The Entroporium

Entroporium returns from vacation…

By almost no intention of our own, multiple lucky connections amplified by good timing, Susie and I saw MC5 last week at Brooklyn’s Northsix. The band was in town to perform, in their own words, “Kick Out The Jams for the first time, from beginning to end, in its entirety since the bad old days.” Replacing departed vocalist Rob Tyner was an impressive array of song stylists — Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Handsome Dick Manitoba (The Dictators) and Lisa Kekaula (Bellrays, Basement Jaxx) – while Gilby Clarke from Guns N Roses stood in for Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith.

And indeed they did kick out the jams (is there really any other way to say it?). The reconstituted DKT/MC5 slammed through the whole album, from the iconic title track (though without the spoken introduction) all the way through the cover of Sun Ra’s “Starship.” It was a storming rendition of one of the all-time great rock and roll albums, and it was treated with reverence and authority by the original performers. What more can you ask for?

In some ways, MC5 represented everything that’s overblown and hateful about 60′s rock. Let me count the ways: free jazz freakouts, excessive use & abuse of Louie Louie and blues scales, noodly high-octave soloing, references to the crowd and band as “Brothers & Sisters,” obligatory unhappiness about the current political situation, multiple attempts at breaking down The Fourth Wall between the crowd and the performers… but I have to admit, this was the Revolutionary 60′s shtick done to the 9′s. That awesome sound of guitars so loud that the music starts to feel like it’s coming apart – contemporary exemplars include Thurston Moore and Neil Young – mmm it was good.

The element that really made sealed the deal was the enthusiasm of the crowd, many of whom were from back in the day and clearly in heaven to be part of it again. Most of the punters sang along under its breath, while the 3-part singalong round of “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)” was the most complex piece of audience participation I’ve ever seen pulled off successfully. On different occasions, Mark Arm and Wayne Kramer roamed the crowd and they were treated with a reverence you never see at a typical stage-diving show. It was revolutionary, sure, but we can still respect each other! An important message for our impolitic era.

After Mark Arm’s screams sent the Starship “leaving … the … SOLAR …. SYSTEEEEEMMMMMM!,” the band took an intermission before it came back and ran through most of Back In The USA. Manitoba did his punk-wrestler act, Kekaula evangelized and, um, looked at us (as per the song), and Mark Arm did his cross-eyed crazy man routine to a T. Even without knowing that this was once one of the great bands, this was still a great night for my friends who were not familiar with the original material. Susie got her picture taken with Mark after the show and everybody agreed that it was a an all-time Top Ten show. Not bad for a spur of the moment lucky break on vacation!

Curiously this was not a sellout, possibly because MC5 was due to play the next day for free with Sun Ra Arkrestra and DJ Spooky in Central Park, but I’m betting that it also had something to do with the aftertasted of last year’s semi-disastrous Evan Dando tour. Nevertheless, the NorthSix management said that this was the most enervated & excited crowd that had ever come out to the club, which is pretty amazing given the roster of talent that’s come through there over the years. Brothers & Sisters!

[Testify!]
Jukebox Graduate was there, too, she’s got pictures of the show and she’s far more knowledgable about MC5 than I am
jukeboxgraduate.com: i wanna hear some revolution: return of the MC5

Pop Matters on Kick Out The Jams: “With the exception of the Who’s Live at Leeds, no live recording has captured the primal elements of rock more than the MC5′s inaugural effort…”

Lil Mike has a brief history of MC5, some randy pictures and a few MP3s

MC5 – Kick Out The Jams.mp3