Type and hit ENTER

Commonly used tags...

Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe Brighton Pride British Sea Power Cinecity Lewes Psychedelic Festival Locally Sourced Lost & Found Love Supreme Festival Nick Cave Poets Vs MCs Politics Rag'n'Bone Man Record Store Day Save Our Venues Six Of The Best Source Virgins Streets Of Brighton Street Source Tattoos The Great Escape Tru Thoughts Unsung Heroes
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
Reviews

Jack White Review

Oct 21, 2018
-
Posted by Steve Clements

With the eerie refrain of Artie Shaw’s ‘Nightmare’ fading out, the band entered and were warming up when White ran out to the front of the stage to whip up the fans, grabbed a guitar, then did the same on the other end of the stage, obviously keen to get things ramped up quickly. Opening with a Hammond organ-backed ‘Over And Over And Over’, White prowled the stage, knocking over a cymbal while the crowd lapped it up. Also from the latest album, a heavy guitar chug and hard drumming saw White playing to drummer Carla Azar, recalling his White Stripes days. The “Who’s with me?” refrain generated a strong response from the crowd to which White replied with wailing Little Richard screams.

A White Stripes double began with a countrified ‘Hotel Yorba’ which featured some great rock‘n’roll piano from Neil Evans on an upright and a looser solo-heavy ‘Hello Operator’. This was followed by a few selections from ‘Boarding House Reach’ where White was able to showcase his impressive guitar skills while conducting the band and summoning his snappily-dressed stagehands. The funky ‘Ice Station Zebra’ was an organ versus guitar jam that closed this section before White utilised all three microphones to screech out The Dead Weather’s ‘I Cut Like A Buffalo’. He showed with skill and apparent ease what a proper rock star should be: a strong voice (despite the lengthy tour), amazing musicanship, plenty of Brighton shouts and great songs with big choruses and fiery finishes. He’s also playing a different set on each date, so is obviously keen to keep things fresh.

White showed his piano prowess with some classy Jerry Lee Lewis thumbnail glissandos on ‘Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground’ and his gentler side on ‘The Same Boy You’ve Always Known’. There was a touch of Southern Gothic to end the set with Meg and Jack’s ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ and The Raconteurs’ ‘Carolina Drama’ given a Muscle Shoals touch.

The encore was hit heavy, beginning with a second Raconteurs song ‘Steady As She Goes’, with its killer chorus reminding us of what a great band they were. The show ended with ‘Seven Nation Army’ – no Corbyn chant, just a blokey, football shoutalong as the drums pounded out the beat for White to let loose on that iconic bottleneck solo. As always, there was a group bow and a heartfelt sign off with “My band thanks you and I thank you”. Amazingly, everyone adhered to the no phones/photos request and it was a rare treat to see the crowd in shadows and not have to watch the gig through a sea of phone screens.

Brighton Centre, Tuesday 16th October 2018
Words by Steve Clements
Photos by David James Swanson

Oct 21, 2018
Email
Steve Clements
Steve has been a SOURCE contributor since Summer 2010 and has also written for Latest 7 magazine. He moved to Brighton in 2006 after working in London at the Royal Albert Hall, Our Price Music and Teletext. Favourite quote - "There's no such thing as a sold out gig".
← PREVIOUS POST
SOURCE Writers Wanted
NEXT POST →
Dawn Landes Review
Mailing List

Recent Posts
  • Two Decades Of Funk Fire With Jalapeno Records
    Jan 18, 2021

    A new compilation celebrates 20 years of funk and soul from world-renowned Brighton label Jalapeno Records.

  • Hansel and Gretel? | Brighton Source
    Hansel and Gretel? Review
    Dec 18, 2020

    A postmodern pantomime with an unrelaible narrator. Outdoors with comedy, dance, camp actors, plenty of fun. On two levels: laughs for kids and jokes for adults

  • Artists Open Houses 2020
    Dec 5, 2020

    After cancelling the May edition, Artists Open Houses tell us what it's like to be back with a December festival that is open to visitors in person for eight days.

  • Cinecity 2020 previewed by Brighton Source
    Cinecity 2020
    Nov 17, 2020

    From the North Laine to Mongolia, Cinecity's lineup is typically eclectic and original this year - catch it before the city's key film festival ends.

  • Macbeth Review
    Nov 2, 2020

    Macbeth in Brighton. One-act play with Scottish Gaelic sounds by This Is My Theatre. Power, ambition, murder, blood. The woods are moving.

  • Lost & Found: Poison Girls
    Nov 2, 2020

    As part of our retrospective series on local bands we look back at the hugely influential and ever-challenging anarcho-punk collective Poison Girls.

  • The Rose Hill | Brighton Source
    Save Our Venues – The Rose Hill
    Oct 26, 2020

    We spoke to the team at the Rose Hill to find out how a series of new creative projects is helping this unique Brighton venue to cope with the current crisis.

  • Spillage! Review
    Oct 19, 2020

    This one-person, one-act play is giddy, funny and seriously entertaining. An odyssey through the madness of corporate pressure on our mental health.

Website developed in Brighton by Infobo
Copyright © Brighton Source 2009-2020
Jack White Review - Brighton Source