#MC5 

I'm going to make a comment here about this video/audio master. It came to my office preserved with the edit of "mutherfuckers". We focused more on the quality of the video and audio rather than the fact that the lead vocal had been altered with that millisecond of silence. So .... let's rock. w.

I am a Black 64 year old man born and raised in Detroit. I have always loved Detroit rock and roll ( and Hendrix ). I was at this concert at Wayne State U. I was lucky to see the great Motor City 5 many times, they were the GREATEST LIVE BAND EVER !! That’s means a lot because in Detroit in those days, we saw all of the top groups on a regular basis. Grand Funk, Zep,Hendrix,The Who, Black Sabbath,Johnny Winter,Funkadelic,Santana - I saw the New York Dolls open for Kiss @ the Michigan Theatre before the both hit big. Man those days were AWESOME!! But NOBODY commanded an audience and stage like the GREAT MC5 (Rob Tyler and I both had big Afros also) PEACE.

RIP Wayne, the world is a much sadder place today. I've watched this video a million times and will watch it a million more.

How in the BLUE HELL are they not in the R&R Hall of Fame??? Punk long before punk became fashionable.

Fantastic video from 1970. In 1970 I was 21 and now I'm 75.....MC5 still blows my doors off.

"I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet...but your kids are gonna love it."

Holy shit…the best rock film ever. Watched many times,still makes me wanna break some furniture at age 70.

If you notice there are more than a few BLACK ROCKERS in the crowd. I was one of them. My friends and I would would get some Boone’s Farm and some herb and go see to these fantastic Detroit bands & the national acts at The Olympia, Cobo Hall (at a KISS concert I sat on stage - on Ace’s side - on the tour after their 1st live album) , Birmingham Palladium, State Fair grounds,Masonic Temple etc. Many times saw - Bob Seeger, Frijid Pink, SRC , Mitch Ryder, Stooges, I even saw Wayne Cochran ( u must see him on RU-vid)and of course the mighty,mighty MOTOR CITY 5 !!. We all loved each other back then. The White kids treated us great, we had Great Times !! One of my best friends back then and fellow Black Rocker and concertgoer was Comedian/ Actor - David Alan Grier ( he was on Jimmy Kimmel last night). Man, GOOD TIMES IN MOTOWN !!

When life is beating you down or you're depressed, come to this video and get a JOLT of pure Rock N Roll energy for your Soul and be revitalized! Works for me. Every time!

Brother Wayne. Your MC5 influenced the influencers of some of the most powerful genre's in modern music. Punk rockers and metal heads, bang your heads to this man. RIP

RIP Brother Wayne. Thanks for all the great music and your pioneering in attitude and action

Rob Tyner has got to be one of the all-time underappreciated frontmen in Rock history!!

Just incredible oh to have been there such energy and raw power

RIP Dennis Thompson, Last Man Standing. Such a great band, such great memories.

Stumbled across this video, while scrolling for daily local new. Sitting my office at work, reminiscing my I’ll spent youth listening to MC-5. The 70’s were awesome.

53 years ago today. I remember it fondly. It shaped my musical taste to this day

R.I.P Wayne Kramer. The power of your music will live on forever.

Rest in peace, drummer Dennis Thompson, the last surviving member of the band (thus ending it).

They seem like they don't give a shit but they know exactly what they doing. Order through chaos. Their performance is a masterpiece.

I never heard any MC5 music before in my life. Now will never forget them!

Never heard of the MC5 until a few days ago. They're more captivating than most famous rock group performances because they're a spontaneous powerhouse!

Man, that is some high energy Rock n' Roll, to the max! Thanks for this. The MC5 are a better band than I remember. Glad I saw this. RIP Wayne Kramer.

When wayne kramer starts dancing at the beginninig of lookin at you, he looks like the coolest rock star ever, not givin a f***. Robs vocals are great too.

This might be the single most important "artifact" of rock and roll in existence

This band is so far ahead of their time it’s insane! It’s Punk and metal and hard rock all rolled into one. Thank goodness this film exists so you can see how good they were !

This recording of the mighty MC5 is so epic and powerful. The Band seemed it could’ve burst into flames by the sheer energy displayed onstage

MC5, Seger, Iggy and Motown. Wow!! To be a Detroiter. Love it

I saw mc5 open for Iggy & the stooges, 10/31/70. Ritz theater, Staten Island, NY. This clip shows their power.

...gotta be the best MC5 clip I've ever seen. One of THE greatest rock bands of all time, end of story/case closed...gotta love Brother Wayne Kramer's James Brown slide off the stage at the end of "Ramblin' Rose"...

if "Looking At You" isn't the greatest rave up I've ever seen I don't know what is. I watch this video over and over. Truly one of the best performances ever.

Proud to be from the MotorCity and still am! And That drummer went through sticks like s*** through a goose

That was fucking awesome!!

Watching on July 19th, 2020, 50 years to the day after this was shot.

That's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

Another Great 😃👍 Band That Definitely Deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This happened one year before I was born, the 80's had some great bands but nothing like this!!!

Guy in the back hitting a joint then tried to pass it to the black dude with the big fro. Forever caught on tape. Awesome.

The MC5, Hendrix and Cream, were the first three bands that were responsible for my dad constantly telling me that I would "do permanent damage to my ears and go deaf" if I carried on listening to them. 50 years later I'm still blessed with better than average hearing.😆

RIP Wayne. You are a bedrock of rock, punk and all that lovingly kicks ass... Worldwide.

The music is so raw that as I’m scrolling through the comments my finger is starting to bleed 🩸

My first live rock concert. What a way to start. Changed my life.

I saw MC5 many times in the '60s and we thought it was the greatest music in the world. Now they have bigger amplifiers and such. In context, this was 2 months after the Kent State University shootings, which I was at, and 4 students were killed and 9 wounded. One of those killed was Allison Krause, my roommates girlfriend. We were radical as hell back in those days. We hated the establishment and wanted peace in Viet Nam and freedom for the people. I lived in Detroit and then my parents moved to Cleveland but I kept going back to Detroit for concerts. I think I saw every group in America and the music was just oozing out of Detroit. There was some really good hashish that was coming in from Windsor, Ontario, and we got really high. Ted Nugent, Bob Seeger, J. Geils, all Detroit bands and on and on. I used to hitchhike everywhere and I was at the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968, too, where we almost shut down the convention because the cops were beating so many people. I'm not trying to glorify this era, I'm just saying it was one hell of a trip to be seeing it all happen back then. Every day was exciting and exhilarating. I can't forget those times.

What a great film of the MC5 this is, it’s no wonder that the MC 5 have come to be respected for being one of R&R’s best and most exciting bands of all time.

I remember seeing MC5 in a downtown park in Berkeley around this time. They were accompanied by Abbie Hoffman after the Chicago 8 trial. Amazing and groundbreaking.

Of all the rock and roll immortalized on film, this footage is easily in the top ten of the best. This footage is important. It is American history. Every student should watch and learn. No lectures. This is excitement! The MC5 were a drug in itself. No need to take substances when the electricity this band was putting out was getting everybody off. The reverberations can still be felt by watching this. I suggest calling it The MC5 test. Put every rock and roll band against this standard. Pass or fail.Thank you Mr. Kramer for your service to our country. You and the rest of the 5 deserve the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Salute!

My dad was your manager from '69 when John Sinclair was thrown in jail, until when my dad died in March of '71. I was at this show when I was 11, because my dad got you guys booked for it. I remember crouching down right behind the stage, trying to sorta get underneath it with my fingers in my ears, in an attempt to preserve what was left of my hearing. This clip was shown in that local Detroit music show Detroit Tube Works, plus that show was syndicated, so it was kinda a big deal at the time. He also booked that all day benefit concert for John Sinclair and Mother Waddles in '70 at the Grande Ballroom, and you guys were the co-headliners with John Lee Hooker, who my dad also managed. That show also had The Bob Seger Experience, and The Amboy Dukes with Ted Nugent. I was at that one too. I think that may be the clip you have on your archives playlist, because the date is right.

The greatest live performance ever recorded.

I met and recorded with Brother Wayne in the late 70s/early 80s. We actually met the first time doing the Uncle Floyd show w/Fats Deacon and the Dumbwaiters. We then recorded at Song shop records where I played rhythm (I was 16 at the time) for Fats' song "What you wanna be" and Brother Wayne recorded the blistering lead guitar.. One take. I learned many things on guitar from Wayne. Love you Brother @Wayne Kramer .❤🎼🎸🎼❤

A place to go once time travel is invented ✌️

Total energy. The version of 'Looking At You' here is utter manic brilliance.

This is honestly, the greatest live video ever....and I always have a huge grin on my mug when it ends.

As a Detroiter this makes my heart beat 10 times faster. My older brother was there during this jam and can spot him couple of times . Hegot shipped out to Vietnam a few months after.

For all that’s in it, probably my favourite 15 minutes of ANYTHING!

That day will never be revisited...

Drummer is so good- pile drivin with some great fills! keepin the 5 in drive!

This is absolutely brilliant and what rock and roll is all about, period.

This will just never get old!!!! Pure wild rock'n'roll!!!!

As a guy from St. Louis, I was never exposed to the MC5. Legendary St. Louis rock station KSHE never played them for some reason. I stumbled across this about 5 years ago, can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched it. Absolutely mind blowing, I defy anyone to come up with 10 minutes of live music better than this. If this was the only concert they ever played, they earned their HOF induction from it. Thank God someone recorded it

I am from there hometown ..played a club with D.Thompson at Cap'n ahabs.he sat in with my band...back in the 70s...where has the time gone !

I was less than one month old when this concert happened. I found MC5 and Wayne soon enough thanks to a hip older sister who turned me on to good music.

So raw and perfect. I’ve watched this a hundred times, and it will never grow old. Kudos to the film crew for focusing on the band instead of relying on the goofy “psychedelic” tricks so many others did at the time.

Whenever I watch this video I always wonder how the crowd can just stand there like that. I guess they're just totally blown away by the absolute awesomeness of what they are witnessing.

Bless you Wayne. I hope you’re with Fred, Rob, and Michael and making some glorious noise tonight.

I once met the Rev. Charles M. Young, who wrote for Rolling Stone, at a Dead Boys show at CBGBs. He had written the first cover story for RS that took the Sex Pistols seriously. I asked him what was the most exciting show he ever saw and he said it was the MC5.

Wow!! I just stumbled across this video. Never seen these guys before. This is absolute Gold!!! There’s no holding back with these guys. I would love see these guys live but I’m pretty sure that ship sailed. Amazing stage presence with total adrenaline and some soul thrown in!!! I’m goin down the rabbit hole now.

RIP Brother Wayne, thanks for all the music, inspiration and memories.

Remember those big hair days in the late 60's and when Rock was "LOUD AND SNOTTY.".I'm now 76 and I still "ROCK"

Have to watch this once a week. I'm coming to see you at the O2 in London Wayne. I've loved you for 50 years. True love never dies.

Shout out to your dad at 0:25 chiefing a monster hit off that doink

This was a free concert from wabx radio station and I was 14 years old and went to it.took the bus from Rosedale park to Wayne State university. Saw shit that day that blew my mind.Savage Grace and Catfish Hodge played too.Saw them many times after but this show is the one I remember best.I was sitting in the grand stand to the left of the stage..amazing what you can find on utube...Detroit rocks.

One of the most important bands ever.

One of the greatest band of all time. 5 awesome musicians. 3 perfect album, High Time is so underrated

It’s easy to see that they loved doing what they do which makes the groove feel that much better. Humble Pie was another!

Every now and then I have to go back and listen to this group and indeed - listen and view this performance to remind me what rock and roll is all about. Arguably the best rock and roll band in music history.

R.I.P. Wayne Kramer, rock 'n' roll legend. I only saw Wayne Kramer twice-with Johnny Thunders in Gang War (not Wayne's finest group, but he was still great)-but he was a smart, decent, self-aware human being who could play the hell out of the guitar. Watch the videos on MC5 in their prime-Wayne was a showman! I highly recommend his memoir The Hard Stuff.

The MC5 at their peak, maybe the greatest 3 song set in rock history, feel the power!

I saw the MC5 in a paired bill with Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes in a field in a southwestern PA in 1971. I was fortunate enough to have talked with Fred Sonic Smith after the gig, and I remember what a nice guy he was. He played the 12 string Rickenbacker solid body seen here in this video- although I don't know if he actually strung it with 12 strings, likely 6. The thing that knocks me out about this Tartar Field show is how great Wayne Kramer was at that time. Younger guitarists don't realize that not too many guitarists at this time (1970) could play this ferociously well; Wayne is so articulate in his picking and his tone is great through those Marshall Super Leads. As I recall he used NO effects- this was straight into the head. To play like that, with that accuracy, and that sustain without a fuzz tone in those days separated the men from the boys. You were walking a tightrope without a net. I do remember when I saw Wayne he was really good. Great memories. Good on you, Wayne.

This could be the best rock performance ever.

Raw, garage band on steroids!!!!!! I am 66 yrs old and this song made me stop trying to play Beatle chords over 50 years ago!

I’ve rarely seen anyone in the groove than Wayne Kramer. Good god. The whole band, but Kramer has a higher gear than pretty much anything I’ve encountered!

There has been so many classic rock moments but this really has to be the one. It really shouldn't be this good, how the hell does Wayne Kramer get so funky, how does the sonic levels just keep soaring and the audience just miss it. But there are some deep souls who realise that they are witnessing genius. Oh my God- Detroit this is the shit. And I come from New Zealand, but I respect every moment of this. This is a treasure. What I love it reminds me of every wonderful moment when you are young and you try to explain some band or groove you experienced, but it is impossible to recapture- this clip recaptures every single stunning moment of youth and its essence. Thank you for releasing this and long may it exists.

I mean, I comment on here every once in a while, but I just can't say how lucky we all are that this footage exists. This is unbelievable.

Most of the audience were not ready for this massive concussion of rock & roll

The MC5 were more than a band,they were a revolution!

Wayne Kramer is simply mesmerizing . He does moves few white guys can get away with and he has it in spades

Thank you for this. WOW Looking At You live!! I think Back In The USA is one of the best rock and roll albums ever. Rocks hard to this day!

Unbelievably awesome

It's said that MC5 was inspiration for 90's grunge

A - ma - zing. They're exciting to listen to on record, but watching and listening to them on stage is something else.

I opened for the MC5 in 71 with my band CRANK in Madison, Wisconsin. I met my first wife that night after the show at a party where both of us bands ended up. It was an awesome night. I can't remember where I met my second wife. It was probably at a party after one of my gigs.

Hey,Wayne was you having fun?Wayne when you where playing lead to looking at you .You twirled around hit the ground. Up & down to the back.The guy watching head going up&down. I never caught that before. Your guitar playing 10 years ahead of anyone or anything else. Thanks for the music and the memories.Keep on ROCK'N.Love is the key...

Slidin' across the stage, bad mo fo. Never get tired of lookin at it

the crowd is dumbfounded by the utter rock they are being served. there's no precedent to the MC5 and they're ability to slay.

I wish i had the same energy now. Time passes too fast.

Rest In Power Brother Wayne.. All gone but NEVER forgotten... Brother Wayne Kramer Died: 2. March 2024 Brother Rob Tyner: Died 18 Sept 1991 Brother Fred Sonic Smith: Died Nov 4th, 1994 Brother Dennis Tomich: Died: May 9, 2024

High energy Detroit rock and roll! TESTIFY!

Great band- Tyner was a fantastic talent, and I think the drummer is superb. The 5 are American essentials

This is a true representation of the 'Detroit sound' and certainly had a big influence on Iggy Pop and the Stooges what it really was was the beginnings of heavy metal music. Way way ahead of their time much like The Who.Just pure energy.

You can still sense The Air is Crackling...

Rob was such a force...Wayne's move at 9:45 is just sick...these guys were just this side of coming off the rails....what an I credible performance!!