The Enmore was as packed as it can be for Jack White’s intimate gig that was only announced in the middle of November. Fans could not believe their luck and rocked out to rock royalty through an even mix of new tracks from the new album and classics from his solo career and back to The White Stripes. No Name, White’s sixth solo album, was quietly dropped earlier this year, with lucky fans at the singer’s Third Man Records store silently slipped a copy along with their other purchases, and a good proportion of the album was played on the night.Â
The whole band are clearly in sync and having the time of their lives. Jack White famously doesn’t have a set list, improvises, makes up songs, and he’s got a team that’s very much along for the ride. His hometown of Detroit and that of at least two other band members, Bobby Emmett on keyboards and Dominic John Davis on bass, got plenty of mentions, reminding a crowd on the other side of the world where White’s brand of hard industrialised rock comes from, and proving that great talent can spring up from anywhere and will find its accomplices. Patrick Keeler on drums was in the Raconteurs/ Saboteurs and the rest of the band have played with White in the various other iterations of his bands. Seven Nation Army came right at the end of a chunky encore. The tune that even your gran knows made sure everyone left elated, pouring out into the hot and dirty night, wondering if they’ll ever get to see Jack White again so close up and personal.Â
FULL SETLIST:
Old Scratch Blues
That’s How I’m Feeling
Ride Like Hell (Big Sugar)
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes)
It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking)
Little Bird (The White Stripes)
I Think I Smell a Rat (The White Stripes)
Born Under a Bad Sign (Booker T. & the MG’s)
What’s the Rumpus?
High Ball Stepper
Hotel Yorba (The White Stripes)
Broken Boy Soldier (The Raconteurs/Saboteurs)
That Black Bat Licorice
I Cut Like a Buffalo (The Dead Weather)
Encore:
Icky Thump (The White Stripes)
Underground
Steady, as She Goes (The Raconteurs/Saboteurs)
Archbishop Harold Holmes
Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
