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CAUGHT
IN THE ACT : MC5
by Penny Bosworth - Melody Maker - 6.10.72
Suddenly
upon a lonely castle keep, came a wandering band of nomads and all day
they listened to funky minstrels, and at the end of the day the friendly
council paid the bill.
No - it's not a fairy story. Clitheroe Castle '72 (June 3) might have
been a festival-goers dream. The council gave the Clitheroe Young People's
Recreation Committee the grand sum of £1,500 to set up an extravaganza
in the castle grounds and they spent their money wisely to give a balanced
show in which everyone could find something to enjoy.
Trees started the show and played folk songs and jigs for an hour and
a half on the town's little green painted bandstand.
Bridget St John unfortunately suffered from under-amplification, but there
was plenty of room at the front for those who wanted to hear her. She
sang pretty songs to suit the day and ended with her single "It's
Real" and the title track from her new LP "Thank You For."
UFO burst on the stage with all the dignity of a third world war and proceeded
to thrust their sexual organs at anyone interested, whilst playing at
full power a bit of Trogg-type innvendo-ladden rock. Still, a lot of people
liked them.
Coming on at the freaky hour of twilight, the Third Ear Band bewitched
everybody with music from Polanski's MacBeth. With swallows swooping above
them they produced a more melodic sound than of yore.
Brinsley Schwarz played their own set then offered to carry on when the
MC5 didn't arrive on time. Like wine, they improve with time and towards
the end people were leaping about among the bushes. But they seemed to
lack some vital ingredient - the music was pleasant enough but never reached
a peak though Bob Andrew's work on electric piano was excellent.
Because everything was supposed to be unplugged by midnight MC5 could
only play for half an hour but they came right out front and gave everyone
a rocking finish to the day with good strong guitar breaks interspersed
with corny phrases like "We've just got in from Detroit in the US
of A."
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