Fugazi / Nation of Ulysses @ The Wherehouse, Green Bay, WI 8/11/1991

This flyer comes all the way from Green Bay, Wisconsin, one of my most favorite states. I have so many great memories of Wisconsin that I had considered moving there several times in the past.

Anyway this was a great tour I'm sure, with the amazing Fugazi and one of my favorite Dischord Records bands Nation of Ulysses. I wasn't at this show and I missed this tour back in Dayton, but I did get to see them a few times and once had the thrill to open for them in Indy.

Fugazi was known for being sXe, trying to always play all age shows and keeping the door charge at $5. In addition they always put on a great show and Ian Mckaye is a total inspiration. Between the music he has written and the way he has run Dischord records I think he has been one of the most influential people in DIY / Indie / Hardcore. Most likely his influence has waned since the late 80's and 90's, but young punks of today would learn a lot from looking into the way he did things.

Scrawl / Ugly Stick @ the Distillery 8/3/1991

This was a Columbus show at the Distillery, also known as Bernie's Distillery. You can still see great shows there and it's now owned by Tony Painter of the great 90's band Pet UFO and Burnt Sienna Records fame.

Scrawl was a great indie rock band out of Columbus that I think was one of the best from our state. Along with them were Ugly Stick who were a great alt-country band before it became a worn out phrase.

Mean Melissa @ Canal Street Tavern 3/29/1991

Mean Melissa was a short lived trio that was comprised of Gregg Spence and Ian Uppstrom from the U-Dogs and Pat Hennigan from the Oxymorons. All that I recall of their music was that it sounded a lot like the U-Dogs since Gregg did most of the singing and writing. I really wonder who they played with because there's no way Mick would have let them have a Friday night for their debut.

I think my favorite part of this flyer is the simple listing of 2 Parts Dog 1 Part Moron...

Filth / Last Stand @ the Gutter Center 6/21/1991

This was a typical show at the Gutter Center, All ages, $3, free vegan / vegitarian meal and a few bands. The Gutter Center was a space in the Front Street building off of Dutiot Street. The collective had built a stage and a few other things in the space and had a bunch of great bands (primarily Anarchists) play.

The thing I remember most about this show was that my girlfriend had worn a white cape and after one of the bands we noticed a bunch of small blood droplets all over it. It had to have happened in the small but active pit, however we couldn't find anybody hurt. Odd. I recall Filth from Oakland playing and they were a quite popular crust-core band. I can't remember anything about Last Stand, but when I looked them up I found that they still are around today. Finally there is that 8Ball on the flyer. Was it a band? Was it something more? I really can't recall, anybody else have a clue?

Citizen Fish / Cringer @ The New Space 4/11/1991

This show was put on by the Gutter Center Collective, but held at The New Space since the collective could only hold about 100 people. Like all Gutter Center shows there was an included Vegan meal and the price was low...this one was $4 partially due to the higher costs associated with having the show at New Space.

Citizen Fish was a great ska/punk band that formed from the remnants of the Sub-Humans. Actually, it seems that they have reformed so, you have a change to see them 15-20 years on. Cringer was a great punk-pop band from San Francisco which broke up later and had members join or create bands such as J-Church, The Grumps, Naked Aggression and others. Unfortunately the great Lance Hahn (Cringer / J-Church) passed away last year and will be sorely missed.

I recall this show fairly well and even found a few photos I took at it. It was packed, loud and sweaty with plenty of great music and good people. Definitely one of the top five shows I ever saw at the New Space.

8-Bark / The Method / HUM / Second Step @ The New Space 11/9/1991

This was a pretty typical show for The New Space, four bands, five dollars and all ages. The New Space was on Springfield street and used to be part of a slaughterhouse. Thinking about it now it was also a firetrap, but that never really came to mind at the time.

8-Bark was a great band from Chicago that I remember fairly well as well as HUM who were from the Champaign / Urbana area. HUM went on to release a major label album You'd Prefer an Astronaut in 1995 which spawned the hit "Stars". There were also two local bands on the bill, The Method who were one of the more popular bands in the area and I can't recall anything about the sXe band Second Step.

The New Space was one of the many places that Ken Gross threw shows over the years. I think this location was the one that I went to the most often. Always a great, loud, sweaty time.