A Live Show Trifecta: Jack White Concert Reviews

There aren’t many musicians I am compelled enough to see multiple times in one week, but the one exception to that rule is Jack White, whose belief in not following a setlist creates a different and memorable concert no matter if you see him once during a tour or three times in one week. Such was my experience, as I spent the last week following White on the second leg of his wildly successful solo tour in support of his sophomore album Lazaretto, which has garnered rave reviews from critics and fans alike. Three shows from the same artist in a span of four days may seem like madness to some people, but for me, the opportunity was one I couldn’t miss.

The first show I attended was one that has been on my wish list since he began touring in 2012 to promote his first solo album Blunderbuss. I am a Mississippi native and upon hearing that White had announced a performance at Mississippi State University, I knew that missing this show would be cause for regret. This concert also marked White’s first show in Mississippi since The White Stripes played their final show in Southaven, Mississippi, in 2007. The venue itself was Humphrey Coliseum, home of MSU’s Bulldog basketball team, a 10,000 seat arena that was a bit larger than White’s normal preference but still created an intimate and engaging atmosphere. Opening for White were Los Angeles natives Chicano Batman, a quartet of dapper gentleman in retro ruffled dress shirts straight from a 1980s prom, crooning a variety of tunes ranging from bossa nova to psychedelia to surf-rock both in English and Spanish. The band was extremely engaging with the audience, continuously throwing smiles and interacting with the crowd before and after each song they played. The opener choice was a bit different from White’s usual rocker selections, but I personally found Chicano Batman to be a unique and interesting band and will be checking them out as they progress.

White came on stage a bit after nine full of energy and fire, tearing immediately into The White Stripes’ classic “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” before an instant segue into the titular “Lazaretto”. I couldn’t keep my cheers of happiness back as he smiled and shouted “Good evening Bulldogs! Let’s do this!” to an ecstatic crowd. The show itself wasn’t close to sold out, but the overall energy and enthusiasm of college kids and locals alike more than made up for it. White’s setlist consisted of a good mix of White Stripes and solo favorites in addition to a cover of Hank Williams’ “You Know That I Know” as well as Robert Johnson’s “Stones in My Passway”. White played a sixteen song set before exiting the stage, only to return five minutes later to play an additional five song encore, closing with his most popular and well-loved number “Seven Nation Army”. A devoted connoisseur of all things baseball, White also spent time with the MSU baseball team prior to his performance, prompting him to declare during the concert that he wanted all students at the university to “Take a philosophy class and go to a baseball game…you don’t have to like baseball, you just have to sit there and meditate.” This comment elicited almost as loud of a cheer as his promise to “marry one of you Mississippi girls someday”, further proving White experienced immense success with his return to the Magnolia State for the first time in nearly eight years.

I drove back to Nashville straight from the show to start the cycle over again the following evening at the Bridgestone Arena for White’s second concert, an event promising to be already amazing thanks to the “Queen of Country” Loretta Lynn being billed as his opener. The show ended up holding far more surprises than just Loretta, however, making White’s adopted hometown show shoot up the list as far as my top JW shows go (my grand total as of today being nine). Nashville native William Tyler was added to the bill as a second opener, upping the excitement level further for this particular show. Tyler is an accomplished guitarist, having performed at White’s own Third Man Records this past July. Tyler’s half hour set consisted of instrumental guitar tracks, leaving the audience captivated at the skills he displayed with his one-man instrumental show. Loretta Lynn took the stage promptly after, dressed in a glittering gold dress and beaming at the audience, welcoming fans in her graceful Southern style. She performed well-received classics such as “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)”, “The Pill” and her signature “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. Lynn appeared to have a touch of a cold- “My nose is running like a freight train!” she quipped to the audience at one point- but her voice was as rich and pure as it has been for years.

White burst onto the stage shortly after 9pm as scheduled, opening once again with “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”, his level of energy even higher than the previous night in Mississippi. White barely stopped moving the entire show, bouncing from one end of the stage to the next, encouraging the crowd to sing and clap along, bellowing “Are we in this together?!” close to the beginning. The excitement of the crowd at seeing Lynn open for White was already peaked, resulting in a tumultuous uproar of joy when White’s manager Lalo Medina stepped on stage to open up White’s encore with the words “Ladies and gentlemen, The Raconteurs!” White’s second band, formed in 2005 in Detroit, has been on hiatus since 2011 but rejoined onstage with Brendan Benson and Jack “LJ” Lawrence backing White and his current band; the band played two Raconteurs classics, “Steady, As She Goes” and “Salute Your Solution” to thunderous applause from the ecstatic crowd. Lynn then reappeared onstage clad in cotton candy pink to join White for a rendition of their duet “Portland, Oregon” from her 2005 album Van Lear Rose along with a never-performed song she wrong in 1955 entitled “Whispering Sea”. White and Lynn exchanged playful banter onstage, a smile never leaving White’s face as the two sang in perfect harmony. The concert closed with White’s usual classic “Seven Nation Army” and from there, I was off to catch a few hours of sleep before a 6am flight to NYC for my third and final show for the week.

White’s show at Madison Square Garden marked his first return to an NYC venue since his two-night run at Radio City Music Hall in September 2012 and was also my first attended concert at the arena, a venue that has been on my live music bucket list for years. In another step away from his usual choices, White enlisted the NYC rapper duo Run The Jewels to open up for him, a band that has been also added to the Bonnaroo repertoire this summer. The band has released two excellent albums, “Run The Jewels” and “Run The Jewels 2”, but they unfortunately seem to not have quite mastered their live sound as of yet. Their sound was a bit muddled in parts and then too loud in others, making the lyrics unintelligible during certain songs. The only song I found myself being able to follow clearly was “Lie, Cheat, Steal” from their second album; nevertheless, the duo El-P and Killer Mike, had absolutely wonderful charisma with the audience, their infectious excitement rubbing off on those in attendance.

Pandora online radio livestreamed this concert, so those who could not be in attendance worldwide tuned in for a show promising to be as legendary as all others before it. White’s opening numbers mirrored those of the previous two shows that week, with him starting off with “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” before launching straight into a blistering rendition of his instrumental “High Ball Stepper”. White’s setlist was similar in order to the previous two shows, the main deviation being the addition of the Raconteurs’ “Broken Boy Soldiers” and the opening riff to “Black Math” being shredded maniacally before launching into another Raconteurs number, “Top Yourself”.

Unlike his previous two shows, White did not have as much to say as the audience, instead continuously checking in on them asking at least three times “Are you still with me?” A lot of fans seemed to have also ignored White’s standard request for no photography, as I observed more camera flashes and cell phone usage than I have ever seen at one of his venue shows. Yet another surprise guest was brought onstage at the start of the encore, with former A Tribe Called Quest member Q-Tip joining White for “That Black Bat Licorice” as well as A Tribe Called Quest’s own “Excursions”, with White rapping along like an absolute pro. By the end of the show, White’s energy had yet to wane, beaming to the crowd after taking his final bow post-“Seven Nation Army”. His bandmates were equally on fire all three shows, with drummer Daru Jones, fiddler Lillie Mae Rische, bassist Dominic Davis, steel guitarist Fats Kaplin, and keyboardist Dean Fertita (White’s chosen replacement after the untimely passing of Ikey Owens in October 2014) as scorching and enthusiastic as White, if not more so at certain show moments.

The experience of three shows, all general admission standing, was by far one of the best I have had in all my travels for concerts. White never fails to engage and enchant his audiences, be it a quaint theatre of 3,000 to a famous arena of over 20,000, and it’s the charisma and talent of him and his band that keep me- and countless other fans- coming back for more. The full setlists for all three shows may be found online courtesy of Setlist.fm. A selection of live tour photos follows, courtesy of Third Man Records and White’s official tour photographer David James Swanson as posted on White’s website.

STARKVILLE, MS (JANUARY 27, 2015)

NASHVILLE, TN (JANUARY 28, 2015)

NEW YORK, NY (JANUARY 30, 2015)

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