CASHING IN: Fugazi Ends Hiatus; Will Co-Headline Coachella with Wu Tang Clan

From the moment they went on “indefinite hiatus” in November of 2002, post-hardcore pioneers Fugazi have been dogged by rumors of a return.  These rumors were more often than not the product of wishful thinking and hopeful suggestion from their legion of dedicated fans than anything resembling to concrete evidence.  Between the group’s slavish devotion to ethical integrity and the fact that founding member Ian Mackaye is just a few years away from picking up his AARP card, the general consensus heading into 2014 was that anyone hoping to see this legendary DC group live would be left sitting in the waiting room.

That’s why this morning’s announcement that Fugazi had been added to the Coachella lineup came as such a surprise.  In an uncharacteristic move, the band issued a press release announcing their return.   “It just makes sense,” said Mackaye.  “The festival’s organizers asked us to play the Chipotle stage, and they embody everything Fugazi has been about.  Good ethics, and even better vegan burritos.  Great synergy, really.”  Fugazi’s lead guitarist/resident guy with a French name Guy Picciotto also added, “whenever I’m in Chipotle I just find myself saying ‘thank you sir may I have another?’  I think they’re one of the few concepts or corporations we haven’t criticized at one point or another in our careers, so this is a perfect fit for us”.

Will Fugazi’s set at the Indio, California festival be an epic problem, a latest disgrace, or a necessary dose of red medicine for their many ex-spectators?  Either way, fans can expect a steady diet of both surprises and Chipotle.

“We’re supposed to keep this one a secret, but the festival is charging more than $5 a ticket- which obviously pisses me off- so I’ll let you in on it.  We’re playing our set with Wu-Tang,” Mackaye confessed.

“I heard that Wugazi tape a few years back and was trying to get in touch with RZA ever since,” Picciotto chimed in, “apparently he doesn’t own a cell phone and sends coded messages through a series of trusted envoys, but the Coachella organizers were able to get us in touch with him.  He loved the idea of collaborating with us, not just on stage but in the studio”.

The result of this collaboration was hinted at last week, when Wu-Tang teased their literally one-of-a-kind Double Album The Wu – Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.  Fugazi- aided by Mackaye’s close friend ?uestlove on drums- served as a live backing band for sides 3 and 4 of the unreleased double LP, recorded at Arlington, Virginia’s Dischord House, Fugazi headquarters and hardcore mecca.

Ghostface Killah could hardly contain his excitement about the project when speaking with Buzzfeed yesterday: “Ayo the Dischord house, that’s like the thirty-seventh chamber, nahmean?  We’re like spiritual brethren, the Wu and the Fu.  You ever heard of Minor Threat?  With that shaved head my brother Ian was like a shaolin assassin in the mosh pit back in the day. He’d whoop your ass and not even take your Bally Boots when he was done.”

“But that ‘straight edge’ shit is softer than taking your wife and kids to a Drake show, B.  Let’s be real”.

Fugazi and the Wu Tang Clan are slated to close out weekend 2 of Coachella together, performing live as Wugazi on the Chipotle stage.  There’s no way to know for sure what this unprecedented fusion of experimental post-hardcore and raw, grimy hip hop will sound like, but it can’t be much worse than Eight Diagrams.  

 

Full Disclosure: This was published on April 1st