grinch
Cognac....icky.Scotch....icky.Vodka....
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2002
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Roseland Ballroom is starting to bug me. Every show I go to there starts at 6:45pm, and I'm pretty sure that this is so that they can cash in from the bar. I'm not against a music venue making money from drinks, but I am against the stupid group of individuals that I always end up standing behind who are trashed and hitting on everything with a vagina in the near proximity. However, Roseland and me have a history (I saw Radiohead for the first time there), so we were able to work things out and besides this slight inconvenience with a minority of the crowd, I had a terribly fun evening.
The opening acts were fairly mediocre. The first band sounded as if the only music they'd ever listened to was Sonic Youth. Now this doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, but when the end result is as poorly structured and pointless as this group, it was a very bad thing. The second band, The Hentchmen, was full of energy and at least amusing. They were a very upbeat pop/punkish group with just a guitarist, keyboardist, and drummer. Probably just me, but I felt a bass would've driven the point home a bit more. Either way, I was quite happy when both bands finished their luckily short sets and waited for Jack and Meg White to grace the stage.
The roadies (all dressed in zoot suits, complete with a top hat) setup the candy-apple-red drumset at the very front, stage right, facing stage left, which is where the guitar amps were setup. There were two main microphones on stage: one front and slightly off center, the second next to Meg's drumset facing her, and Jack seemed to sing half of every song into each. There was also one other stage left that was next to the other instruments which got used for the few songs that were piano-based. Quite honestly, I was expecting them to perform with a full band, but this turned out to not be the truth. The White Stripes live are simply Meg on drums and Jack on guitar, with a couple keyboard and Wurlitzer lines inbetween.
When talking to people about The White Stripes, a lot of people seem to tell me that they think Jack's guitar and vocal work is great, but they can't stand Meg's horrible drumming. I have always sort of disagreed with this opinion, feeling that without Meg's slow and simple drum style, the band would be completely different and wouldn't be half as awesome. After seeing them live, I really find Meg to be the driving force behind each song. Her drumset's tone sounds much lower to me than normal, so low in fact that I didn't find the lack of a bass player distracting at all. Her lazy slapping style was really awesome to watch. The stick would drop on the tom with force and yet stay there, as oppose to the vast majority of drummers I've seen whose wrists snap the stick up immediately after each hit. Imagine a thick layer of honey sitting atop each piece of her set. The look on her face while playing wasn't that of a standard drummer either; she'd close her eyes and tilt her head back with a look of pure musical intoxication. She played the drums like a girl would play drums, as oppose to the way most drummers do: all energetic and slashy-like. Overall, I really think she was the driving force behind each song; the thing that kept each song in check and at correct pace, while Jack wailed away on guitar.
Jack White is a great guitarist. After seeing him live, I have a fully new respect for him, his playing style, and his music. He's a great guitarist in that jimi-hendrix-can-barely-stand-as-the-music-flows-out-of-me-uncontrollably kind of way, not in the progressive rock virtuoso solo kind of way. His style is dirty, gritty, and sloppy. If one walked into this concert expecting an exact copy of their studio material, I don't think they'd really enjoy it. Every song had layers of extra little notes and muted strums inbetween the lines of the song. Each verse had a slight variation from the next, either in octave or hammering style or whatever. Basically what I'm trying to say here is, he keeps you interested. The majority of the songs felt like a constant solo, but weren't boring and always lead back to the root chords of the verse or chorus. He played like he was having tons of fun, in an unhinged bluesy style. For close to half of the songs, he wore a slide on his pinky and constantly switched between normal chords and sliding back and forth across the frets with the fervor of a true professional music lover. I've always felt that The White Stripes had some heavy blues influences, and my feelings certainly felt proven after that night.
The set was a really big mix of their work. I was truly expecting the bulk of their list to be from White Blood Cells and Elephant, but much to my suprise, they took an even amount from each album. I tried to write down the full setlist, but sadly I was unable to name any of the songs from De Stilj or their Self-titled albums as I simply haven't spent as much time listening to those two releases (I'm savoring them, damnit). They did play most of my favorites though, including Meg White on lead vocals during In The Cold, Cold, Night. They ended the first part of their set with a balls-out jamming solo session of Ball and Biscuit, and then came back a few minutes later for a short encore involving what I lovingly call their "trendy songs." Fell In Love With a Girl was played at around half speed, which really worked out well for the song, and Seven Nation Army's bass line was played with Jack's guitar, as oppose to a bass which it is normally played with.
There wasn't much communication with the audience during this show, just layers and layers of rock n' roll. Towards the beginning of the show, Jack addressed the audience with something like "Hello New York! Hi, I'm Jack and this is my sister Meg and we're going to play some songs for you." I guess they like propagating that rumor about them being brother and sister, even though it's a fairly well-known fact that they were married and are now legally divorced. On the whole, I wouldn't really call it a charismatic performance, but they certainly have a lot of heart and know how to rock a crowd. My head was banging around so much for the show that I thought my ER-20 earplugs were going to pop out half of the time. In the end, I had a great night and really enjoyed the concert. I suggest that anybody who is a fan of their raw and gritty nature (i.e. own more than Elephant) should definitely try and check them out if they come to a venue near you.
The opening acts were fairly mediocre. The first band sounded as if the only music they'd ever listened to was Sonic Youth. Now this doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, but when the end result is as poorly structured and pointless as this group, it was a very bad thing. The second band, The Hentchmen, was full of energy and at least amusing. They were a very upbeat pop/punkish group with just a guitarist, keyboardist, and drummer. Probably just me, but I felt a bass would've driven the point home a bit more. Either way, I was quite happy when both bands finished their luckily short sets and waited for Jack and Meg White to grace the stage.
The roadies (all dressed in zoot suits, complete with a top hat) setup the candy-apple-red drumset at the very front, stage right, facing stage left, which is where the guitar amps were setup. There were two main microphones on stage: one front and slightly off center, the second next to Meg's drumset facing her, and Jack seemed to sing half of every song into each. There was also one other stage left that was next to the other instruments which got used for the few songs that were piano-based. Quite honestly, I was expecting them to perform with a full band, but this turned out to not be the truth. The White Stripes live are simply Meg on drums and Jack on guitar, with a couple keyboard and Wurlitzer lines inbetween.
When talking to people about The White Stripes, a lot of people seem to tell me that they think Jack's guitar and vocal work is great, but they can't stand Meg's horrible drumming. I have always sort of disagreed with this opinion, feeling that without Meg's slow and simple drum style, the band would be completely different and wouldn't be half as awesome. After seeing them live, I really find Meg to be the driving force behind each song. Her drumset's tone sounds much lower to me than normal, so low in fact that I didn't find the lack of a bass player distracting at all. Her lazy slapping style was really awesome to watch. The stick would drop on the tom with force and yet stay there, as oppose to the vast majority of drummers I've seen whose wrists snap the stick up immediately after each hit. Imagine a thick layer of honey sitting atop each piece of her set. The look on her face while playing wasn't that of a standard drummer either; she'd close her eyes and tilt her head back with a look of pure musical intoxication. She played the drums like a girl would play drums, as oppose to the way most drummers do: all energetic and slashy-like. Overall, I really think she was the driving force behind each song; the thing that kept each song in check and at correct pace, while Jack wailed away on guitar.
Jack White is a great guitarist. After seeing him live, I have a fully new respect for him, his playing style, and his music. He's a great guitarist in that jimi-hendrix-can-barely-stand-as-the-music-flows-out-of-me-uncontrollably kind of way, not in the progressive rock virtuoso solo kind of way. His style is dirty, gritty, and sloppy. If one walked into this concert expecting an exact copy of their studio material, I don't think they'd really enjoy it. Every song had layers of extra little notes and muted strums inbetween the lines of the song. Each verse had a slight variation from the next, either in octave or hammering style or whatever. Basically what I'm trying to say here is, he keeps you interested. The majority of the songs felt like a constant solo, but weren't boring and always lead back to the root chords of the verse or chorus. He played like he was having tons of fun, in an unhinged bluesy style. For close to half of the songs, he wore a slide on his pinky and constantly switched between normal chords and sliding back and forth across the frets with the fervor of a true professional music lover. I've always felt that The White Stripes had some heavy blues influences, and my feelings certainly felt proven after that night.
The set was a really big mix of their work. I was truly expecting the bulk of their list to be from White Blood Cells and Elephant, but much to my suprise, they took an even amount from each album. I tried to write down the full setlist, but sadly I was unable to name any of the songs from De Stilj or their Self-titled albums as I simply haven't spent as much time listening to those two releases (I'm savoring them, damnit). They did play most of my favorites though, including Meg White on lead vocals during In The Cold, Cold, Night. They ended the first part of their set with a balls-out jamming solo session of Ball and Biscuit, and then came back a few minutes later for a short encore involving what I lovingly call their "trendy songs." Fell In Love With a Girl was played at around half speed, which really worked out well for the song, and Seven Nation Army's bass line was played with Jack's guitar, as oppose to a bass which it is normally played with.
There wasn't much communication with the audience during this show, just layers and layers of rock n' roll. Towards the beginning of the show, Jack addressed the audience with something like "Hello New York! Hi, I'm Jack and this is my sister Meg and we're going to play some songs for you." I guess they like propagating that rumor about them being brother and sister, even though it's a fairly well-known fact that they were married and are now legally divorced. On the whole, I wouldn't really call it a charismatic performance, but they certainly have a lot of heart and know how to rock a crowd. My head was banging around so much for the show that I thought my ER-20 earplugs were going to pop out half of the time. In the end, I had a great night and really enjoyed the concert. I suggest that anybody who is a fan of their raw and gritty nature (i.e. own more than Elephant) should definitely try and check them out if they come to a venue near you.
