I love it when I click on this thread and TJL is barely winning.

that damned fly wrote:

tinycorkscrew wrote:

Somnambulist wrote:-I saw both bands several times but Fugazi just never did it for me. The Jesus Lizard was/is the greatest live show I imagine I will ever see.

Fugazi = burger
TJL = burrito

you got that backwards.

tjl is like a big wad of meat.
fugazi is more a mixed bag.

nah, a typical jesus lizard show beat a typical fugazi show, but a great fugazi show easily beat a great lizard show.

so fugazi is the burger.

If I could see one of these bands just one more time it would definitely be the Jesus Lizard.

The first time I saw both of these bands was when the Jesus Lizard supported Fugazi. I had never heard the Jesus Lizard at all before that evening. I was completely gobsmacked by them and just looked at my pal in disbelief. Fugazi were great too that evening but the Lizard....they blew my mind. All for £5 with Shudder To Think and Leatherface supporting too, you don't get gigs like that anymore

price wrote:I think any band member of Fugazi except Ian MacKaye could be replaced with any other competent musician and it would still be Fugazi.

Not true. Brendan and Joe had very distinctive styles, and the music would change completely if any of them was replaced. And the guitar interplay between Ian and Guy was integral to Fugazi´s sound, if you replaces one of them it would all be different, as well. I don´t think any member of ay of the two bands was the ultimate master of his chosen instrument, once again, it´s their interaction as a band that made both groups so special.

STF wrote:If I could see one of these bands just one more time it would definitely be the Jesus Lizard.

if i could see one of these bands once ever! it would be The Jesus Lizard. oh well... April shows are shaping up quite well around here. so there's that.

man, Leatherface must have been too. the things i have missed... (sigh).

180 votes, and it's 50/50? Wow. Someone, come on, go for it...fugazi...

The problem is that Fugazi are more consistent but Jesus Lizard have (marginally) the better tunes.

Ok, I'm going to point out something that no one else has even close to mentioned: the endings of songs. I would say that by listening to a good number of Fugazi's songs, one can almost hear them putting the song together in the practice space with the main goal to make the ending a game-winning homerun in the bottom of the 9th. And they succeed! The endings aren't just louder or more energized but a completely different part which has been hinted at throughout the song. In fact, parts of the song could drag or be purposely odd or not even played very well, just as long as the ending brings it home. The ending is there to be bashed out as the release of tension, set up to be knocked down.

I don't mean the end of the song "Instrument" which is just basically a guitar freak out into power chords over the same bass line, I mean a song like "Sieve-Fisted Find" which has just a blinding last part which then finishes with the bass line from the verse. "Turnover", "Blueprint", "Smallpox Champion", "Cassavetes", "Foreman's Dog", "KYEO". Can you imagine if TJL had endings like this? The world would have ended in confusion. I can't think of another band who has ever done this so often and so well. Name one and I'll go check them out.

Oh, and I voted Fugazi b/c they were the rock music of my youth that made me really to open up and listen to music more closely. I bought "Steady Diet" based on my liking Minor Threat and HATED it. For some reason, I just kept listening and eventually didn't want to listening to anything else. To "get" something is almost as rewarding as the listening and enjoying after you've "gotten" it I think.

I didn't grasp TJL until I was interested in the kinds of weird things they were singing about or basically putting out there. I think a 14 yr old Minor Threat fan has a chance at getting into Fugazi but unless you've been drunk at least once, wanted to strangle a complete stranger, or just felt the combined lunacy and panic of an 'adult', you aren't going to completely "get" TJL. That's why I wasn't into them until I was about 18. I regret never seeing them live but I listen to them more than Fugazi now.

I have TJL DVD. Anyone have any live bootlegs? I'm itching...

that damned fly wrote:
3hour shows get old, especially when you know there's going to be some political ranting, some asshole audience member getting called out and checked by the band, and three hours of one band playing not all of their best stuff.

would not see.