplan Theatre, Washington, D.C., April 16, 1999

Zines

Fugazi and Sonic Youth concert flier booklet cover with a silhouette of a figure with its hands up and the title drawn with curlicues.

Fugazi and Sonic Youth concert flier booklet, Washington, D.C., March 8, 1990

Slanted, Issue 1 cover with a photo of four men and another one of two men wearing sunglasses and hats.

Slanted, Issue 1, Fall 1993

Sweet Portable You front page with the headlines 'Barbecuing Iguana', 'The Post's Rock', 'Preserving Anonymity', and 'Adult Epigram'.

Sweet Portable You Issue 7, May 2, 1989

Sweet Portable You front page with the headline, 'Caught At A Distance From Myself'.

Sweet Portable You, Issue 15, July 19, 1989

Posters

Background image of four men sitting outside, with a text excerpt overlayed throughout the whole page.

Fugazi, Repeater promotional poster, 1990

Fugazi, In On The Killtaker poster with a yellow background and a faint photo of the Washington monument.

Fugazi, In On The Killtaker promotional poster, 1993

Fugazi, Red Medicine poster with the title showing through holes from a metal grille.

Fugazi, Red Medicine promotional poster, 1995

Fugazi, Congress Theater poster with bold white text and a red background.

Fugazi, Congress Theater, Chicago, Illinois, June 23-24, 2001

Ephemera

Visualizing Fugazi postcard with a graphic with multicolored dots.

"Visualizing Fugazi" exhibit postcard, April-May 2019

About

Persistent Vision presents the University of Maryland's digitized special collections materials related to punk in the Washington, D.C. area. Most of these materials reside at Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. These materials help to tell the story of a subculture and a community that has thrived since 1976.

Curators: John Davis, Ben Jackson
Design: Ben Jackson, Natalie Salive
Authors: Ben Jackson, John Davis, and Jessica Grimmer

With help from: Cindy Zhao, Jeremy Gottwig, Amanda Henderson, Gabby Cameron, Hayden Kramer

Contact Us

Special Collections in Performing Arts is located in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library on University of Maryland’s College Park campus.

For general information about the library and our collections, contact us