Photo by: David James Swanson
Jack White & Alison Mosshart, 'Love Interruption' credit: acquiescefc
Not even the pouring rain could dampen the....ah, it was worse than that, it was pissing rain, Monsoon in the Museum it could have been billed as, but as expected, it was well worth it, there were times when Jack White's presence and musicianship (and dat ocean blue suit) was so good all your brain could concentrate on was the stage and you forgot about the worst day of the year weather-wise. Having seen White play in the O2 in Dublin two years ago at what is still up there as one of the best live performances I've seen, I knew to expect a similar performance and the iconic maestro did not disappoint. It was my first time going to a live event at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham and I have to say it was very well organised, similar to Marlay Park as an outdoor venue, no long queues for drink or food and the luxury of being able to get as close to the stage as you want without any great trouble, the polar opposite of the disastrous Phoenix Park.
As with his previous gig in Dublin we were treated to an array of songs from all of his previous incarnations, The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and a solid chunk of his first solo album, the excellent, Blunderbuss as well as plenty of tracks off Lazaretto which was released two weeks ago. Kicking off with a thumping 'High Ball Stepper' (with a pinch of Kanye West's 'New Slaves'), the first single from the new album, followed by the Stripes' 'Dead Leaves in the Dirty Ground', which is probably one of my own personal favourites of theirs, he wound through another 15 tracks before the encore. There was 'Hotel Yorba', of course, 'Ball & Biscuit', 'You've Got Her In Your Pocket', 'You Don't Know What Love Is' and 'Hello Operator' by The White Stripes as well as 'Top Yourself' and 'Old Enough' by The Raconteurs.
Photo by: David James Swanson
About two thirds of the way into the show things slowed down a bit and one of the highlights at this point was another track from Blunderbuss, 'Love Interruption' for which Jack did a duet with Alison Mosshart who was in The Dead Weather with him and is currently in The Kills who were the support act on the evening. White also ensured he kept in touch with the saturated masses and tried to raise spirits with a good deal (not too much) of interaction with the crowd, from sing-a-alongs to banter and graciously thanking everyone for joining him on such a shitty evening, at one point, in solidarity with the rest of us, he stood at the very edge of the stage in the rain, but not for long!
Jack White, Why Can't You Be Nicer' / 'Top Yourself' credit: acquiescefc
If there's one thing you get from a Jack White concert, apart from seeing a living legend who can put on a breath-taking live performance, it's bang for your buck. The crowd were treated to a whopping 25 song set, with 8 of them coming in the encore. The encore was like a condensed greatest hits of his discography plus 2 covers, The Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' and blues great Lead Belly's 'Goodnight, Irene', which was played after the PA and all systems were switched off, acoustically with The Kills, he just didn't want to go home. Other tracks during the encore were pleasers such as 'Icky Thump', 'Fell In Love With A Girl', 'Steady As She Goes' and of course 'Seven Nation Army'. To round up the evening I slipped into my Star Wars pyjamas (at home, not at the venue) and sipped on a wee dram of sambuca to warm my innards and contemplated many things, one part of that sentence is true.
In a recent review of his new album, Lazaretto, I remarked how it had me a little bit underwhelmed in comparison to his first solo effort, Blunderbuss, which was outstanding, but I think for now, I'll just have to spend a bit more time with the new album, and hope that his next one reaches new heights. I also hope it's not another two years before Jack White comes back to play in Ireland because his live shows are guaranteed to be 110% entertaining and leave you with a distinct sense of satisfaction.
N.B. *** A very special thank you to YouTuber and fellow Jack White fan acquiescefc for kindly allowing me to use his footage from last night's concert for videos of 'Love Interruption' & 'Why Can't You Be Nicer / Top Yourself', he did a great job considering the deluge of rain and freezing cold hands! He has lots of great live videos from concerts such as Tenacious D, Queens of the Stone Age, Manic Street Preachers, The Rolling Stones and many more, well worth subscribing to his channel here acquiescefc
Photo by Remy Connolly
