I have been a fan of the White Stripes and Jack White throughout the twists and turns in his musical career. I was never fortunate enough to see the White Stripes in concert, but this show was the fourth time I have seen Jack White. The other three: an amazing show at the Scottish Rite facility in the Masonic Temple in Detroit a few years ago, an outdoor show at the LC here in Columbus a couple years back, then a festival headlining show at Forecastle Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. I have really enjoyed each of these shows. Jack White puts on a tightly controlled, well played show.
VENUE: The concert was at the Value City Arena, Schottenstein Center. There were tickets still available right up until show time. And the upper deck was curtained off. The floor was general admission standing and was quite packed. I was seated in the lower bowl to the right of the stage.
OPENER: Chicano Batman is an East Los Angeles chicano-psychadelic rock band. These guys are accomplished musicians. Once in a while they seemed to get into quite a good groove. As I have seen Alabama Shakes and Shovels and Rope open up for Jack White, these guys were a disappointment.
HEADLINER: Jack White joined a drummer, bassist, keyboardist, violinist, and a multi-intrumentalist. The stage was bathed in blue light -- this has been on going stage theme this tour. Jack seemed to be at about 80% full voice. Jack's guitar work and the whole band are at the peak of their powers. Other than the typical off-color "squeak" of a miss on the guitar, every note was spot on.
The set list was very good. Although there were times where the crowd lost interest and seemed to be waiting until they could hear something they recognized, there were some typical deep tracks and some hits.
Knowing that he was in "enemy territory", Jack White spoke to the crowd about playing at the Ohio State University being his "peace offering" from a Detroit native.
Highlights amongst the songs: "Icky Thump" as the opener, "Hotel Yorba" with some special instructions from Mr. White, "Sixteen Saltines", a sloppy "Fell In Love With A Girl", a different take on "We Are Going To Be Friends", and the closer of "Seven Nation Army", when Jack and band performed it well and Jack said "So you know this one?" to the happy crowd.
A good show. Probably the weakest of the four shows I have seen, but Jack White and band put on quite a show. I give the show a 3 out of 5 stars.
Chicano Batman.
Jack White and his band.
Jack White
Jack White
Jack White and his band.
Jack White
Jack White
Jack White
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