It was my wife’s idea to go, my first arena concert in many years, and tickets were available through my office, so we made it a date night, got sushi before the show and ended up in pretty good seats eye level, stage right. Openers Chicano Batman were fine, but they locked into a rhythm and stuck with it for much longer than either of us really wanted. I nice, tight half-hour to forty minute set from the opener is all I need in most cases.
White started the set vamping on The White Stripes ‘Icky Thump’ before starting into his solo material, sprinkled with well know Stripes tunes, a Raconteurs song, a couple of covers before an encore that really served as more of a second act, with fifteen songs before the break and twelve after.
Although I was well aware of Jack White “the personality,” seeing Jack White live gave me a better appreciation for him as a songwriter, a player, a band leader and a performer. Even though his voice quickly went ragged and his guitar playing wasn’t note-perfect, he’s simply operating at a level of abandon rarely seen in today’s manufactured and manicured pop stars.
I might have to go out buy one those records soon.