HISTORIC DAY AT WEMBLEY BY MARTIN HAYMAN
Sounds - Aug.12,1972

. . . historic . . . because it showed us all that, whatever the slogans run like, rock'n'roll is dead, or at least living only in suspended animation. It was a gas to see the old greats working again, and billed together as well, but the very way the concert was set up shows that it's not going to happen again. Four years of talking, the most elaborate sound arrangement especially imported (and none too clear for all that), a huge stadium well-equiped for handling large numbers of people, elaborate and extensive publicity and certainly the biggest names in Rock'n'Roll. So how come only forty-odd thousand turned out?
Because it had too much the aura of history about it is the I figure it. Four years is too long for any concert to be set up . . .
. . . The few acts on the bill who could be said to pushing rock'n'roll ahead were either received with stony silence or with boos, catcalls, V-signs and even ruder gestures and, at one point with a hail of beer cans and bottles. The MC5, who played some searing music, left the stage after twenty minutes, forced off by howls of derision . . .

WEMBLEY ROCK FESTIVAL SPECIAL
 Melody Maker - Aug.12,1972

. . . Some hipsters felt that apart from good old Bill Haley, the MC5 were the only band to try and capture the feel of rock'n'roll, yet they shared the booing stakes with that incredible blundered - Little Richard. Severely limited on time, as were most of the acts, the MC5 did try to communicate with the audience of traditional rock lovers, but the lead singer, Wayne Cramer [sic] got pelted with beer cans for his pains.
His big mistake was to run down to the audience, leaving the safety of the stage. Quite why singers try to make contact in this fashion has long been a mystery. . .
They stomped through "Gloria," which was greeted with ominous silence and a few slow hand claps, then came the famed cry of "Kick Out The Jams," that was doubtless have most American audiences in hysterics and warrant at least five pages of comment in Rolling Stone.
It was received with cold indifference, as the gold clad figure of Wayne bravely ducked a hail of cans like a Christian in the gladiator's arena.
"Stop that you idiots - there are people here who want to stop the whole show," yelled a desperate announcer, as a bunch of same began a can throwing contest among themselves. They did stop, and there was no more trouble throughout.
The MC5 were not exactly thrilling, but at least the band got it on, which was more than the extraordinary interlude that was Gary Glitter, and yet he got quite a reasonable amount of applause for which he was duly grateful.

RECORD MIRROR did not make any comment on the MC5 appearance in its concert report.

LITTLE RICHARD, MC5 SHARE BOOS  BY JULIAN MOSELEY
Rolling Stone - Sept.14,1972

. . . Detroit's MC5, not a rock & roll band by any stretch of the imagination, was applauded with a hail of Coke cans and wine bottles from the crowd of 50,000. Real 1957 stuff. With Teds and Rockers you either play it their way, or not at all.
The act that preceded the Five might have had something to do with the crowd's hostile mood. Screamin' Lord Sutch came on in a coffin, orange smoke belched across the stage . . .