The Fillmore audience turned violently on the MC5 for disavowing revolution

Evidence

The MC5’s lead singer had not mollified the crowd with a declaration that, White Panther manifesto notwithstanding, they were here to play music and not revolution. Accordingly, when the band finished their set, performed before two giant American flags, the audience stormed the stage and smashed their equipment, pelting the band with promotional 45s as they escaped into the limousine that would take them for dinner at Max’s Kansas City. — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 1347

Categorization

• XREF: The demands of the crowd exceed what the band-as-product can offer — a moment where the counterculture outruns the packaged revolution.