Rest In Peace Michael Davis of the MC5

The MC5 is down to two. Yesterday was a sad day for the world of real Rock 'n' Roll with the passing of Michael Davis of the MC5 and Destroy All Monsters. Got turned on to the MC5 in the mid-'80s through the ROIR cassette "Babes in Arms" from the guys at Fallout Records in Seattle. I couldn't believe there were other mid- to late-sixties bands besides the Sonics and the Stooges that weren't all hippy dippy and were forefathers of punk (remember, I was a 16-year-old punk skater kid who had been listening to hardcore for the previous couple of years). Simply put, the MC5 blew my mind. I got original copies of all of their records, even though they were pricey at the time. And I always played them and turned my friends on to them. I still listen to them all the time. In 2004 the three surviving members (Davis, Wayne Kramer, and Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson) did a reunion tour. I saw them twice, once in Tucson at the Club Congress and in Tempe at the Marquee. I interviewed them with Mark Arm -- who did some vocals, along with Evan Dando, on the tour -- at the cafe there, and brought all of my MC5 records to get autographed. I've only done that for 3 bands in the nearly 20 years I have been working for Thrasher. Before the show, Wayne Kramer asked me what I wanted to hear. I think he was testing me -- did I really know the MC5 song catalogue? Without hesitation I started naming all of my favorite songs, and I think he figured out I was a fan and not just some autograph hound. Those records are framed and hanging in my office -- I bought duplicates to play. They were all super nice, and even though Kramer did  most of the talking, Davis was super friendly and warm. They fucking blew doors both shows. The Congress -- a small- to medium-sized venue -- was packed, and the band went off. Dando made an ass out of himself. The next night, I had finangled 16 or so free tickets to the Marquee. It was a Sunday night, they had sold very few advanced tickets, and they were papering the room to get people in there. I called all of my friends trying to give away tickets, leaving a bunch in my mail box. At the show, there were about 250 people in the big venue. The band fucking killed it -- I was psyched that even though the crowd was small, everyone was into it. Well, almost everyone. One acquaintence after the show remarked how it was terrible to see old men get up and do that. "I wish I could have just seen No Means No." What a fucking idiot. My buddy Jake and I let him have it. We'd just witnessed history, albeit history about 35 years too late. I shot photos at the Tucson show, and wrote up the interview in the OCtober 2004 issue of Thrasher. Tried to find it online, but I don't think it is available. I fucking love the MC5, and yesterday and today and for a while to come are gonna be sad days. But fuck it, we all gotta keep kickin' out the jams, as corny as that might sound.