[Trash-talk] concert review: White Stripes in Chicago (!) -NGR

blisteringheat blisteringheat at earthlink.net
Sun Jun 29 17:58:03 PDT 2003


Got really lucky and found out a while ago that the Stripes would be in
Chicago the same week as my wife and I. They played this amazing venue
called the Aragon Ballroom. It used to be a ballroom (duh) dancing hall
back in the day. This place is so gorgeous. Inside it resembles an old
Spanish courtyard at night, and even has fake stars on the high black
ceiling.

Musically the show was beyond excellent. There is no denying the Stripes'
talent. Jack's voice was a little trashed, but that only added depth to the
blues numbers and didn't really detract from any of the others. The
highlights were definitely the handful of songs he played slide guitar on,
plus "In the Cold, Cold Night" when Meg left her drums for a song and took
the microphone up front. They did not play "Fell In Love With A Girl",
which I thought was kind of cool. I like that song and had never heard it
live, but I always admire bands that have the balls to not play their
biggest hit. The show was only about an hour and a half long, however, so
they PROBABLY could have squeezed it in.  ;)  Maybe they did the night
before?

My one minor "complaint" is that Jack doesn't have great stage presence.
It's almost like he's embarrassed to be playing in front of so many people.
I couldn't help but think of stories I'd heard about the early Doors where
Morrison wouldn't face the audience. This wasn't nearly that extreme, but
Jack made hardly any attempts to include the audience in the show. It was
kind of like watching them play in their garage, which is interesting for a
while but soon gets a bit old. His main mic was set up about six feet from
the edge of the stage, meaning about twelve feet from the crowd. When he
would leave the mic to play guitar, he always went towards the back of the
stage or to Meg, never up closer. And his hair constantly covered the upper
part of his face, resembling a shaggy dog, so you couldn't even tell where
he was looking. There was one song towards the end where his hair parted a
little and you could actually see his face for a moment. Quickly, he put
his head down and shook his hair which put an end to that. Really the
Stripes would be an amazing band to see at a small blues club while smoking
a cigar and sipping on a vodka martini. As for larger venues, however, they
still seem a bit uncomfortable.

Oh, for you fashion freaks (Alan!): Jack was wearing black and red pants
(w/o underwear, girls), a black shirt, and red shoes; Meg was in black
pants, a white shirt, and black shoes.

After the show we headed to Kingston Mines for some kick ass blues. You
have to love any club that is more crowded at 2:30 than at 12:00!

Later!

pongo



********************
when did i get perverted
i can't remember your name
i'm growing introverted
you touch my hand but it's not the same...




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