Kick Out the Jams - its the MC5

OK .... they're kind of on the opposite side of the musical spectrum of Martin Denny, but I still think this is worth mentioning.

I just got home from seeing the legendary MC5 perform here in DC. For any of you who are fans of their music, and were wondering how good they would sound after 30 years - by all means, definitely go and see them.

Mudhoney's Mark Arm did a great job on lead vocals, and the band was in great form. I talked briefly with guitarist Wayne Kramer afterwards, and he said the band is sounding better and better every day, and they are definitely enjoying and thriving off the positive reception given to them wherever they perform.

Good, loud, energetic rock and roll -- simply great stuff.

The remaining tour dates can be found at this site ...
http://www.dkt-mc5.com/index.cfm?pg=tour

Vern

It takes 5 seconds, 5 seconds of decision.
Five seconds to realize your purpose here on the planet.
Brothers and Sisters, it's time to testify and I want to know,
Are you ready to testify???
Are you ready?

Edited out blatanlty obvious question, sorry reading posts at 2am does that to me sometimes...

But I did notice this....

For the L.A. show the line up is...
Featuring Mark Arm (vocals), Evan Dando (vocals) & Marshall Crenshaw (guitar/vocals) + Special Guest Kim Thayil

Evan Dando?!? C'mon maaaaaaaaaaaaaan. It'd be like seeing the Doors with Ian Astbury.
Both are fine in their own right, but together, kinda like washing down yogurt with pickle juice...

[ Edited by: TikiGardener on 2004-06-19 03:00 ]

"Brothers and sisters I wanna tell you something. I hear alot of talk from alotta honkies sittin on allotta money telling me they're high society. Well I wantcha to know something. If ya ask me, this is the high society...this is the high society!!!"

Ah, the words of Brother JC Crawford. When the 'True Testamonial' movie was in production...they couldn't find him! Wonder where he is...is he still with us?

I too saw the boys Kick Out the Jams here in NYC a few nights ago. Something I never thought I would see. I'm too young to have been a fan back in the day, but I have been a hardcore fan ever since I bought the 'Babes in Arms' Roir cassette back around 1989.

My thoughts on the gig the other night were firstly how underrated Wayne Kramer is as a guitarist. He is probably one of the finest, cleanest, straight-up rock n roll guitarists I have seen.

At first I thought Marshall Crenshaw was an odd pairing, but he seem to fit in well. I also agree that Evan Dando is an odd fit. I think the band are trying to appeal to different audiences with the guests in the band. The crowd here in NYC did not receive Evan Dando very well to put it mildly, and hurled insults his way all night long which I though was a little unecessary. You would think out of respect for the MC5 people would keep their traps shut about it, but that unfortunately was not the case. Not that I am runinng to his defense, but I mean the band asked HIM to guest with them.

Overall it was a great show, Mark Arm fit in the best as vocalist. He jumped into the crowd at the end when the the guys did 'I Want You Right Now' as their final encore. Handsome Dick Manitoba from The Dictators was also great coming out to do 'Call Me Animal' and 'American Ruse'.

One of the coolest numbers of the night was 'Starship'. I didn't think they would do that one.

I was glad for Dennis Thompson who in the 'True Testamonial' documentary seemed to be the most aggravated about how things turned out for the band upon their break-up. He seemed really grateful and was cool enough to hang out and talk with the fans after the show.

I'm sure that the original MC5 shows were a different experience back in the day. Even Ted Nugent is quoted as saying that it was hard for him to describe the energy they put out. The other night Brother Wayne and company definitely conveyed the spirit, and at the end of the show you could definitely see that crowd did 'Come Together'.

If you're a die-hard 5 fan, or if you are just starting to get into them let me suggest the following website

http://makemyday.free.fr/mc5.htm

Their is enough info here to last you a lifetime or two.

RAMMA LAMMA FA-FA-FA

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2004-06-19 11:26 ]

I've been planning on seeing them in dallas next weekend at the Gypsy Tea room

Thanks for the update Vern. With no show (waaaah) scheduled for San Diego I guess I'll have to set my sights on L.A. As a big MC5 fan, I still have my original vinyl copy of Kick Out The Jams (with brother John Sinclair's incindiary message inside) and the deluxe CD re-issue (with a very complete & informative booklet). Great to hear they're back. I only wish one of Fred & Patti Smiths children was up for filling Fred's shoes on guitar. Maybe next time.

[ Edited by: Shipwreckjoey on 2004-06-19 18:09 ]

Joey - check out the link in the first post of this thread. It says that the MC5 will be playing in San Diego, on Tuesday, July 13 at the Casbah. Of course, it might be worth it to drive up to see them the two times they play in the L.A. area too.

As to the vocalist controversy, I will say that Mark Arm is definitely the better singer than Evan Dando - both his voice and the theatrics of his arm movements are much better. Perhaps Dando was a bit gun-shy after his NY reception? One person I talked to at the show was quite ecstatic after hearing Wayne Kramer sing one song, saying it was amazing to finally hear the same voice singing the song live in front of him after hearing it on headphones for the first times as a teenager 25 years ago.

Much of the audience had a similar attitude - they simply were bedazzled that they were finally hearing live a band they had given hopes of ever seeing perform.

Vern

Thanks Vern. I checked out the link & once I got past California dates I thought that wuz all she wrote! I chalk it up to adult A.D.H.D. (everybody's got an excuse nowadays). I will definately make it down to the Casbah show.