Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil said his ‘jaw dropped’ when he got a call from MC5 legend Wayne Kramer a year after Chris Cornell’s death with an offer to join MC50.
“(Kramer) asked if I wanted to play, and my jaw dropped,” Thayil, who had been largely out of sight since Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell died by suicide last May in Detroit, tells Billboard. “I thought two things — ‘Am I ready to come out of the fetal position?’ and then ‘How could I be any more ready than this opportunity to play with what I consider to be my favorite band.’
“So I made myself ready. It was like, ‘Fix your head. This is The One!’ When I mentioned it to friends of mine they didn’t hesitate; They said, ‘Omigod, jeez, this is your dream. You should do this!’ The timing was pretty good, I think. I was allowing myself to be ready.”
Thayil said he gets along well with his MC50 bandmates, who include Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, and can see them touring into the future following their current North American run, and even maybe record new music, which is great news for fans who hope to continue to hear Thayil record after only releasing 2012’s King Animal with Soundgarden in the last couple of decades.
“Kick Out the Jams: The 50th Anniversary Tour” kicked off on Wednesday in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and runs through the end of October, concluding with two nights in MC5’s native Detroit. The Detroit performance will be Kim Thayil’s first visit to the city since Chris Cornell’s death last year. Matt Cameron will join MC50 for select performances.
MC50 2018 Tour Dates:
09/05 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live
09/06 – St. Augustine, FL @ Backyard Stage at St. Augustine Amphitheatre
09/07 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse #
09/08 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival
09/09 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
09/11 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
09/12 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall *
09/13 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
09/14 – Huntington, NY @ The Paramount *
09/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
09/17 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza *
09/18 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
09/19 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
09/21 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre *
09/22 – Grand Rapids, MI @ 20 Monroe Live *
09/23 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
09/25 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom *
09/26 – St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room *
09/28 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk *
09/29 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater *
10/01 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Marquee
10/02 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
10/03 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues ^
10/04 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom ^
10/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford (A Benefit for charity Jail Guitar Doors)
10/15 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater ^
10/16 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox ^
10/17 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom ^
10/19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall ^
10/20 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre ^
10/23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater *
10/24 – Chicago, IL @ Metro Chicago *
10/25 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s *
10/26 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall *
10/27 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore *
# = w/ Man Or Astro-Man?
* = w/ Detroit Cobras
^ = Starcrawler
