Photo credit: Alex Walzak
In 1968 the MC5 released their debut album Kick Out The Jams. Fifty years later Wayne Kramer assembled a band to take a victory lap and pay homage to his brothers in arms. Of the original Five, three are deceased and drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson is playing selected dates.
On Tuesday at Turner Hall Ballroom, Brother Wayne romped onstage, laughing like a seven year-old, leading a band of heavyweights culled from Soundgarden, Faith No More, Fugazi and Zen Guerilla. It should be noted early on that Mr. Kramer is 70 years old.
Opening with a ripping take on Ted Taylor’s “(Love is Like a) Ramblin’ Rose” the energy was evident, even if Kramer could no longer nail the falsetto vocal. The program then continued with the LP’s remaining seven songs with Marcus Durant taking lead vocals and doing justice to the departed frontman Rob Tyner. In fact, the 6’7’ Durant (actually, more like 8’7” with full afro) was a force of nature wailing vocals and harmonica.
Wisely, Kramer focused the set on the power of the music, jiving his James Brown dance moves while tossing out blistering solos on his stars-’n’-stripes-decorated Stratocaster and deleting the White Panther political sloganeering and musical indulgences that marred the original document.
Then a funny thing happened. They nailed another nine tunes spanning the history of the band. From the mid-’60s garage rock of “I Can Only Give You Everything” to a visceral “Looking At You” to the elegiac rock of “Sister Anne” neatly seguing into its raggedy Salvation Army Band coda.
Fittingly, with a roll call of founders Rob Tyner, Fred Sonic Smith, Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson, Kramer strapped on an acoustic guitar (imagine that!) for “Shakin’ Street.”
Kramer, who did time in federal prison before launching a comeback in music (his albums on the Epitaph are worth hearing), is that rare case of an American Second Act. Upon first glance, Thursday’s merch table skewed Kramer-centric and the stage banners might have suggested an MC1, but in the end he did right by his brothers and more than honored his own legacy directing a muscular band he all but led by the leash. Did I mention the guy is 70 years old?
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Five decades ago on the debut album Brother Jesse Crawford introduced the MC5 thusly, “It takes five seconds, five seconds of decision, five seconds to realize your purpose here on the planet.” The world, it seems, is still catching up.
