Albums: The Shape of Punk to Come, Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent, Burning Heart Blond Magazine P

Refused was an influential hardcore band from Umeå, Sweden, that formed in 1992 and broke up in 1998. They formed in January 1992 with Dennis Lyxzén, David Sandström, Pär Hansson and Jonas Lidgren, and their final line-up consisted of the members Dennis Lyxzén, David Sandström, Kristofer Steen and Jon Brännström. After releasing The Shape of Punk to Come, Refused decided to do one final campaign in the United States.

With tension in the band running high, everything finally collided only a few shows into the tour. The band decided to call it quits after a show in Atlanta, Georgia. Flights were booked back to Sweden, and the band set out towards the Reagan International Airport.

Fred Ziomek, guitarist for tourmates Darkest Hour, had attended James Madison University, in nearby Harrisonburg, Virginia. He convinced the band to play one last show in his basement en route to National Airport. They agreed, and even though there were only around twelve hours to promote the show, there were still around four-hundred people in attendance.

The police kept coming by all night, and Tony Weinbender who had been put in charge of organizing everything, kept them at bay for a while. Then they came during Frodus and said, "If we get another complaint and have to come back here, we're taking you to jail." Weinbender said he would shut the show down, but did not. A few songs into Refused's set, police entered the house and plowed through the throng of people to get to the basement.

The band began playing what would be their final song, "Rather Be Dead", as the police forced their way through the crowd. The song reached the crescendo where Dennis would have screamed, "rather be alive". The plug was pulled (literally), and the band stopped playing.

The audience kept screaming the refrain to the song, "rather be alive". The police were at a loss for what to do. Weinbender was taken to jail.

He still maintains to this day that it was worth it. Years later, members of the band would admit that they felt a sense of relief that the cops had shut the show down. Lead singer Dennis Lyxzén went on to form The (International) Noise Conspiracy and The Lost Patrol Band.

Other members of the band went on to form the short-lived band Text. Drummer David Sandström also started a semi-successful indie solo project. Their DVD, "Refused Are Fucking Dead" was released April 2006 worldwide.

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