Around
1000 people attended the concert held by Beat Forum in Hoeje Gladsaxe
salen also known as The Kennedy Gym. The doors opened at 7.30 pm. Admission
was Danish Kroner 7,- (US$ 0.85). The announced support band "Day of Phoenix"
had dissolved and therefore been replaced by the Danish psychedelic band
"Alrune Rod". As evidenced in the translated reviews below the majority
of the audience was quite young and presumably much better acquainted
with the support band than with the MC5. But as can be witnessed from
the recording of the concert and the reviews MC5 put on a great show even
without Tyner, getting the crowd on their feet.
While
a few people in Denmark knew of MC5 through their first LP it is likely
to believe that most of these never got past it onto the second LP with
its very different sound. So the anticipation to seeing the band would
presumably be the sonic blast and politic exclamations of that first LP
as the reviews also shows. This is also backed by Peder Bundgaard who
attended the concert with his friend the now deceased Danish poet and
counter cultural hero Dan Turell. He remembers how he would have "Kick
Out the Jams" on the record player constantly in the weeks prior to the
concert expecting it to be a sonic blast but recalling it as being more
of a straight forward rock concert. He also remembers how he was somehow
put off by the Landau sound on "Back in the USA" having a hard time relating
to that LP.
 Wayne Kramer Bataclan, Paris '72 |
The original Hoeje Gladsaxe Beat Forum scene headed by Peter Nielsen existed 1970-75. Later attempts were made of reliving the scene without Peter Nielsen. Beat Forum evolved out the counter cultural milieu that had formed in Denmark in the late sixties. Several Danish cities saw in these years local initiative towards regular attendance of rock, jazz or theatrical groups. |  Fred Smith Bataclan, Paris '72 |
These
arrangements were covered financially against loss by the commune who
would also grant the permission for a place to be used.
The
idea with Hoeje Gladsaxe Beat Forum was to raise money for the local
youth centre. To better conditions for the children in the commune of
Hoeje Gladsaxe. The hall itself contained room for an audience of 3500
and the concerts received attendance from many parts of Zeeland eventually
resulting in audience record of 2300 people attending the Beat Forum
concert held on the 4th of November 1972, the concert prior to the MC5
appearance.
While
the concert on the 4th of November had evolved into a riot with fights,
sinks torn out and smashed, and broken bottles scattered around, local
paper "Bagsvaerd Folkeblad" printed a letter of complaint on the 16th
of November from local college headmaster Ulf Oestergaard against Beat
Forum, complaining that the arrangements could hardly be called local
as two thirds of the audience would be from outside of Hoeje Gladsaxe
commune, that the Beat forum concerts incited minors to get in touch
with alcohol and hash and that the permission for Beat Forum to hold
concerts should be re-evaluated (Despite Beat Forum's prompt offer to
cover all damages resulting from the riot). Furthermore Ulf Oestergaard
anticipated anxiously the expectance of a US rock group on the 23rd
of November (i.e. the MC5) rumouring it to be playing at 3000 watt and
using a motorbike (!) on stage.
That
MC5 literally got the audience on their feet can in actuality be heard
on the tape recording from the concert. Before MC5 begins "Let it
Rock" shouts can be heard from members in the audience: "Saet jer
ned..saet jer ned…" (I.e.:"Sit down, sit down…"). The guy who did
the recording was sitting on the floor as well. During
the next number "Gloria" one can sense the excitement building in
the audience
when then suddenly a few bars into "Tonight" the sound on the recording
starts to blur
and lower in volume.A lot of people seem to at last have tired of the demands of sitting down and risen up and then "Tonight" really starts cooking -the clapping gets louder and more intense- evolving into a long hard hitting jam… While Beat Forum (as well as other locally oriented scenes) was dominantly a west coast, and to a lesser extent jazz, oriented hippie scene the concerts would also be attended by local biker prospects trying to harass the audience and starting fights. Lars Persson recalls how some of the hippies would fight back eventually forcing the biker prospects to give up their harassment. Peter Nielsen would later hire some of these biker prospects as concert guards this way trying to adopt them to the scene as to keep their attending buddies from starting trouble. |
As Beat Forum was considered a local event according to the agreement with the Hoeje Gladsaxe commune the Beat Forum concerts were not allowed advertising outside of the communal border. To bypass these regulations posters advertising Beat Forum concerts would be made as ads for display in local busses this way bringing the announcement of the concert outside the communal border of Hoeje Gladsaxe and into the main Copenhagen area. The MC5 concert on the 23rd of November 1972 did however get mentioning in the concert calendar of the Danish leftist newspaper "Information" on the 20th of November and an article of advance publicity appeared in the politically moderate Danish newspaper "Politiken" on the 23rd of November.
The hall itself still exists and while not presently in use for public concerts it is still used as party hall by the schools in the commune of Hoeje Gladsaxe.
Anders Röder, Copenhagen 2001/10/20
Notes
on recordings of the concert and picture material:
At
least two recordings of the concert were made. One version exists as issued
on the bootleg LP "Kick Copenhagen" (MOW 11). The other recording exists
as a tape copy only. The version issued on the bootleg is the version
which has most clearness in sound. The two versions differs from each
other as the bootleg version has "Louie, Louie" as the last song after
"Kick Out the Jams" which the tape version does not have. The tape version
has however "Tonight" prior to "Kick Out the Jams". Otherwise the order
of the songs is identical on both recordings.
From comparing the two versions of the concert it is evident that the
two people who recorded it where located in different parts of the concert
room. Presumably the person who did the recording used on the "Kick Copenhagen"
LP where located closer to the stage.
Photos were taken by at least two photographers. Peder Bundgaard took
pictures for the Danish music magazine M/M. Another photographer referred
to as A.A. on the bootleg LP, took pictures also, some of which appears
on the cover of the LP.
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