GIG: JACK WHITE

Review by Jon Birch

Jack White live at the Blackpool Empress Ballroom - 06.11.2012

Stepping into the Empress Ballroom at Blackpool immediately transports you back in time to a more glamorous age. Majestic chandeliers hang from the high arched ceiling and you get a real feel of how this Dance Hall felt in its heyday. Today however, is about Jack White, and there can be few more fitting settings for an artist who so consistently fuses old school Blues whilst continually evolving his technique and sound.

As the crew set up the stage (all dressed in suits, bow ties and bowler hats!), one of them approached the mic. He reminded the crowd that they were there to witness, ‘a live show, not a YouTube clip’, and to watch the action live rather than through their phones. A personal bug-bear of mine, I wasn’t alone in cheering and applauding this statement loudly.

The lights dimmed and the band took the stage (all females tonight, they alternate with an all male band each night). White himself entered to the strains of his latest single ‘Shakin’, picked up his personalised Telecaster, and blasted into ‘Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground’, an old school White Stripes favourite.

The set was a solid mix of tracks from Whites solo album Blunderbuss, tracks from The Raconteurs and Dead Weather side projects, and of course, the extensive White Stripes catalogue. Hearing these songs played with a full band gave them a deeper, sometimes subtler feel than the original Detroit Garage Blues versions. It’s interesting to note that in a band of six players, there is only one guitar on stage and its White unmistakable sound that drives the show.

A six-song encore is finished with a triumphant medley starting and finishing with the iconic Seven Nation Army and dipping into Catch Hell Blues and the Son House cover/tribute, Death Letter. Whites sound still seems to be evolving and changing with each record he makes and band he starts. I can’t wait to see what comes next.