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18. On the Front Lines with the MC5 By late May 1968, the Trans-Love commune had been ‹rebombed twice, and hassles with the Detroit police had escalated following a new curfew imposed following the assassination of Martin Luther King. As a result, John Sinclair moved the entire Trans-Love Energies operation to Ann Arbor, settling into two big Victorian-style houses next door to one another on a street not far from the University of Michigan campus. The commune included twenty-eight people, with Sinclair and his family and the MC5 and their ladies residing at 1510 Hill. Other assorted Trans-Love employees and hangers-on occupied the larger house at 1520 Hill. A carriage house out back accommodated additional guests.1 While Ann Arbor may have provided a more peaceful living environment, the MC5 seemed to ‹nd trouble whenever they left the area. On Friday, May 31, the “5” were booked at the original Hideout club in Grosse Pointe, which was trying to remain competitive . Although it was a small venue compared to the Grande Ballroom, Wayne Kramer says that the band “wanted to play everywhere they could and carry their message all over.”2 They were known for performing for free at many bene‹t shows around Michigan. The MC5’s political posturing as a “revolutionary band” was becoming increasingly evident. Gary Grimshaw’s handbill for the Hideout show featured a headline proclaiming, “Break Through American Stasis With The MC5.” Below was a photo of the band standing naked from the waste up, in front of an American ›ag, hung backwards. The Hideout was packed with four hundred fans that night, the largest crowd the small room had held in several months. Third Power opened the show, and as they played their set, Sinclair and Dennis Thompson headed to the parking lot for a smoke. There 164 they ran into some kids offering to share some grass. While they passed around a joint, two rent-a-cops appeared, and thirty minutes later, the Harper Woods police. Informed of what was going down, Wayne Kramer, Fred Smith, Rob Tyner, Michael Davis, and Ron Levine, their equipment manager, came running out. A cop pushed Fred Smith in the chest and threatened further action if they didn’t back off.3 Wayne Kramer says things got ugly inside when Levine grabbed the microphone and announced to the crowd: “Hey everybody, the pigs are out there busting the band. Are we going to take this?”4 Levine suggested that the kids surround the cops and demand to have Sinclair and Thompson freed. Before he could ‹nish his plea, he was dragged offstage by a cop, and then the doors were closed with the kids inside. Not wanting anymore trouble, the manager requested that the police release all the suspects with the exception of the one who was actually caught with the marijuana. The police complied. An excited crowd screamed when the MC5 returned to the stage, plugged in, and started a new set with, “Kick Out the Jams.” Near the end of the set, as usual, John Sinclair joined the band on sax as they wailed on “Black To Comm.” But tonight, the manager, in a hurry to get them offstage, turned off the electricity right in the middle of the song. Fred Smith chanted, “Power! Power! Power!” and the crowd joined him. The juice returned, and the band brought the whole night to a memorable climax. Wayne Kramer says, “It was a de‹ning night for the MC5. Yeah, it was the people versus the pigs, and the people won.”5 The following Sunday night, June 23, the MC5 was scheduled to open for Cream at the Grande Ballroom. Stoked by what had gone down at the Hideout, the band decided to make a statement by burning an American ›ag on stage. When Russ Gibb found out what the band was brewing, he threatened to send for the police. Gibb liked to align himself with the freaks, but even during the height of anti-Vietnam protesting, there were some things he would not allow. It was a hot, humid night in Detroit; the temperature was over one hundred degrees in the Grande. The ballroom was packed with two thousand fans waiting to hear Cream and everybody’s On the Front Lines 165 favorite local band, the MC5. In compliance with Gibb’s request, the band decided that instead of burning a ›ag, they would rip one to shreds. That accomplished...

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