Jack White - O2, Dublin
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Jack White
02, Dublin
31st October 2012
Twenty-four hours on from being awarded the prestigious James Joyce Award from UCD, there are few events more fitting on Halloween night than the decidedly goth-tinged country blues of bona fide music marvel Jack White. With a back catalogue spanning the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather, his recent solo foray and 鈥 lest we dare forget 鈥 the White Stripes, the Detroit musician, mentor and mogul has the guts of two decades worth of music at hand for first ever Irish solo show.
With tonight鈥檚 crowd coming together around 9pm, the 02 stage is thrown into darkness before White鈥檚 six-piece backing band 鈥 the all-female Peacocks 鈥 surface to practically idolatrous applause. Grabbing his electric guitar with self-contained intent, White tears straight into recent single, the feral 鈥楽ixteen Saltines鈥. The crowd response, already totally besotted, verges on euphoric when White Stripes鈥 classic fuzz-rocker 鈥楧ead Leaves and the Dirty Ground鈥 emerges from the former鈥檚 outro. Despite only a minority of the crowd having bothered to don attire for the occasion, there鈥檚 already a celebratory mood in the air.
Another new song, 鈥楳issing Pieces鈥 quickly follows, White serenely scanning the crowd and unleashing cunning lyrical phrases whilst his band 鈥 the courageously masked bassist in particular 鈥 attending to every single beat and note. Recent single 鈥楲ove Interruption鈥 then rears its head, providing an early highlight before the swamp blues of Raconteurs鈥 track 鈥楾op Yourself鈥 sees White rip out an inspired, Jimmy Page-esque solo that only goes to emphasise hismany 听years loving and summoning the blues. The song, like much of White鈥檚 set tonight, is given extra personality live via the inclusion of fiddle, an instrument White wittily implies his Irish audience tonight 鈥渕ight recognise鈥.
Shortly afterwards, with the crowd now a huge entangled mass of arms and expectation, a bluegrass rendering of another White Stripes classic 鈥楬otel Yorba鈥 serves as White鈥檚 keen wish to 鈥渒eep it going for old time sake". The crowd are given space to sing the chorus solo and White 鈥 all credit to his super-tight band tonight 鈥 plays this and all other White Stripes鈥 singles with the same enthusiasm and might as his solo material. With the crowd mostly none the wiser, a cover of obscure Hank Williams鈥 song, 鈥榊ou Know That I Know鈥 offers them a chance to a catch their breath before the wonderfully demented one-two of the Dead Weather鈥檚 'Blue Blood Blues' and White鈥檚 very own piano-led 鈥業 Guess I Should Go To Sleep鈥 makes for an especially forceful peak.
At the end up, with a moshpit-inducing performance of Raconteurs鈥 hit 鈥楽teady As She Goes鈥 and rollicking White Stripes鈥 track 鈥楾he Hardest To Button To Button鈥 reaffirming the power of the hit single, White and his band disappear stage right before the inevitable encore takes in three more White Stripes classics: the stripped-back, incomparably feel-good 'We're Going To Be Friends', the frantic garage blues of 鈥楤all and Biscuit鈥 鈥 an outright highlight tonight 鈥 and easily one of the most comprehensively crowd-pleasing numbers in modern music, 'Seven Nation Army'. Closing an awe-inspiring, career-spanning, twenty-song set, White exclaims, 鈥榳e don鈥檛 wanna go but we鈥檝e gotta go. You鈥檝e been wonderful and I鈥檝e been Jack White. God bless and good night鈥. Masterful, gracious and captivating throughout, White leaves tonight鈥檚 crowd feeling privileged to have spent Halloween night in his company.
Brian Coney
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