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CD Digipack

LP - edition of 900 on PURPLE VINYL

"Sounds like a punk Cream, but with a first-rate singer. A must have for Detroit diehards." - Mojo. The demand from the fans has been met, here is the CD version of this great live show, remastered from a Maxwell C-90, and including liner notes and photos by Creem photographer Robert Matheu. On a cold January night, the SONIC'S RENDEZVOUS BAND took the stage opening for the RAMONES in the 3,000 plus seat auditorium. They were personally asked to be on the bill by the RAMONES, who had befriended the band on the many occasions they played together at the Second Chance in Ann Arbor. But this night the SRB performed with an urgency previously unheard. Songs include an amazing version of Fred Smith's "Sweet Nothin'", as well as "Electrophonic Tonic," "Asteroid B-612," "Gone With The Dogs," "Love And Learn," "Song L," and the classic "City Slang." Spawned from the remnants of the MC5, STOOGES, RATIONALS and the UP, Fred "Sonic" Smith (MC5) joined forces with Scott Asheton (Stooges), Scott Morgan (Rationals) and Gary Rasmussen (The Up), to make legendary music that for the most part remained unheard by fans around the world. Until now. A release produced for ROCK-A-RAMA RECORDS by Robert Matheu, nominated for best reissue at the 2008 Detroit Music Awards. "The absolute closest you'll ever get to being battered senseless by the buffering sound that made the Motor City famous." - Jeffrey Morgan / Detroit Metro Times.


Sonic's Rendezvous Band may well have been the finest rock & roll band to emerge from the Midwest in the last half of the 1970s, but there isn't as much evidence as one might wish to back up this claim. Fronted by MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith and also featuring Scott Morgan (ex-Rationals) on rhythm guitar and vocals, Scott Asheton (ex-Stooges) on drums and Gary Rasmussen (ex-Up) on bass, Sonic's Rendezvous Band took the primal "high energy" sound of classic Detroit rock and streamlined it with force, precision and intelligence; however, record companies showed no concrete interest in the band, and outside of a self-released single with the same tune on both sides, the group broke up in 1980 with their great songs and blazing performances undocumented. Many years after Sonic's Rendezvous Band called it quits (and Smith succumbed to a heart attack in 1994), a small trickle of live recordings of the band began to circulate, and a treasure trove of SRB material was released in 2006 by the U.K. Easy Action label in the form of a six-disc box set. Masonic Temple: Detroit 1978 is a stand-alone release of one of the live shows featured in the SRB box, a storming seven-song, thirty-five-minute set the group played opening for the Ramones on January 14, 1978. From the opening notes of "Electrophonic Tonic," it's clear Sonic's Rendezvous Band were determined to show the hometown crowd what they could do, and this show never lets up its majestic intensity and drive for a moment. The musicians sound almost telepathically tight, the guitar attack is joyously unrelenting, the songs are excellent (especially "Sweet Nothin'" and "City Slang"), and the set is paced with the care of a good album. This recording was easily one of the high points of Easy Action's SRB box set, and if you're hesitant about forking over for a collection that large to find out what Sonic's Rendezvous Band were all about, Masonic Temple: Detroit 1978 is an excellent place to discover one of the greatest "unknown" bands of all time -- though don't be shocked if you want to hear more after checking this out. - Mark Deming / All Music Guide
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Rock n' roll relies on energy, sweat and swagger. Seeing a band crush through a set is should be something that changes a fan's live. Until you see that first live show, you can't understand why we file into dark little holes in the shadiest parts of town to hear a band most people have never heard off. We are all searching for that moment in time that can't be replicated or ever taken away from you.There are only a few bands that seem to come to life the minute they hit the stage, and almost none that can capture those special nights and make you feel like you were there when the songs are put on CD. Whether it's Live at Leeds, The Apollo or Folsom Prison or something completely unique like Unplugged in New York there are live albums that everyone seems to have and hold on to because the sound is terrific and the record defines the band.But there are a few records, like Kick Out the Jams, Live at Sin-E or Otis Redding's Live in Europe that shows an artist transforming in front of us; becoming something bigger than you could ever imagine. The tape hiss and static crackle are ignored, and the current of electricity that runs through the set and becomes a part of us. It's that energy that people can't let go of and the reason people trade shitty bootleg copies and listen with strained ear and volume cranked.Well, Alive/Natural - a long time supporter of the band - has done us all a favor and transformed one of those hiss filled sets into a CD recording. In 1978, the Ramones grabbed a hold of Fred "Sonic" Smith's band, Sonics Rendezvous Band, and requested they open for them in Detroit. End result? Well, for 36-minutes the power of the band dominates your ears. The sound is rough and ragged, but hot damn does it move. I'm not saying this white hot set should be placed on a pedestal like some of the other "live" staples, but it helps you remember that Detroit was kickass and why so many people were influenced by this super group.From the minute the set starts, Fred's guitar and voice are piercing and Scott Asheton refuses to let up on the drums. I have no idea how he didn't kick a hole in the bass drum, but even on this converted recording - remastered from an old tape recording - the bass drum feels like it might pound through your chest.The guitars on Gone With the Dogs are unrelenting and the last 2 minutes are almost overwhelming, but somehow they are able to keep the energy going when Scott Morgan takes the mic on my favorite track, Love and Learn. By the time Sonic signs off with City Slang, you are left broken and battered and have to wonder if even for one night in 1978, the opening act was able to upstage the Ramones and renew faith in the Detroit scene. - Herohill
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French review on the Gonzai site
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If you have the box set you'll already know that this is 36 minutes of unmatched guitar glory. From Scott Morgan's set kick-starter "Electrophonic Tonic" to an especially powerful "City Slang" that brought down the curtain, this is a lean and focused set with all elements in equilibrium. This is 1978 and some of the band's best tunes are by now embedded in the set-list with "Love And Learn", a sharp "Sweet Nothin' " and "Asteroid B-612" delivered in stunning style. Superlatives are tossed around like confetti when it comes to discussions about Sonic Smith's guitar playing and not much can be added here to what's been previously said. The mastering job (the source was a C-90 cassette) puts his playing and that of Morgan in nice relief. Great songs apart, the strength that some gloss over when reflecting on SRB was the yin-and-yang chemistry between Smith and Morgan that didn't manifest itself in co-writing, but onstage in contrasting vocal styles. Morgan's rich, soulful tones and Smith's gruff drawl in combination actually worked in the band's favour. That's evident from the way these songs are tracked, with Smith and Morgan taking centre mic, time about. When the pair drifted apart, the band was diminished. "Masonic" comes in CD or vinyl, the latter coloured purple and possessing the warmth that only black carbon fuel by-products can. The limited edition LP also includes some extra photos and a handbill montage on the inner-sleeve. - I-94 Bar
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The fabled band featuring Stooges drummer Scott Asheton and led by MC5er Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith – who only ever released one single, the voluptuous space trucking car-park grind of City Slang - are caught here on the same day the Pistols famously put the knee in their punk spectacle at that Winterland gig. It’s not documented and what’s the point for you can be pretty sure that not many in this Detroit venue left feeling cheated. This little seven song disc slips out of the self-titled Easy Action box-set and is a meeting of Stooge-death-strut fuckery with Smith’s classic wopbamboom song writing that blazes through Back In The USA cuts like the ever restless Shakin’ Street but stretched into monster-truck chewing mashes reaching out and summoning Sun Ra into the stratospheres. Modestly massive. - Stu Gibson / Sleazagrinder
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It's been 27 years and counting since rock 'n' roll was officially pronounced brain dead due to terminal unimportance at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1979. One wretched look at Live Aid will tell you everything you need to know about why the music of the '80s, '90s and '00s has been nothing but one big self-service suckfest. Want a second opinion? OK, take two doses of Woodstock '99 and call me in the morning to beg for forgiveness, because the '50s, '60s, and '70s were the golden, silver, and dyed platinum ages of rock 'n' roll, respectively. And speaking of respect, if any doubting douche bag ever asks you for living proof why Detroit owned '70s rock 'n' roll, then play 'em this new live album by Sonic's Rendezvous Band at maximum volume, because it's the absolute closest you'll ever get to being battered senseless by the buffeting sound that made the Motor City famous Which isn't surprising given that Detroit's greatest supergroup was helmed by Fred "Sonic" Smith of MC5 fame, Scott "Rock Action" Asheton of Stooges fame, Scott "No Relation" Morgan of Rationals fame, and Gary "No Nick" Rasmussen of Up fame. A squelch of feedback ignites the thunderfuck version of "Electrophonic Tonic" that cracks open this album and after that things only get louder as SRB performs a 40-minute clinic on how to play paint-peeling rock 'n' roll. Live Masonic is produced by rock photographer Robert Matheu, who also produced the six-disc SRB box set that Easy Action put out in the UK. Pressed in a limited edition of 1,000 copies on 180-gram virgin vinyl, this thick 12-incher features a specially remastered new quantum sonic upgrade that smokes the version that appears on the box set. The compact disc version will come out in September but don't be a doubting douche bag: go to your local record store or any proper online outlet and order your copy today before it sells out. - Jeffrey Morgan/ Metro Times
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Fred Sonic Smith | Sonic's Rendezvous Band | Sonic's Rendezvous Band on MySpace
 Scott Morgan Music | Gary Rasmussen | Gary Rasmussen Blue Stone Project | Rock Action on MySpace
Scott Morgan on MySpace | Powertrane | Robert Matheu photography

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