OCTOBER 2005 ISSUE

The White Stripes live - Ohio Theater, Columbus, Ohio (9-10-05)
Review by Jack Teague


When we heard that The White Stripes were going to end their U.S. tour by playing a series of shows at historic halls, we jumped at the chance to see them. Living in Atlanta, the only way you could have seen The White Stripes on the last two tours was to catch them at either Stone Mountain or Midtown Music Festival, neither of which are conducive to getting the best performance out of an artist. No, this time they would be playing a Depression era theater with gilded walls; somewhat appropriate for the show that was to be seen.

Upon arriving in Columbus, after sitting in an Amish traffic jam for a few hours, it was apparent that there were only three places to be that day in Ohio: 1) The Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival 2) The Texas Longhorn - Ohio State Football game and 3) The White Stripes Show. I caught two of the three due to the game being held at the same time as the concert, and since they ran out of tomatoes at the tomato festival, I will have to say that The White Stripes won the day hands down.

The White Stripes do not put on a straight-ahead rock show by any means. From viewing their live dvd recorded in the UK, I had the feeling that it was going to be much more of a sonic affair, but instead, it was like watching the brother/sister routine that you read about in the press. I swear to God that the best way to describe it is to say that a musically talented brother and sister are left in an attic full of instruments, and they spend the next two hours moving from instrument to instrument, on Jack White's part, playing song after song. That was especially true with the setting being the old theater. I don't think that they would come across nearly as well in an outdoor setting.

Yes, Jack White can play a guitar and quite a few other instruments with a decent degree of talent. Yes, Meg White is limited in her abilities to play anything other than rudimentary drums (from what I have seen), but together, they put on quite a show. I know that you will say that her limitations as a musician are their downfall, but when you watch the two of them communicate while they play, you seem to forget about the negative aspects of the band. Jack White stands in the midst of Meg's cymbals and cheers her through the songs. If he was in it for the glory, he could have blown her off a long time ago, or at least have pulled a Billy Corgan and eliminated his bandmate's role to an obvious minimum.(and I wonder why Corgan's band has yet to respond to his public request for a reunion) Instead, he presents her as an equal partner and let's her have the spotlight in an equal amount to his own. We know Jack's running the show, but we can also tell that he doesn't mind sharing.

The set was made up of old standards (Hotel Yorba), hits (Seven Nation Army), and new material (Blue Orchid, My Doorbell, etc...). To my knowledge, the latest cd hasn't spawned that many hit singles, but you would not have known that by the response of the crowd when material from the latest cd was played. As Meg stayed locked to her side of the stage only leaving her drum kit to play timpani, Jack White strode from his amp to the keyboards while still leaving time to adjust the dolls that had been set up on the side of the stage. After the completion of their encore, Jack and Meg walked to the front of the stage, hugged and soaked in the adoration of the crowd. If this is nothing but a gimmick, these two should receive an Academy Award for their acting.