MC5’s Kick Out the Jams 50th Anniversary Tour Announced

Wayne Kramer is hitting the road to celebrate the 50th anniversary of MC5’s seminal album Kick Out the Jams. “Kick Out the Jams: The 50th Anniversary Tour” will hit festivals in Europe and headlining shows across North America. Kramer will be joined by Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Dug Pinnick (King’s X), and Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla). They’ll play Kick Out The Jams in full and other classic MC5 records. They’ll end the tour in the MC5’s hometown of Detroit on October 27—the same city where the album was recorded on Halloween weekend in 1968. See their full itinerary.

“The message of the MC5 has always been the sense of possibilities: a new music, a new politics, a new lifestyle,” Kramer said in a statement. “Today, there is a corrupt regime in power, an endless war thousands of miles away, and uncontrollable violence wracking our country. It’s becoming less and less clear if we’re talking about 1968 or 2018. I’m now compelled to share this music I created with my brothers 50 years ago. My goal is that the audience leaves these concerts fueled by the positive and unifying power of rock music.” Canty added:

“The MC5 were one of the few bands that I idolized growing up in DC. They had politics, chops, and unfathomable energy. They played protests, and made music that sounded like a celebration of the movement at the same time. They informed so many of us in the punk rock world. No matter where you heard it, hearing Kick out the Jams for the first time rewrote what you thought you knew of the 60’s, and a band's potential. It’s been great getting to know and play with Wayne. He still can play like a motherfucker, and his politics are front and center. He is smart and righteous, and I’m happy to be in his army on this one.”

Kramer has also announced a new memoir with Da Capo Press. The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities is out on August 14. See where Kick Out the Jams ranked on Pitchfork’s “200 Best Albums of the 1960s.”