CREEM ONLINE: MC5 — I Believe To My Soul

Listen mister, back in my day, blotter was 25 cents a hit and we had to walk two miles uphill to get it!
And we liked it!

Wayne Kramer is not someone who normally seems into beaming—his image is a little more ferocious than that. But onstage during the second night of the DKT-MC5 tour in Chicago, Kramer busted loose a big fat grin and started jumping up and down at one point.

Back in the MC5 days, the band was known for its energetic, physical shows. Having never seen them live, I don't know if they ever jumped for pure joy back then, but that's clearly what Kramer was doing that night.

DKT/MC5
Sonic Revolution: Live At London's 100 Club [DVD]
2004 Image

The DKT/MC5 gig at London's 100 Club was the first salvo in what has become a full-fledged project to bring the music of the MC5 to new listeners. This DVD memorializes that night.

This London show is less polished and a little stiff compared to the U.S. shows this summer. But that nervous energy is part of what makes it an interesting watch. Davis, Kramer and Thompson were just beginning to dip a toe into the waters of playing together again, whereas now they've taken the full-on plunge.

Those three form a crack unit, but they're missing two singular talents. So the special guests play a big role in filling those holes. Nicke Royale from the Hellacopters does a great job on guitar and vocals, but that 's to be expected, since he's been studying for this role for many years now. The horn section of Dr. Charles Moore and Buzzy Jones are breathtaking. (Hint: how about a U.S. tour with Nicke and that horn section?)

The Damned's Dave Vanian kicks ass, but as usual comes off a little like the Count from Sesame Street ("High school, sis boom BLAH!"). Lemmy is his same old lovable self, although it's a joy to see him playing harp on Sister Anne. And Ian Astbury, well, let's just say he makes a better Jim Morrison.

The bonus features include a short Channel 4 documentary about the MC5, some old promotional clips, and the U.S. Army surveillance footage of the band from the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. Let's be frank here, seeing footage of the intact original MC5 is a thrill that's pretty hard to resist. As enjoyable as the rest of the DVD is, it's worth the price for this stuff alone.

Here's hoping that this is only the first of many MC5-related DVD releases in the near future.

—Brian J. Bowe
July 2004

The reunion of the surviving members of the MC5 (guitarist Kramer, bassist Michael Davis and drummer Dennis Thompson)—along with resurrections of the Stooges and the New York Dolls—is showing a renewed interest in these progenitors of punk rock.

"It's surprising to me and it should be surprising to Iggy and those guys how much influence and affect our two bands have had on music now," Davis said. "I'm kind of in awe of it. We've had this kind of effect. And it's one thing to do something that people admire a lot, and go, 'That was really cool stuff,' but to have this much influence is really surprising to me."

He continued: "I thought it was great, but I never thought it was so foundational to the future. I just thought that we had a great product, that what we were doing was not being done by anyone else, and that it was just such a fucking shame that more people didn't get to hear what we were really all about. Because everything got focused into that controversy and the word 'motherfucker' and the falling-out we had with our management, and everything got focused into that rather than what the band was really intending from the beginning. And what's good, or what's surprising, is that what we were intending from the beginning is what's lasted, what's made us the cornerstone, the future of pop music. I never would have thought that back then."

Of course, part of that cornerstone is missing now—namely late singer Rob Tyner and guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith. Without those two, a reunion of the MC5 would be impossible—a fact that the band acknowledges.

Rather than recruiting two new official members, the surviving three are supported by a revolving cast of musicians. In the U.S., the band is joined by Marshall Crenshaw, Evan Dando and Mark Arm.

"You know, people come to you in a million different ways. Evan Dando called me up on the phone and started singing MC5 songs to me. I mean, I didn't even know the guy," Kramer said. "It's a random kind of thing. You just shoot it out there and see what happens. We're trying not to have preconceived ideas about anything – I mean, just as a way of life I try not to have preconceived ideas. When I have preconceived ideas, that tends to narrow the horizon. When I have no preconceived ideas, the horizon remains wide and then things that I can't think of can happen that are generally better than the things I think of. It's very interesting."

Some have questioned the selections. Dando has been roundly panned and abused and showered with various hurled liquids at tour stops. Additionally Crenshaw has been considered by some to be too lightweight to fill Sonic's shoes. But Kramer said he's underrated.

"He's a wicked guitar player, man. He plays his ass off," Kramer said. "I mean, you know, people talk about guitar players and they never mention Marshall. But Marshall's a bad mofo."

(By the way, this writer found Mudhoney's Mark Arm's performances in Detroit and Chicago nothing short of transcendent—a pairing almost as perfect as Mike Watt and the Stooges).

According to Kramer, the process is the important—and fun—part.

"What the MC5 was about, and what I'm about, and what we're going to try to do on this tour doesn't have so much to do with 'the songs' as a way to play music. The songs are just the form that it takes at that point. It's more like just being able to play music together in an ensemble. Find your own space in the ensemble, and a way to interact with other musicians," Kramer said. "I've never really been about just learning some songs and going and playing. It's always been about the act – the art of performance, you know, performing live music as opposed to reproducing live music."

Kramer said they're approaching the tour as a performance piece rather than a band going out to promote a new record.

"It's a group of musicians with a connection to certain music and a certain way of playing music. So scheduling guest band members, maybe it's like casting a play with a revolving company," Kramer said. "Different parts of the world will have different players on the band, and it'll change night by night. It's kind of like being prepared for all – well, not all, but as many as you can – contingencies. It's like learning a bunch of songs, having access to big plastic lyrics sheets for people that might not know them, charts for the horn players, general arrangements about who's in what territory, and then we'll see. You know, it's an experiment. All this stuff is experimental. It's a work in progress."

Part of the key is trying to do this with a little dignity. One of DKT's more outspoken detractors suggested (amusingly) that William Hung should have been recruited for this tour. Thing is, it seems like those guys would have been able to work around that.

"I don't want to be like MC5 rock 'n' roll karaoke. I mean, I don't know how to do this, really. I'm learning as I go," Kramer said.

Judging from the second and third dates on the world tour, the band is learning quickly. Thompson's playing is nothing but jaw-dropping—he was hitting everything dead nuts all night. Davis was locked in tight on the thunderous bottom end. Kramer's playing (and singing) are better than ever.

I've talked to a couple of folks who were disappointed, but generally those were people who were hung up on this being the MC5. It's not, and it can't be. But if the MC5 represented a method, Davis, Kramer and Thompson are better at that method than anyone else around.

—Brian J. Bowe
July 2004

Photos by Matt Carmicheal