Jackie does the Astro- White Stripes live (White Stripes in General)

Member Name: wicked_witch

Product:	White Stripes in General
Date:	06/05/03 (748 review reads)
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Ah the White Stripes, what darlings they are. Ugly-beautiful, far too white and far too Dylan obsessed. They seem like true weirdoes in a world of people who fit in. Maybe that’s why I like them; they’re a bit odd, like me. Or it could be their spanking poppy blues tunes.

I fell in love (first bad pun of op alert) with the White Stripes when my friend gave me a copy of album no 2, De Stijl, on import, and every song from Hello Operator to Your Pretty Good Looking (for a girl) stuck right in the old noggin and wouldn’t budge.

Glasgow Barrowlands, on the 10th of April 2003, was the third time I’d been fortunate enough to witness the spectacle of Jack ‘n’ Meg in the flesh, with the first being the Autumn of 2001 (when they were still waiting to ride the crest of their first wave of media hype), the second Gig on the Green 2002.

After two fairly weak support bands (sorry, support bands always get the short end of the stick, but they were pretty bad), and a multitude of old Felix the Cat cartoons (all gigs should have between-act entertainment, and has anyone noticed how much of a stoner programme Felix the Cat is?) The White Stripes bound onstage to thunderous cheering and more than one yell of “get yer tits out Meg”, and without niceties, bound straight into “Little Room”. As usual, they draw out the beginning by starting with Meg’s heartbeat-like drumming, and making sure the audience are clapping along. After half of “Little Room” they switch smartly to “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”.

The kids are on form tonight, although Jack’s girlish tones sometimes sound a little strained. The atmosphere is absolutely electric, and again, as with the Strokes, most of the audience wouldn’t care if the gig were terrible, they’d still leave raving about it. But it sure isn’t.

Jack White is a real showman. Although n
ot necessarily a beautiful man, he has such magnetic charisma onstage that it’s impossible not to be drawn to him, with his far-too-tight trousers, waxed hair and big sparkly eyes. He knows just how to draw out his songs until his audience are near breaking point, as on “Screwdriver”, where he draws out the signature guitar riff for so long that the audience is in total meltdown!

The gig is typical White Stripes stuff, with the only surprises being the absence of “Fell in Love With a Girl” and “Hello, Operator”, two of the Stripes most well known songs. The audience know the new stuff as well as the old, and “Black Math” off the new “Elephant” album is in particular, incendiary and explosive, and this is coming from someone who was hearing it for the first time (this was before I bought the new album).

Despite being low on surprises, the White Stripes gig is certainly the best I’ve been to this year (OK, so its only April, but I’ve been to about ten so far this year). Again, Jack’s interaction with the audience is key, he says little, and what he does say you can hardly hear, but it’s the songs that are important and that’s what he does best. The chunky, trademark pop-rock-country-blues-garage that the White Stripes play sound best in a live forum, the infectious guitar riffs are enough to send you through the roof, while Meg’s primal drumming sounds like the soundtrack to a Shamans ecstatic dance (and believe me, there’s enough peace herbs in this place to send you to heaven, if you get the drift).

Meg, as usual, keeps her pretty self fairly quiet, and only sings one song, the sexy New-York-bar-blues track “In the Cold Cold Night”, which will no doubt send several pubescent indie boys into orbit. It’s a shame she doesn’t sing more than one tune, as she does have a lovely voice, and I would have liked to he
ar “Rated X”, a b-side that often gets played live, just to show off Jack and Megs explosive chemistry.

As usual, the two skinny Detroit kids fill the stage right up. They don’t need no bassist, backing guitarist or any of it, the two of them are enough for the rabid crowd, and so they should be. A two-person line-up could be a disaster for any other bands, but with the White Stripes it’s the thing that makes them a little different, and of course there’s the whole siblings/lovers debate, which continues to rage as Meg still insists that Jack is her baby brother (as she says on “Elephant”s last track, “its true that we love one another”). This is the beauty of the White Stripes. While they will never have the potential to play to massive crowds, the two of them in a medium-size venue will be enough. Maybe this will be there downfall, as they may not be able to play big venues without adding other people, and that would destroy the magic.

Stand out tracks tonight are “I Want to Be the Boy Who Warms Your Mothers Heart” in which Jacks’ singing is angelic, sweet and sincere, and the light instrumental backing compliments the gorgeous track perfectly. Only the hardcores know the lyrics to this, and I certainly don’t, but it still remains one of the night’s greatest tracks.

“I think I smell a rat” is another fave, here Jacks metamorphoses into a spitting, snarling, vicious creature, complimented by savage guitar licks, and heavy use of snare and crash cymbal from Meg. Most of the track sees Jack alternately whispering, and screaming out the lines “Walkin’ down the street, carryin’ a baseball bat, ooooh, I think I smell a rat”. The perfect alternation of quiet and savage to keep the audience (about an estimated 20% of which are stoned) on their little Converse-clad indie toes.

“Jolene”, as always is a fav
ourite, just for the comedy of Jack White singing “I’m begging of you please don’t take my man”. The entire audience knows and loves this song well. Its an absolute delight to hear live, Jack has the perfect high-pitched yet scratchy voice to pull it off, and also he is just feminine enough to pull it off. Perhaps a bit of a comedy one, but he sings it with plenty of passion, so you could well believe it well.

“In the Cold, Cold Night” simply for the novelty of seeing the gorgeous Meg sing.
The crowd goes so mad as she leaves her drum stool that I think the roof might well cave in. She does it so well that I wonder why she doesn’t take centre stage more often. She is just as magnetic as little Jack, and obviously much prettier. This one is such a classic that I thought it was a cover the first time I heard it, and she holds the audience just as spellbound as Jack does, only there are more cries of “marry me” and “nice knockers” with Meg on the mic.

“Seven Nation Army” has also become an instant gig fave, and its signature guitar riff draws plenty of screaming from the overexcited and now very sweaty audience. It works to an explosive climax, and is a lot faster than the recorded version for extra oomph. Its another perfect gig fave, with quiet verses and deafening choruses. Just the way songs should be, bloody good on record but twenty times better live.

“Your Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)”, OK, I had to put this in because its one of my fave White Stripes songs ever (partly because a guy once sung it to me during a local band night…bless). The entire audience loves this one just as much as me, if the quality of bouncing around and raucous Glaswegian singing is anything to go by (sounds kinda like a much more melodic football match), again it’s a lot faster than the one the album, and all the better for it, it has that heart-p
ounding feel. Recorded, its cute, funny and gutsy, live its one of those songs that makes you smile and laugh and want to dance.

“Screwdriver” again, this is one of my faves, purely for its piledriving, incredibly powerful guitar riff that lodges itself inside your brain- the perfect live track to show of Jack’s considerable guitar skills. Live, it is explosive, and suitable as one of the final tracks of the night, as it would stick in anyone’s brain. As the final chorus of the song comes to, Jack draws out three booming notes on his guitar, accompanied by three short thundering drum beats, for about a minute, by the end of which the audience are in raptures.

The powerful gig finishes with a short encore of, well, “Boll Weevil”! And then the White Stripes leave the enraptured audience feeling sweaty, but in no way confused as to what just happened. The chemistry of the White Stripes is clearly enough to suffuse and entire building, yet there is no macho posturing, no (overt) sexual innuendos, just bloody good music played on a plastic guitar by a man who definitely knows how to use his fingers, and also knows how good music should be played- LOUD!

Yep, definitely my gig of the year- until I go to see the Cooper Temple Clause that is!

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