The Cramps : Live At Napa State Mental Hospital 1978 dvd (Target Video/Music Video Distributors)

By Jens

This notorious concert has been circling around as a rare orignal and mostly VHS bootlegs for almost 20 years gaining a lotta cult hype, and now it's finally on dvd. The classic first lineup of The Cramps (with Nick Knox and the late Brian Gregory) playing a gig at a loony bin sounds sensational, twisted and immensely appealing? Well yes, but before you call this a freakshow punk mix of Todd Brownings' "Freaks" and Werner Herzog's "Even Dwarfs Started Small", lemme state it's also strangely touching and moving. Lux & Co. do 8 vintage Cramps songs in 20 minutes; "Mystery Plane", "The Way I Walk" (Jack Scott) "What's Behind the Mask", "Human Fly", "Domino" (Roy Orbison), "Love Me" (The Phantom), "Twist and Shout", and "TV Set". It's shot with a 1/2" Sony Port-A-Pak camera & single microphone in glorious black'n'white and is pretty shaky & jerky, the print is scratchy (the 'Target Video 1984' logo is present all the time) but the sound is decent and most important The Cramps is on fuckin' fire, delivering the tunes in the most raw performance I've probably any band do. It all fits the viewing experience perfectly in some weird way. The band gives their very best like it was a 'normal' gig at a rowdy club, the major difference here is there's no real stage (they play on top of some small stairs), no bouncers, no bar, no mohawked tattooed punkrock posers - just a room full of mental patients enjoying themselves, shaking, dancing, kickin' ass and letting loose. "We are The Cramps and we're from New York City and we drove 3,000 miles to play for you people!" Lux shouts between songs. They were on tour with SF band The Mutants. A girl screams at one point; "I got cramps!". "That's your problem, honey. I got them myself, and I can't do anything with them either!". The patients somehow feel safe with this band, they are one of them. A big blackhaired gal gets to howl into the mike and Lux lets her go nuts, later he had to reclaim mike to keep up with the song. Later she and another girl grabs the mike again. A black guy wearing a cowboy tries to calm her down and starts huggin' everyone everytime he thinks things are gettin' too intense. Left of the 'stage' a funny innocent looking fella pretends to sing into an invisible mike all through the show. Close to him a mongoloid woman walks manically up and down the chairs.

The Cramps keep their cool through out what appears to be completely pandemonium and really enjoy themselves, and so do the patients. No doctors or hospital personell interfere with the action. A 'normal' rock audience could really learn a thing or two from this psychotronic piece of rock history. It's a hilarious and strange but also incredibly positive experience watching this video, which is everything I hoped it'd be and then some. The Cramps is truly the greatest rock'n'roll that ever walked the earth, no fuckin' contest!
There are also 20 minutes of short Target trailers from different live concerts incl. Toxic Reasons, Crucifix, MDC, DOA, Circle Jerks, GG Allin and Dead Kennedys. The best is a full song by Crime played in a prison yard where the inmates watch the band and hold up small posters of the band whenever the camera is on them!?! Beyond surreal. GET THIS DVD - IT'S AN ORDER!!!

Sonic Revolution : A Celebration Of The MC5 (Image Entertainment/MuscleTone dvd)

By Jens

I never went to London to see this 'celebration' concert ("it's not a reunion" sez Wayne Kramer on the dvd) with the Motor City legends but I clearly remember there was a lotta controversy. Evil corporate Levi's sponsoring the revolutionary and counter-culture MC5 rebels etc. I totally get that beef but then again many of the same critics go see gigs each month sponsored by Carlsberg, Budweiser, Malboro, Smirnoff and what-not. Let the music do the talking I say. If you interested in MC5 history check out my review in Lowcut # 14 of the sensational "MC5 * A True Testimonial" 2-hour documentary.
Okay, lets get down to business and what this dvd is about. On March 13th 2003 the three remaining members; Wayne Kramer (guitar, vocals), Dennis Thompson (drums) and Michael Davis (bass) went on stage at the legendary 100 Club in London some 30 odd years after MC5 broke up. During the years the world saw the demise of Fred 'Sonic' Smith (guitar) and singer Rob Tyner, so a handful of guest musicians were inviting to join the celebration of the legacy MC5 left behind. Two hornplayers, Ralph "Buzzy" Jones and Dr. Charles Moore (appears on "High Time") and Nicke Royale on guitar were added to the line-up. The performance kicks off with Dennis leading the battle with some fierce drumming and then the guys take on "Skunk (Sonicly Speaking)" with Kramer on vocals. A great start with the horns groovin' nicely on this jazzy track, Kramer's no Tyner but he's doin' a fine job. The band seems tight despite a so-so sound. Nicke Royale (who must know these tracks in his sleep) do the vocals "Gotta Keep Movin'" and later "The American Ruse" with authority and panache. Michael Davis' lead vocals on "Shakin' Street" is a real surprise. With a workman-like approach he gets away with it without embarrassing himself. The Damned's Dave Vanian doesn't feel that comfortable with "Tonight", but with "Looking At You" he really shine. Vanian also handles "High School" (wrongly credited on the dvd to Davis) quite nicely. The horns really give this teenage anthem a unique feel. "Poison" is a throwback to the jazz roots of MC5, I wish they'd done "Call Me Animal" instead though. With "Sister Ann" hardass r'n'r icon Lemmy enters the stage to great applause from the audience. His gruff vocals really give a raw spin to the song and he also dish out some (primitive) harp playing, but it's fuckin' strange seeing him without his trademark bass. Great job, Mr. Kilmister, even though the tune gets rather silly in the end. Lemmy howls from the stage; "Without these guys there would be no Motörhead!". Kramer handles the glorious "Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa-Fa-Fa)" with no problems but then he tries to get some audience participation by letting them sing different lines, it really doesn't work but looks like a lotta fun. "Ramblin' Rose" gets another fine horn treatment, then it's the final song of the nite, the immortal "Kick Out The Jams", and what I thought would the weakest link (The Cult's Ian Astbury) actually turns out as a triumph, and crowd goes nutzoid. One hour of technically above average shot footage, the band were pretty powerful and together despite an uneven sound. Too many different singers? That's a matter of taste, I didn't expect it to be the concert of the century but I really enjoyed seeing various people take on the songs. But yes, in all fairness NOBODY can touch the soulful powerhouse singing of the sadly missed Rob Tyner, but we all knew that. You gotta take this event for what it is, a rowdy celebration by the fans and artists of the legacy of one of the greatest rock'n'roll bands ever to grace the earth.

DVD Extras....here comes the really juicy parts on the dvd. There's a cool 30 minutes documentary about the band, history and of course MC5 fans, both famous and folks waiting to get in to the show. People like Jack White, Lemmy ("Motörhead took over where MC5 left"), Dollhouse (who're very visible during the show), BBC and MOJO journalists. Why guys like Richard Fearless (Death In Vegas) and worst of all Mani of the godawful trendwhores of Primal Scream are interviewed is a mystery to me. Kramer talks about meeting Lemmy the first time as 'that skinny dude from Hawkwind. 'Behind The Scenes' (15 min.) shows the threesome rehearsing before and talking about their days in MC5, Michael Davis has some really great stories. 'Lively Spot 1 & 2' (TV performances "The American Ruse" & "Looking At You") and 'Conservation In Dept : Black To Comm' are superior versions of some the horrible footage that's been on zillions of 10th generation bootlegs during the years like "Thunder Express". It's not perfect, but it's the best there is around today. John Sinclair's The 'Kick Out The Jams music video' from the Grande Ballroom is real treat which incl. optional band commentary. The silent surveillance footage from 'National Archives Footage-Department Of Defense' shows MC5 playing at a demonstation at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention along with footage of soldiers in bootcamp. Truly fascinating to observe 'the man's' view of 'the enemy' (MC5). The rarest footage on the DVD is definitely the 'Detroit And Bell Isle Love-In' (no sound, band commentary) which gives a unique (b&w) look at the bohemian counter-culture in Detroit with friends and freaks of the MC5, Jon Sinclair and white panthers all ending in the 'Love-In' April 13th 1967 (on Kramer's birthday). The comments by the threesome are both hilarious (it was Dennis' first acid trip) and insightful. You really feel the brotherhood between Mike, Dennis and Wayne still exist. After the MC5 played the Love-In ends in riots as the police starts beating people down. The dvd extras last around 60 mins and it's combination of this and the 100 Club rockshow that really makes this dvd worth your hardearned cash (even though "MC5 * A True Testimonial" is a tad superior), okay brothers'n'sisters? Expect a review + interview from the DTK/MC5 & Dollhouse September 18th show at Loppen in the next Lowcut # 18.

WE vs. Körkalen - Filmteateret, Oslo 8/11/04

By Scott

This was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. The Norwegian band WE, put together two sets of music (65 and 45minutes) to this Swedish silent film from 1921. This was a special event for the pre-opening of this years Öyafestival.
They wanted to do something different and Thomas the singer from WE suggested WE perform to a silent film and suggested this one. Everyone thought it was a great idea. He has this old video tape that the band worked from but it turned out that the Swedish Film institute had recently made a new refurbished version of this classic in 1999. The video Thomas had was only 79m and this was 109min long! The band had to work up an extra 30 minutes of music. Anyway, for 75kr (if you had a pass for the festival) or 150kr, you could see WE perform to the film in this classic theatre (and free beer- not advertised!).

It was a full 8000 watt PA and incredible sound. About 300 people were at the showing. The band comes out dressed in black hooded costumes. The bands performance was outstanding. You heard parts of some of their songs used in the music (Chase Vampires, 1971, Lucid, Stuks of Khun de Prorok). The music starts very eerie and they play some cool Pink Floyd like stuff. The new WE member, Jan plays some cool Rhodes piano. All the text is recited in English by Thomas with some cool vocal effects and delays on occasion. He really gets into the characters and it is totally amazing. There is a break in the middle. Everyone I talked to thought this was an amazing event and totally unique to have heavy rock music played to an old classic silent film. This is a very heavy film about a women who is dying and David Holm, a very nasty, bitter, mean person and their meetings with the grim reaper and
the phantom carriage. A mind blowing movie and way ahead of it's time. By far the best silent movie I have ever seen. What a way to start the festival!