Jack White iii

𝖽𝗈 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍

The night before the public opening.

JACK WHITE by Ki Price for Times, September 2021

Taken by Olivia from Jack's homemade bowling alley.

The Raconteurs - ‘Sunday Driver’ Music Video

vaccinations above politics and distrust.

Jack White “Live at the Masonic Temple, Detroit 7/30/14″ 2021. Third Man Records (Vault Package 46). It’s a good thing I had off work today because this package is over 3 hours long, 38 songs and 4 LPs (white, blue, black and a marbled one of those 3 colors). I saw White perform about a week earlier in 2014 at the Eagles Club in Milwaukee on July 21st, 2014 and though I’m pretty sure he didn’t play for over three hours it certainly felt like it - it was at least 120 degrees in there, I was already hungover because it was my birthday eve and I drank too much, too early. I spent most of the show trying not to pass out and putting ice chunks down my neck that literally melted completely on contact. Anyway! It’s a great compilation, though exhausting, including a mix of White Stripes, Dead Weather, Raconteurs and solo material, plus a few covers (Led Zeppelin’s “Lemon Song” and Beck’s “Devils Haircut” for example). Some of my favorite include “I Cut Like a Buffalo” (Alison Mosshart and Dean Fertita joined him onstage for that one), “Icky Thump,” “Three Women,” “Sugar Never Tasted So Good” and “Hotel Yorba.” Around the two-hour mark it’s pretty obvious that White and his band are getting exhausted. “Steady, As She Goes” (which I usually love) is off-key in both the vocals and the keys. White sounds like he’s at the point of deranged fatigue during “That Black Bat Licorice” and the last three songs (which I assume are the encore) “My Doorbell,” “I Fought Piranhas” and “Seven Nation Army” feel like a race to the finish. That said, the package does a great job in quality materials (of course) and sound for a live show. Also included in the package is a 7″ of White’s Saturday Night Live performance from October 2020 but I’m too tired to listen to it now so will save that for another day. 

Jack White “Saturday Night Live 10-11-20″ Third Man Records. 2020/2021, part of the Third Man Vault package #47. After the 3-plus hours I spent last week listening to Live at the Masonic Temple, I needed a few days off before spinning this bonus 7″ single. Side A is a medley of three songs: “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” which White co-wrote with Beyonce (it appears on Lemonade; the song includes samples from Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” and White has a serious Zeppelin vibe during the medley’s performance), White Stripes’ “Ball and Biscuit” (from Elephant) and “Jesus is Coming Soon” originally written by Blind Willie Johnson. Johnson wrote it “about the 1918 Spanish Flue outbreak that feels uniquely relatable in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic.” In fact, the reason White appeared on SNL that night was due directly to the pandemic; the original musical guest was country Morgan Wallen, but he was uninvited two days prior to airtime for violating safety protocols (he was filmed just days early at a crowded bar without a mask). Side B (irritatingly at 45rpm while Side A is 33rpm) has White’s solo song “Lazaretto,” the title track from his  2014 album. It’s been probably over 20 years since I’ve watched SNL so I didn’t see this until today, but it was pretty cool that White shredded the solo on a guitar specifically designed for him Eddie Van Halen who died just a few days earlier. 

Jack White at Ilosaarirock festival in Joensuu, Finland 7/15/2018, photographed by David James Swanson