MC5’s Wayne Kramer Plots ‘Kick Out the Jams’ 50th Anniversary Tour
Wayne Kramer, the founding guitarist of Detroit punk legends MC5, will embark on a massive North American tour this fall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band’s 1968 debut, Kick Out the Jams.
The 35-date tour launches September 5th at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and fittingly wraps with two hometown shows in Detroit: October 26th at St. Andrew’s Hall and October 27th at the Fillmore. At each tour stop, Kramer and co. will play Kick Out the Jams in its entirety, as well as an encore set of MC5 material that will change each night.
Tickets for the tour start to go on sale April 4th at 10 a.m. local time, though complete information is available on the MC50’s website. The band is also offering “Wayne Kramer Super Fan Pre-Show Experience” packages, which come with one general admission ticket, a pre-show conversation and photo with Kramer, an autographed copy of his upcoming memoir, The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5 and My Life of Impossibilities.
Kramer is the only founding member of MC5 to participate in the tour, though he’ll be joined by an impressive group of musicians: Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil will play guitar, Fugazi’s Brendan Canty will play drums, Dug Pinnick of King’s X will play bass and Zen Guerrilla’s Marcus Durant will serve as frontman.
Released amidst the political and cultural upheaval of 1968, Kramer noted the potency of revisiting Kick Out the Jams 50 years later. “Today, there is a corrupt regime in power, an endless war thousands of miles away, and uncontrollable violence wracking our country,” he said. “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.”
MC50 Tour Dates
September 5 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live
September 6 – St. Augustine, FL @ Backyard Stage at St. Augustine Amphitheatre
September 7 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
September 8 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival
September 9 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
September 11 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
September 12 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
September 13 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
September 14 – Huntington, NY @ The Paramount
September 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
September 17 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
September 18 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
September 19 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
September 21 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
September 22 – Grand Rapids, MI @ 20 Monroe Live
September 23 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
September 25 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
September 26 – St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room
September 28 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
September 29 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
October 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Marquee
October 2 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
October 3 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
October 4 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
October 5 – Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford
October 15 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
October 16 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
October 17 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
October 19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
October 20 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
October 23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
October 24 – Chicago, IL @ Metro Chicago
October 25 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s
October 26 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall
October 27 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore