MC50/Michael Monroe
London Shepherd’s Bush Empire
A double bill to die for.
There are crack-addicted lap-dancers three months behind with their rent who don’t apply themselves to their craft with the indomitable vigour of ex-Hanoi Rocks human dynamo Michael Monroe. Given 45 minutes to dazzle, he James Browns the shit out of a glam-drenched show as exhausting as it is compelling. Mixing solo gems (78; Dead, Jail Or Rock’N’Roll) with cannily deployed bangers (Hanoi’s Malibu Beach; Up Around The Bend), he nixes vocal fatigue by attacking his performance like a peroxide Tasmanian Devil. Multi-tasking like Chaplin in Modern Times he changes hats, honks sax, spits into an upside-down gob-iron, assaults his mic and climbs the kit before – inevitably - dropping into a gasp-inducing splits, all inside a single desperate minute.
Wayne Kramer’s MC50, celebrating a half century of live album exemplar Kick Out The Jams, unleash a humbling object lesson in improvisational ensemble interplay beyond the reach of mere mortals. Kramer’s backed by Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, Faith No More’s Billy Gould, Fugazi’s Brendan Canty and Zen Guerrilla’s Marcus Durant and they’re a five on fire. Wayne beams, sizzles and utilises his signature stars-‘n’-stripes Strat in classic Motor City dance steps, while Durant channels Rob Tyner and, as those motherfuckingly magnificent Jams are vigorously re-kicked, we bear witness to a rock testimonial par excellence.