|
4.30.2008The Jack White Show... Sorry, That's The White Stripes
 Last night I did what I said I would never do again... I went back to The Uptown Theater. I know it's been less than a month, back off! I realized after I bought my tickets to The Raconteurs that I was going back to the band slaughterhouse. I knew the sound was going to suck, and I went into the show being heartbroken because I was really looking forward to seeing this band.The Raconteurs: The Uptown Theater 4/29/08 This show should have been the jewel in Twisted Wife's crown. For those of you that don't know the story, TW is always recommending bands to me. 9 times out of 10, I am lukewarm on her referrals, 50% of the time the bands simply suck. The White Stripes were no different. Despite the critical acclaim, I just couldn't bring myself to drink the Kool-Aid. I firmly believed this was an over-hyped band during a time when the music industry was grasping for any hope of survival in the rock genre. This was until one summer night at Starlight Theater when TW tricked me into attending The White Stripes show (she's pissed right now that I used the word "tricked"). Needless to say, I was sold after the first song. Jack White deserves the praise. He is an incredible musician. So, TW can honestly say that she turned me on to The White Stripes and Jack White. Unfortunately, TW wasn't really excited about the show. Due to the lack of radio-play for The Raconteurs, she felt she didn't know any of their songs. And if TW can't sing along... she's not a very fun concert date (now she's even more pissed, that's two). Begrudgingly, she resigned herself to the idea that she was going to sit and watch me enjoy a band that I liked and she was lukewarm on. NOTE: I'm going to start into the review here and I am not going to talk about the opening band, Birds of Avalon. Reason being, I didn't like them. They weren't bad enough to make fun of and they weren't good enough for me to review. Their music was fine... for someone else. For this show, TW and I decided to mix it up. Instead of standing on the floor, we decided to relax a bit and find some seats in the balcony. I liked this arrangement, because, unlike the 19 year-old girls in the front row, I had no notions that Jack White was going to pull me up on stage a la Dancing in the Dark and dance with me. And it's a good thing. I'm a shitty dancer. One thing the balcony at The Uptown does afford concert-goers is enhanced crappy sound. There is absolutely no definition in the lower registers in this building. If you are a bass player at The Uptown, walk on stage, turn on your amp, slap the strings and take the night off. There is just a low humming in place of bass lines. It's awesome! Fortunately for me (I'm over 30 and have a job), the band started playing early. I fully expected this to be similar to a White Stripes... er, The Jack White Show. Was I ever wrong. The Raconteurs are not a supergroup. They seem to leave the egos behind and play. And have fun doing it. You may be saying to yourself, "Isn't that what bands are supposed to do?" Yes, but more often than not, they don't. Especially, when one member of the band gets all the attention. It's a good thing the non-Jack White members of The Raconteurs (Brendan Benson, Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence) are all amazing musicians in their own right. Even when Jack starts to dominate the show, the others reel him back in to being nothing more than a lead guitarist and singer. It was very fun to watch the yo-yoing as Jack was constantly reminded that the four other people on stage were not Meg White. It's not very often I get to see five extremely talented musicians play for fun... or, at least act like that's what they're doing. It was inspiring. Generally, I judge a show by how the band sounds and if they leave me with a renewed feeling of excitement about their music. This time the renewed feeling of excitement for songs like Blue Veins, Rich Kid Blues, You Don't Understand Me and Store Bought Bones far outweighed the sub-par sound of The Uptown Theater. And after the show was over, I could see I'd returned the favor to TW. 
posted by Jim at 7:12 AM
0 Comments: |
|
