White Stripes in Concert

Thanks to my coworker Smorty, here is a shot from the concert, taken from the balcony. I was close to the stage, right in front of the speakers and some very busy security personnel, who no doubt, would have smacked me down, if I whipped out a camera. I was to the left of Meg. This is from later in the concert I believe, when Jack had removed most of his costume--a sort of Civil War-era long, black military coat and a hat with a cross on it (snagged from the set of Cold Mountain?). The show was great--I got to hear Jolene, which was definitely a highlight. And even though my sternum vibrated with every beat because of my proximity to the speakers and I lost Jack's voice sometimes, it was stunning to watch him play the guitar.

One of the cool things about being close was being able to see how Meg and Jack interact with one another. As you can see in the photo, her drumkit faces the wing, not the audience. Jack is the conductor and Meg follows every move he makes. Every now and then, he'll whisper something to her, and I also thought it was funny that he would reach out and grab her cymbals to deaden them, instead of her doing it. There is definitely something "unique" about their relationship. Megs stays put while Jack plays every other instrument on stage--piano, keyboards, marimba, mandolin, and a collection of guitars. The two techs are the very essence of discretion, gliding in and out with the quiet elegance of English servants in a Merchant Ivory film, and dressed identically in suits and derby hats. There is a lot of precision--bordering on obsessive-compulsiveness. It's as though Jack has created this very confined and orderly space within to go musically mad.

Here's the setlist as I remember it--with omissions of a couple songs that I wasn't familiar with and not in good order: Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, Blue Orchid, Hotel Yorba, Jolene, I Don't Know What to Do, Forever for Her, Little Room, Doorbell, Ball and Biscuit, The Nurse (awesome!), Denial Twist, Little Ghost, Hardest Button to Button, Seven Nation Army.
I'm sure some good soul will post the official setlist, which I'll link to later.

I would definitely see them again--any time!