https://www.dischord.com/fugazi_live_series/knoxville-tn-usa-32490
This gig was at “Backstage at The Library”, i.e., they didn’t want these guys on the main stage. Whitey (very good local band) opened. You know, at the time I never really thought about the possible implications of naming your band Whitey. I still don’t but maybe I should have. (Or maybe they should have. But I don’t blame them for behavior of other people.)
Problem was, lotsa hillbilly white supremacists showed up. Not from Knoxville. I mean, literally from the hiils. I’m not sure Fugazi finished their show. I feel like there was some disagreement between band and (some of the) audience about the coolness and appropriateness of “Roman salutes”. No, there was a lot of diagreement. Ian MacKaye was so reasonable in his complaints and requests for these dolts to do better, I’m sure it was quite amusing for the dolts. It’s pretty depressing to think about. It should have been awesome. It’s so, very, Tennessee.
My memories are hazy, but the Fugazi live datatbase seems pretty reliable. An old friend with a Facebook account, James Henry, clarified the date of the show, and of course, that it happened, by posting (on August 3, 2026) this schedule of the March 1990 shows at “Backstage at The Library”. That was where they put any shows that should have been or had to be open to underage kids. It was more like Basement at The Library.