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.
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 DKT/MC5 admire a lot, and go, 'That was really cool Sonic Revolution: Live At London's 100 stuff,' but to have this much influence is really Club [DVD] surprising to me." 2004 Image
He continued: "I thought it was great, but I The DKT/MC5 gig at London's 100 Club never thought it was so foundational to the was the first salvo in what has become a future. I just thought that we had a great full-fledged project to bring the music of product, that what we were doing was not the MC5 to new listeners. This DVD being done by anyone else, and that it was just memorializes that night. such a fucking shame that more people didn't get to hear what we were really all about. This London show is less polished and a Because everything got focused into that little stiff compared to the U.S. shows this controversy and the word 'motherfucker' and summer. But that nervous energy is part of the falling-out we had with our management, what makes it an interesting watch. Davis, and everything got focused into that rather Kramer and Thompson were just than what the band was really intending from beginning to dip a toe into the waters of the beginning. And what's good, or what's playing together again, whereas now surprising, is that what we were intending they've taken the full-on plunge. from the beginning is what's lasted, what's made us the cornerstone, the future of pop Those three form a crack unit, but they're music. I never would have thought that back missing two singular talents. So the special then." guests play a big role in filling those holes. Nicke Royale from the Hellacopters does a Of course, part of that cornerstone is missing great job on guitar and vocals, but that 's now—namely late singer Rob Tyner and to be expected, since he's been studying for guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith. Without those this role for many years now. The horn two, a reunion of the MC5 would be section of Dr. Charles Moore and Buzzy impossible—a fact that the band Jones are breathtaking. (Hint: how about acknowledges. a U.S. tour with Nicke and that horn section?) Rather than recruiting two new official members, the surviving three are supported by The Damned's Dave Vanian kicks ass, but a revolving cast of musicians. In the U.S., the as usual comes off a little like the Count band is joined by Marshall Crenshaw, Evan from Sesame Street ("High school, sis Dando and Mark Arm. boom BLAH!"). Lemmy is his same old lovable self, although it's a joy to see him "You know, people come to you in a million playing harp on Sister Anne. And Ian different ways. Evan Dando called me up on Astbury, well, let's just say he makes a the phone and started singing MC5 songs to better Jim Morrison. me. I mean, I didn't even know the guy," Kramer said. "It's a random kind of thing. You The bonus features include a short just shoot it out there and see what happens. Channel 4 documentary about the MC5, We're trying not to have preconceived ideas some old promotional clips, and the U.S. about anything – I mean, just as a way of life I Army surveillance footage of the band try not to have preconceived ideas. When I from the 1968 Chicago Democratic have preconceived ideas, that tends to narrow Convention. Let's be frank here, seeing the horizon. When I have no preconceived footage of the intact original MC5 is a ideas, the horizon remains wide and then thrill that's pretty hard to resist. As things that I can't think of can happen that are enjoyable as the rest of the DVD is, it's generally better than the things I think of. It's worth the price for this stuff alone. very interesting." Here's hoping that this is only the first of Some have questioned the selections. Dando many MC5-related DVD releases in the has been roundly panned and abused and near future. showered with various hurled liquids at tour stops. Additionally Crenshaw has been —Brian J. Bowe considered by some to be too lightweight to July 2004 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