Gig Review: Jack White
Jack White performed his 2024 solo album No Name in a barnstorming gig.
The former White Stripe frontman is still the real deal.
Author - Josh D
Dressed all in black and leather with a mop of jet black curls, he looked his early White Stripes more than he has in a long while.
White lets the music speak for itself for much of the night, powering through his own back catalogue alongside covers of The Stooges and blues legend Robert Johnson. He weaves in eight White Stripes tracks and two from The Raconteurs, whose drummer, Patrick Keeler, is part of his current band. There’s even a moment for his supergroup, The Dead Weather, featuring a back-and-forth between White and keyboardist Bobby Emmett—along with one of those slightly awkward exchanges in the pit.
"I Cut Like a Buffalo" slinks along with a raw, stripped-back groove, driven by the Hammond organ and punctuated by syncopated, delay-drenched guitars. White’s guttural, choking vocal effects ripple through the microphone, never quite resolving into a chorus fit for a full-blown mosh.
White joins the keyboardist for Apple Blossom and swaps guitars multiple times throughout the set—a habit he has previously admitted to factoring into his songwriting. His seamless transitions are aided by a slick, hands-on stage crew, who, like White and the band, stick to the all-black dress code, complete with pilgrim-style hats—even the sound engineer gets involved.
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He barely stands still all night, which makes the rare moments when he steps to the front of the stage feel all the more special. It’s here, bathed in the spotlight, that the sheer joy on his face becomes unmistakable as he feeds off the energy of a captivated crowd.
During a marathon eight-song encore, White takes a moment to introduce his band. Alongside Keeler and Emmett is bassist Dominic Davis, a childhood friend who has been playing with him since he launched his solo career in 2012.
A little later, he closed the night with Seven Nation Army, a track that famously became a UK football chant before spreading to stadiums around the world. Playing it in a city that’s home to one of his three Third Man Records stores must have carried an added significance for White.
At this raucous gig, the raw energy of garage rock and White’s unwavering commitment to his craft served as a powerful reminder that, in an era of artificial substitutes, nothing comes close to the real thing of live rock music.
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