Jack White Is Alright with Me

My apprehension about seeing the Raconteurs at the Fonda last night quickly disappeared when they took the stage. On the album, each song sounds like a different band trying on a new style and playing without much soul. But in person, they're tight, unified and rock nice and hard (and loud - my ears were ringing for hours after the show). They supplemented the band (Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler) with a keyboard player who looked very familiar (I think he was in the Waxwings? correct me if I'm wrong). I was drinking a little too much to be bothered with writing the set list down (and I thought - how hard could it be to remember, they've only got one album). About four songs in they broke out Love's "A House Is Not a Motel." I've got to admit that I got a little emotional. Earlier in the day I'd read about Arthur Lee's illness and his recent experimental stem cell surgery. I'm still a little pissed off that nobody big stepped up to play the LA tribute show. For me, Love is probably the quintessential LA band (you could obviously make an arguement for The Byrds too) and this blog is named after one of my favorite Love songs. Anyway Jack White strolls into town and plays a very passionate version of the song (and those songs off of Forever Changes aren't the easiest things to pull off). Take that LA musicians. After that they really couldn't do anything wrong in my eyes. Jack didn't say much during the set. He said something about "all my Latino and Latina family out there" and introduced the band at the end of the set. Brendan Benson did a nice cover of "It Ain't Easy" which most people know from David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust). The other big highlight was "Broken Boy Soldier" which some critics have read as White's kiss off of the White Stripes ("I'm through ripping myself off" / "The boy never gets older"). His guitar playing was solid as ever and very engaging to watch. I also really like watching rock drummers who hold their sticks like jazz drummers. Patrick Keeler's got skills. Much of the crowd was obviously there to see White (he was front and center) but the rest of the band more than held their own. They played pretty much the whole record, the two covers I mentioned and two songs I didn't immediately recognize (any help?). If you're on the fence about going to the Wiltern show, pull the trigger (tickets still remain for the July 20th show). I plan to go back and listen to the record with new ears.