{"id":43032,"date":"2018-11-23T16:14:15","date_gmt":"2018-11-23T16:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=43032"},"modified":"2019-04-23T21:54:45","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T20:54:45","slug":"up-on-the-stand-mc50-kick-out-the-jams-at-the-shepherds-bush-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2018\/11\/up-on-the-stand-mc50-kick-out-the-jams-at-the-shepherds-bush-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"UP ON THE STAND – MC50 Kick Out The Jams At The Shepherd’s Bush Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anniversary tours are always tricky, especially for a band with the cachet of the MC5.<\/h4>\n

Reputations can be destroyed, legacies tarnished and there’s always the risk of being accused of “selling out”.<\/h4>\n

Wayne Kramer has faced such a backlash before having previously reformed the band for a one-off show in 2003 with two surviving members as part of a Levi\u2019s ad campaign.<\/p>\n

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Not, perhaps, the best look for a group rooted in the radical hard left politics of the late \u201860s counterculture and the musical mouthpiece of the revolutionary White Panther <\/strong>movement.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2018 and\u00a0Kramer is the only original member on stage for this tour marking 50 years since the release of the band’s live debut album.<\/p>\n

With drummer Dennis \u2018Machine Gun\u2019 Thompson<\/strong> having declined an invitation to take part,\u00a0the guitarist is backed by four luminaries from the underground\/alternative scene, for which his band were such an influence.<\/p>\n

But at the age of 70, could Kramer still kick it as a live performer, or would this incarnation of the MC5 be the \u2018travesty\u2019 that some social media sages had been predicting?<\/p>\n

Matt Catchpole <\/strong>(words) and Sam Wells <\/strong>(pictures) were at London\u2019s Shepherd\u2019s Bush Empire<\/strong> to find out.<\/p>\n

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THE HARD STUFF – Wayne Kramer, picture by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tasked with warming us up before the main event is Michael Monroe,<\/strong> former frontman, of Finnish glam metallers Hanoi Rocks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

At first glance, this looks like a wildly inappropriate booking, but when you think the MC5 probably influenced as many heavy rock bands as punks, it starts to make more sense.<\/p>\n

Looking like a relic from the 1980s, Monroe wisely refuses to take himself too seriously, whipping out his sax, or striding out onto the shoulders of his audience as the mood takes him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all a bit daft, but fast and fun and Monroe and his band certainly give it their all in an energetic high camp performance.<\/p>\n

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SAX APPEAL – Mike Monroe, picture by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By the time Monroe and his well-drilled accomplices troop off, the Empire is filling up nicely.<\/p>\n

Generally, it\u2019s blokes in their 40s and 50s, although there are some younger faces of both sexes and a few hardcore garage-punks, including a guy in a kilt who looks like he\u2019s just walked off the battlefield at Culloden.<\/p>\n

The lights go down and for a moment we\u2019re back in Detroit’s Grande Ballroom<\/strong> in 1968 as a recording of MC5\u2019s \u2018spiritual advisor\u2019 Brother J. C. Crawford <\/strong>announcing the band comes over the PA.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBrothers and sisters, it\u2019s time for each and every one of you to decide whether you are going to be the problem, or whether you are gonna be the solution\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The MC50 run on and we\u2019re into Ramblin’ Rose<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 Kramer himself taking lead vocals \u2013 before allowing towering vocalist Marcus Durant<\/strong>\u00a0of Zen Guerrilla\u00a0<\/strong>to deliver the famous expletive-driven intro to Kick Out The Jams<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At this point, the whole place goes nuts and any doubts about the validity of this venture evaporates in an instant.<\/p>\n

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LOOKING AT YOU – Kramer wields his Strat like a weapon, picture by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kramer\u2019s wielding his signature Stars \u2018n Stripes Stratocaster like a weapon as the band rip through the entire first album in sequence.<\/p>\n

The sound is big, gutsy and accomplished – a pleasure to behold.<\/p>\n

Come Together <\/strong><\/em>rifles by and then there\u2019s the earthy, chugging blues of their homage to their home city Detroit Is Burning <\/strong><\/em>\u2013 first made famous by\u00a0John Lee Hooker<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, it\u2019s good to be with you tonight in London,\u201d Kramer yells before going on to introduce the rest of the band.<\/p>\n

With his screaming baritone and mop of black curls, Durant bears a passing resemblance to original frontman Rob Tyner<\/strong>, but that’s where the similarities end, because this is emphatically not a tribute band.<\/p>\n

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COME TOGETHER – Marcus Durant and Billy Gould, picture by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much tighter and more controlled than their forbears, the MC50 <\/strong>stamp their own imprint on the songs.<\/p>\n

Locked together at the back,\u00a0Faith No More<\/strong> bassist\u00a0Billy Gould<\/strong> and Fugazi<\/strong> drummer Brendan Canty<\/strong> are a dynamic combination, the real engine behind this powerhouse outfit.<\/p>\n

While in Soundgarden<\/strong>\u2019s Kim Thayil, <\/strong>Kramer has found the perfect foil.<\/p>\n

One of the most natural and fluid guitarists this reviewer has ever seen, the beanie-hatted Thayil plays with consummate ease.<\/p>\n

His nonchalant style complements Kramer\u2019s bells and whistles showmanship and there are moments like the blistering riffola of Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa <\/strong><\/em>when the two guitars appear to be having their own private conversation.<\/p>\n

Some of the more \u2018out there\u2019 psychedelic free jazz material like the Sun Ra<\/strong>\u00a0inspired\u00a0Starship <\/strong><\/em>is clearly of its period, but it\u2019s delivered with such conviction you can\u2019t help but get drawn in.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a moment when all four musicians gather round Canty\u2019s drums that\u2019s akin to a religious experience.<\/p>\n

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KICK OUT THE JAMS – Kramer and Thayil in action, picture by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As Starship<\/em> fades out, Kramer pays tribute to the original band members. What the likes of Tyner and Fred \u2018Sonic\u2019<\/strong> Smith<\/strong>,\u00a0both dead from heart attacks in their 40s, would have made of all this is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n

Thompson and bassist Michael Davis\u00a0<\/strong>both joined Kramer for the DKT\/MC5<\/strong> tour in 2005 and subsequent reunions. The latter succumbing to liver failure in 2012.<\/p>\n

With the applause for MC5 MK1 melting away, the 2018 vintage crank things up again with a selection of tracks from the band\u2019s second and third albums<\/p>\n

Tonight<\/em> <\/strong>\u00a0is just fabulous \u2013 Kramer\u2019s face contorted in a mixture of ecstasy and surprise \u2013 almost like even he can\u2019t believe the sounds he\u2019s ringing from his guitar.<\/p>\n

For Shakin\u2019 Street<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0he straps on an acoustic for what\u2019s perhaps the most commercial song in the MC5 canon. So sweet are the melodies this could have been written by The<\/strong> Monkees<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Judging by the broad grins on their faces, Kramer\u2019s supporting cast are thoroughly enjoying themselves, while he seems genuinely thrilled to have such a great band behind him.<\/p>\n

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Future\/Now <\/em><\/strong>from\u00a0<\/em>High Time <\/em><\/strong>gets an outing, before I Can Only Give You Everything <\/strong><\/em>and a titanic version of Call Me Animal<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0take us into the first encore.<\/p>\n

After a short break the band return with Kramer jogging round the stage with all the innocent joy of a toddler on a sugar rush.<\/p>\n

Canty\u2019s drums belt out the rhythm to Sister Anne<\/strong><\/em>, and Monroe joins in on sax, before conductor Kramer slows things down for the ballad Let Me Try<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe MC5 was really a soul band,\u201d Kramer remarks, \u201cWe just exchanged the horn section for electric guitars.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Only at the very end do we see a hint of the old polemical politics.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have a guy in the White House, who should be in the Big House and you guys have a lot of similar stuff in your country too. But the people have the power. I want you to resist, I want you to vote. We wanna live in a world we can be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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HIGH TIME – Marcus Durant cuts some rug, picture by Sam Wells<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A banging bass line from Gould sets up the last song Looking At You,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Kramer strutting across across the stage mid solo.<\/p>\n

And then it\u2019s all over, the band gather together to take a bow, before leaving Kramer fittingly alone, to take his last goodbyes.<\/p>\n

MC50 are a slick, professional outfit that put on a hell of a show.<\/p>\n

Sure, there’s not the febrile, riotous, anything can happen, all out assault of early MC5 shows (check out youtube kids), but hey, we’re not in 1968 any more.<\/p>\n

Instead we got a highly entertaining, modern interpretation of the songs of one of most exciting bands ever committed to record.<\/p>\n

Wayne Kramer was the de facto leader of that band and the undisputed leader of the MC50.<\/p>\n

No-one has more right to take this music out on tour and, after 50 years or fighting the good fight, few would begrudge him his place in the sun now.<\/p>\n

Can he kick it? Yes he can!<\/p>\n