29th
July
2007
Concert Review: White Stripes @ Patriot Center, 7.28.07
The Show: Playing in front of nearly 10,000 lively fans, big sister Meg and little brother Jack of that quaint duo commonly known as The White Stripes galvanized the packed Patriot Center of Fairfax, Virginia for nearly two hours on Saturday. Dan Sartain played a thirty minute set in support.
The Pros: Playing a mix of new and old material, The Stripes kept the entire house on their feet for all two hours. As expected, Jack White did not disappoint on guitar - as nearly every song featured an extended solo showcasing White’s talents which compare evenly to the likes of Jimmy Page. Among highlights was the band’s current single “Icky Thump”. White, as we’ve come to expect, only got through the first verse of the song before moving onto two other songs before returning to Icky in a blaze of guitar fury (words truly can’t describe this). Also of note was an electric version of “Hotel Yorba”, White’s solo during “Ball and Biscuit”, and Meg White’s beautiful rendition of “In The Cold, Cold Night”. Generating the most reception was “Seven Nation Army”, which White predicted beforehand saying “I’ll just shut up because you all want me to play my hit”. A surprising audience favorite was “I Can’t Wait”.
The Cons: If you’re one of those people who dislikes Meg White and her style of drumming, you wouldn’t have walked away with a differing of opinion. But Meg is quite cute so I give her a pass. Jack complained openly about the sound problems. At one point saying, “It sounds like donkey up here, but I’m going to keep on trucking” (reminds me of a certain Foo Fighters show in which the sound system completely blew halfway through the set, causing the Foo to play just two more songs mic and amp-less).
The Verdict: Earlier this month, The Rolling Piece of Shit voted Jack and Meg the #1 live band currently out there. Was it the greatest show I’ve been to? Probably not, but the show was definitely worth the price of admission and I walked away loving the Stripes more than I did walking into the building. Hope you snagged your ACL post-show tickets for White Stripes, Cold War Kids, and Dr. Dog in those nerveracking seven minutes that they were on sale.
Report Card:
The Setlist: A
The Crowd: B
The Vocals: A-
The Instruments: A
Final Grade: A
Listen to “Hotel Yorba” (live at Maida Vale, 7.25.01–courtesy of Indie for Bunnies)
Listen to “Icky Thump” (live on Conan, 6.18.07–courtesy of sand is overrated)
Post and photo by Alex
posted in The White Stripes | 14 Comments
