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MC50 To Honor ‘Kick Out The Jams’ 50th Anniversary
– ‘Kick Out The Jams: The 50th Anniversary Tour’
MC5 leader Wayne Kramer has assembled a touring lineup featuring members of Soundgarden, Fugazi, King’s X and Zen Guerrilla to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the proto-punk band’s landmark Kick Out The Jams album.
Guitarist Kramer & company have tweaked the MC5 name to reference the anniversary. Called MC50, the group includes Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, King’s X bassist Doug Pinnick, and Zen Guerrilla singer Marcus Durant. The complete name of the tour is “Kick Out The Jams: The 50th Anniversary Tour.”
You know the intro even if you don’t know the song. Beginning with MC5 vocalist Rob Tyner delivering a mighty “Kick out the jams, mother***ers!” the title track to the MC5’s 1969 debut album recorded live at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom the previous year exemplified the band’s raw, take-no-prisoners power. An edited, radio safe version of the song was also released but it’s the fury and musical muscle of the unedited version that carved out MC5’s place in rock history. No wonder Pitchfork selected the Kick Out The Jams album as one of the best albums of the 1960s.
The North American tour follows the band’s run of European summer festivals like Denmark’s Northside Fest and Spain’s Azkena Rock. Launching in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the outing includes stops in Boston, Toronto, Nashville, Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Chicago before it concludes at the grand reopening of The Fillmore in the band’s hometown of Detroit.
The plan is for MC50 to play the Kick Out The Jams album from start to finish and follow it with an encore of MC5 material that will be different for each show.
“This band will rip your head off,” Kramer said in a statement. “It’s real, raw, sweaty, total energy rock and roll, like a bunch of 40-to-70-year-old punks on a meth power trip.”
Presales for many North America shows launch this week with general onsales beginning April 6. Keep checking MC50’s Pollstar page for more details.