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.
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
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
Labels: The White Stripes
posted by Patrick @ 9:17 AM
14 Comments:
Um I'm pretty sure its Jimmy Page not Paige. If you're going to reference potentially the greatest guitarist of all time then you should at least get his name right. Also, as good as Jack White was in this show it did not make me think of Jimmy Page. Definitely a good show though, although I thought the crowd was rather lame.
I would not have given the set list an 'A'. It seemed to me that the concert was cut short because of the poor sound quality. Some huge songs were missing like 'Hello Operator', 'You're Pretty Good Looking for a Girl', 'My Doorbell', 'Blue Orchid', etc. All these songs have been played at previous concerts on this tour (just check the set lists on the White Stripes web site). They did play some excellent songs. And there are songs I like more now than I did before after having seen them played live. But overall, I would give the set list a 'C'.
Jack was definitely having problems with the sound. I saw him yell to a techie "I can't hear shit." Also the crowd was one of the worst I've seen at a concert. Seemed like they only knew a handful of songs. Still a pretty kickass show.
The upside to not having a setlist before the show is obviously variety and spontaneity. The downside is that the performance lacks the precision audio and visual element that makes some live concerts really spectacular. In the case of Saturday's show, they relied heavily on strobe lighting which made it hard for me to really "get into it". I loved the music, but after awhile had to close my eyes to give them some rest. The shadows on the backwall seemed cheap and were not at all interesting. Again, some kind of basic video compliment would have helped get the crowd whipped into more of a frenzy, and would have helped draw attention away from the "cruddy" sound and equipment problems, IMO.
too many sound/tech issues during the show. this was def not one of their best performances.
Hey guys,
Thanks for all your input. From my vantage point (I was not in the pit unfortunately), I did not really notice any sound problems. I suppose if I was closer I could have gotten a better grasp of what you guys are talking about.
I gave the crowd a B because they did at times express some enthusiasm. Again, probably because of where my seats were, I couldn't get a sense of what was going on in the pit.
Anyway, I'll be blogging this weekend from Virgin Festival (and from THE PIT) so I'll get a more accurate representation of what's going on. Check back here soon.
Hopped on a plan in Atlanta Saturday and headed for DCA. Got a last minute hotel and rental car on priceline and I was set. Had to go see the White Stripes, I have become obsessed.
After some getting lost I found my way to the Patriot Center. Was able to score a $50 ticket from some kid out front (great seat) and I was golden.
Don't have much good to say about the Patriot Center but the big beers for $7 was reasonable so I will give them that.
The show was awesome until it wasn't. By that I mean the sound system blew balls towards the end and I am sure those rafters were not helping things either.
I think they would have played longer if the sound was right. Oh well no matter, i work for the airlines so I plan to take advantage and check out some more of their shows out west.
Even though this show will probably go down as one of thier worst on this tour, they are still tons better than anything else that is out there at the moment.
Compared to most other shows - I thought it was awesome. However, this was my first White Stripes show so I don't have much to compare. Sucks about the sound now that I get a sense a lot of people noticed it.
Definitely check them out in the midwest and west though. The Cold War Kids are opening for them. Should be a treat.
P.S. Worse White Stripes show of the tour?
A little harsh maybe? A lot of people walked away happy after the show. It wasn't that much of a disappointment.
I thought that the show was good, but the sound was muddy. The crowd kind of sucked as well, especially the two girls that were screaming at random moments to hear themselves scream.
I thought Jack handled the sound problems well. I definitely think of the White Stripes as the hardest working band in rock and roll today, and as always, they put a lot of effort into the show.
I was front row. It was DEFINATELY the sound problems that left major songs out of the setlist. Jack was fake shooting himself and lipping "i'm going to kill these mf-ers". The crowd was also lame, nobody was dancing! That being said I had a blast.
does anyone know where I can find the setlist?
was it me or were there 2 Led Zeppelin riffs in there? Also was the opening act 'Dan Sartain'? wasn't half bad whoever they were...
I thought it was a great show despite the Sound. Nice write up. I really really need a setlist from somewhere though. I drank too much to remember all that I heard.
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