Minor Threat

Remember that glorious interval in time when straight-edge was no longer just a carpenter's term but before hardcore kids became more interested in how many rows of studs sit on their stupid belts? I don't. Which is why, for all those '80s-born punk babies, the release of this Minor Threat live DVD is an event that touches peed-pants levels of excitement. There are three shows here: Minor Threat's second ever performance at the Unheard Music Festival in DC in the winter of 1980, a show at Camden, New Jersey's Buff Hall in '82 and the third was one of the band's last appearance at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC the following year. Shot in the muddiest black and white footage ever, the first bit is short and the sound is as incredibly horrible as you'd imagine. Ian has hair, clutches a cola can (tee hee) for the entire show and half of the footage is just the crowd. But the second show is where it really gets good. One zillion shaved heads crash and somersault into each other in the most ludicrous pit ever. An East Coast versus West Coast punk rock mini-rivalry lands a huge concussion-induced goose egg on the back of MacKaye's noggin an hour before doors after another band on the bill's van gets smashed and he tumbles over the offending car, but he still plays the show! Bouts of skanking fill in the slower spaces until the speed knocks the seething mass of kids back to action; it takes until half-way through the set before you realise that the stage is actually elevated off of the floor. By the time the 9:30 show is shot, the band has pretty much peaked in popularity and the event is planned as a documentary. This means more than one camera angle, better shots and good enough for rock'n'roll sound quality. Crowd mania ups the energy ante enough to witness an array of flying limbs, lost shoes, hands grabbing at the mic and the once-shy Ian's ugly-sexy loss of shirt. Too goddamn tough to describe in di- or tri-syllabics, you'll probably just stick with "fuck yeah!" before crashing into your roommate with an awesome wall-of-death. Plus: Q&A. (Dischord, www.dischord.com)