tons of ’80s DC hardcore live videos unearthed: Fugazi, Dag Nasty, Govt Issue, Descendents, more

Sohrab Habibion has been a staple of post-hardcore, punk, and indie rock for over 30 years, having fronted the classic '80s/'90s band Edsel before joining Drive Like Jehu/Hot Snakes' Rick Froberg in Obits and then forming his current band SAVAK, which also includes members of The Nation of Ulysses, Silent Majority, Enon, and more.

Before forming Edsel, around the time he was playing in the short-lived band Kids For Cash, Sohrab was a teenager attending punk and hardcore shows in the DC area and filming a lot of them, and thanks to help from Roswell Films and the DC Public Library's Punk Archive, many of those classic videos have been digitized and are now available to watch on YouTube. That includes full '80s-era sets by Fugazi (as early as 1987), Dag Nasty, Government Issue, Moss Icon, Shudder To Think, Scream, 7Seconds, Descendents, Marginal Man, Gray Matter, One Last Wish, Soul Side, Half Japanese, Fire Party, D.O.A., Saccharine Trust, Doughboys, GWAR, Gang Green, Jerry's Kids, The Lemonheads, and whole lot more. check out a bunch of Sohrab's videos below.

Sohrab writes:

I videotaped about 60 or so bands between 1985 and 1988.

Please keep in mind that I was a teenager when I shot these shows and had zero proficiency with the equipment. And, as you might imagine, nobody was doing anything with the lights or the sound to make things any better. What you get here is what was recorded on my Betamax and probably best appreciated with a bit of generosity as a viewer.

If you notice any mistakes or typos or were in one of the bands and would prefer not to be included, please contact me.

Many thanks to Roswell Films for digitizing all the tapes and the DC Public Library for including them in their Punk Archive, which you can explore here.

Meanwhile, SAVAK just released the new single ""The Point of the Point" w​/​ "Checked Out" on last week's Bandcamp Day, their third release of 2020.

Earlier this week, a full Fugazi concert video from 1999 was released.

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You can watch even more of Sohab's videos in this playlist.