Refused launched their farewell tour in Washington, D.C. last night (March 20th), and before the classic Swedish hardcore band officially become “fucking dead” again, it seems like they’ll be pulling out some deep cuts for the fans. Case in point, Refused delivered the live premiere of a Shape of Punk to Come-era b-side and also played ultra-rarity “Blind” for the first time in over 30 years.
The 18-song show at D.C. Atlantis club generally concentrated on a bunch of songs from their landmark The Shape of Punk to Come, which should be no surprise, though they kicked the night off with the first-ever live performance of their hard-sassed-and-funky “Poetry Written in Gasoline,” which had originally popped up on the band’s The New Noise Theology back in 1998.
The other big surprise of the night was the performance of “Blind,” a song that dates all the way back to the band’s very beginnings (it even appeared on their 1992 demo tape). Before they hit that track, vocalist Dennis Lyxzén filled the crowd in on what it was like when he and drummer David Sandström first conceived Refused in their hometown of Umeå, Sweden.
“To add more context, when me and David started a hardcore band, we didn’t know how to play; the guitar player we had was like a metal guy,” Lyxzén joked. “So, I was like, ‘I’m gonna write some hardcore songs,’ and this is what it sounded like. It’s an absurd feeling because I think the we played this song the last time in 1993 in front of maybe 20 people. So, here’s a song called ‘Blind’!”
You’ll find fan-shot footage of Refused playing their fast and arguably more New York youth crew-styled “Blind” up above, while clips from the rest of the night can be found below, along with the setlist (courtesy of setlist.fm).
As previously reported, Refused’s tour continues tonight (March 21st) at Brooklyn, New York’s Paramount venue. The tour runs until the middle of April, and finds Refused traveling alongside Quicksand and a rotating cast of openers.
You’ll find the rest of the dates over here.
Refused setlist 3/20/25:
Poetry Written in Gasoline (First time live)
The Shape of Punk to Come
The Refused Party Program
Rather Be Dead
Life Support Addiction
Pump the Brakes
Blind (First time live since 1993)
Malfire
Liberation Frequency
Summerholidays vs. Punkroutine
Refused Are Fucking Dead
The Deadly Rhythm (with Slayer’s “Raining Blood” tag)
Protest Song ’68
Elektra
New Noise
Coup d’état
Circle Pit
Worms of the Senses/Faculties of the Skull