jack white is a rock star

[mp3]
level - the raconteurs

my baby's on the level.....

that was how the show started last night at irving plaza. my favorite raconteurs song right off the bat. the band went full throttle for 12 songs. no banter, no breaks (aside from a very mini encore break). no ballads, no bullshit. just rock n roll. we were outta there by 11 p.m. those boys weren't fucking around.

the final tune was a riproaring cover of the flaming groovies' headin’ for the texas border. honestly, aside from the leaked raconteurs tracks, i had no idea what the covers they played were until i saw a setlist afterwards. but this was the type of show where you did not need to know the words. it wasn't a sing-along-fest, it was more of a jaw-dropping, oh-my-god, that's jack white up there blaring his geniousness out at us, fest.

jack white is a fucking rock star. and i don't just mean a freaky good musician, i mean the type that when the lights are dim and the band walks out and his plaid pants wearing self steps into the spotlight, the world turns on its axis for a second. it's hard to breathe for, like, a teeny tiny moment. but he has such a nonchalance to his pre-meditated rock star persona that it totally flows. guy is good.

brendan benson and jack traded lead vocals and lead guitars throughout the night. it made for a sometimes muddled and always noisy affair, but for the most part their vocals were very high in the mix and very full, so the sound was pretty excellent from my vantage point.

there is pretty much no banter with these guys. we got a "new york, new york, new york" growl from jack and a word or two from brendan, but not much else. it's not that they were being all indolent. they were playing to each other mostly. lots of smiles between the band members, and of course jack gave a few grins to his flock of worshippers in the front row.

brendan benson is skinny. he is rocking a starving messiah look. he wore a plaid vest over a paisley shirt. it kind of works for him, though.

there were probably lots of stars and celebs there. and i'm sure you can read all about that somewhere else. i'm not sure i saw any famous peeps, except for the dude standing next to me - david fricke. not a star, per se, but definitely the right person to stand next to at a rock show. fricke is one of the last great rock writers around, and when you see him spaz dancing during the encore, you can be pretty sure the show is goin' alright.

no cameras were allowed, seriously. but miss modern age drew some funny pictures. she also has the setlist.

peace