Tag: the white stripes

Cold War Kids 3/20/15

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(a) setlist

    1. All This Could Be Yours
    2. Miracle Mile
    3. Loner Phase
    4. We Used to Vacation
    5. Red Wine, Success!
    6. Audience
    7. First
    8. Louder Than Ever
    9. Hot Coals
    10. Hang Me Up to Dry
    11. Harold Bloom
    12. Tuxedos
    13. Drive Desperate
    14. Something Is Not Right With Me
    15. Hospital Beds

Encore:

  1. Bottled Affection
  2. Well Well Well (John Lennon cover)
  3. Hold My Home
  4. Saint John

(b) highlights

  • phenomenal setlist – singles, deep cuts, whatever – these dudes get song placement
  • just the show’s atmosphere, such intimacy and a garage-band jam feel about it
  • really dig the stage production – the lighting guy needs a raise or gold star
  • watching bassist Matt Maust pluck those bass strings is an other-worldly experience
  • “Harold Bloom” is hauntingly good, that John Lennon cover, basically everything

(c) lowlights

  • the crowd was shockingly young; seeing so many under 21’s at a show like this is always off-putting to me
  • Terminal 5’s Terminal 5-ness

(d) overall thoughts

Cold War Kids are one of the few bands that I instantly loved the moment I heard them. Their debut Robbers & Cowards is one of the best albums out there and I’ll always stand by that. I was supposed to first see them open for the White Stripes (!!) back in 2007, but that tour was cancelled because of Meg White-related troubles. That resulted in me having to wait eight years to see these guys, and this show is a long, on-going case in rectifying that.

I always say that seeing Cold War Kids live is like walking in a private garage-band jam session. It feels so stupidly intimate and personal and wonderful. The guys are crawling all over the stage, never standing still and idle, frequently hitting and bumping into one another in a way that makes every performance feel so special and unique. I’ve seen them quite a few times at this point and every show has felt different. This experience in particular was one of warm camaraderie – a brotherly love connection between band and audience.

This was one of the first shows in NYC for their fifth album Hold My Home, which has since given the band well-deserved mainstream praise in the most unexpected way. Their single “First” was actually the first time they had a number one hit, which, as a fan since 2005, makes me incredibly proud and totally baffled. How had it taken everyone so long to realize their greatness? I’ll always remember how wonderful Nathan sounded, how cool Matt looked, and how chillingly special each and every song made us all feel. When you see Cold War Kids, you feel them more than anything. And that’s the best part.

 

Bottom line: Every Cold War Kids show is an emotional experience more than a performance, and being in the audience feels more like a privilege than anything.

 

Jack White 1/30/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes cover)
    2. High Ball Stepper
    3. Lazaretto
    4. Hotel Yorba (The White Stripes cover)
    5. Temporary Ground
    6. Cannon (The White Stripes cover)
    7. Broken Boy Soldier (The Raconteurs cover)
    8. Love Interruption
    9. We’re Going to be Friends (The White Stripes cover)
    10. Three Women
    11. Black Math (The White Stripes cover)
    12. Top Yourself (The Raconteurs cover)
    13. Ball and Biscuit (The White Stripes cover)

Encore:

  1. That Black Bat Licorice (w/ Q-Tip)
  2. Excursions (A Tribe Called Quest cover w/ Q-Tip)
  3. Sixteen Saltines
  4. Astro (The White Stripes cover)
  5. Steady As She Goes (The Raconteurs cover)
  6. Would You Fight For My Love?
  7. Just One Drink
  8. Blunderbuss
  9. Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes cover)

(b) highlights

  • my friend won a lottery through Jack White’s fan club that let us automatically get in the venue first, which means front row center at Madison Square Garden = heaven
  • that SETLIST, Jesus
  • getting to hear that many White Stripes songs was a true treasure
  • I don’t know how or why, but “That Black Bat Licorice” was seriously next level – a damn near religious experience
  • the entire show’s audio streamed on xm radio, which made the whole experience that much more special
  • Jack was in a great mood, elevating each moment to a better place – his mood made the performance the best possible

(c) lowlights

  • I don’t know who I have to murder to hear “Icky Thump” live, but I would really like to know eventually, please
  • also willing to commit a small crime to hear the Dead Weather’s “I Cut Like a Buffalo,” but I suppose that’s a longshot that this point
  • Jack White is CRAZY about people taking photos during his shows (meaning, he’s stopped performing and caused a scene because of it), so no one took pictures throughout the show*
  • *(this isn’t actually a lowlight – it was nice that no one was distracted during the performance, but I wish I could’ve had a few keepsake photos of my experience)

(d) overall thoughts

For those who don’t know, Jack White is an…eccentric guy. As a performer, he doesn’t use conventional setlists or even really determine how long his shows will be before they’ve started. His band of touring musicians are a particularly skilled group of people who can equally perform each song with perfection and anticipate the unexpected when it comes to Jack. As an astute audience member, you can definitely sense the tension every so often on stage. Jack will start one song and turn it into something else halfway through. His violinist will pick up one fiddle and bow only to immediately put it down and pick up something else after Jack has changed the song seemingly mid-chorus. It sounds stressful, and sometimes anxiety-inducing to watch, but at Madison Square Garden, it made me excited. I had seen Jack White’s solo act twice before this show – once in a small outdoor venue and another at a huge festival – but it was at this show that he seemed most happy, comfortable, and effortlessly thrilled to be playing. He performs for himself, not the audience, so his art really speaks for him. Make of that what you will.

Jack’s second solo album Lazaretto was so strong to me, and this night really let those songs shine right alongside some true White Stripes classics. “High Ball Stepper,” “Temporary Ground,” and “Three Women” felt so fully embodied as songs that you wonder how they haven’t always existed. “That Black Bat Licorice,” even with the bizarre accompaniment of Q-Tip, felt so massive and so much bigger than that venue could even hold. Each song felt like taking steps a part of a greater journey, and I was so willing to take Jack White’s hand and let him lead me along the way. Regardless of how people feel about Jack, who has somehow become a point of controversy over the years, you can’t deny the presence of magic hearing 20,000+ people sing “Seven Nation Army” in such an iconic arena. That’s something you never forget.

Bottom line: Jack White is a true musician in every sense of the word, and experiencing his art live is a privilege…even if he sort of hates the audience in the process. I can live with that.

[All photos are by David James Swanson, Jack’s personal photog.]

 

Bonus Material!

My blonde head is too excited and jumping in and out of frame, but man, this song was beautiful.