After the release of last year’s spectacularly energetic No Name album. It was a complete no-brainer to check Jack White’s subsequent British tour. The 3,000 capacity or so Birmingham 02 Academy, although looking like a multi storey car park from the outside, is an excellent venue, with a nice wrap around balcony for the Jewellery Rattlers and friendly staff. Anticipation was high, you could feel it. You never really know what songs you’re going to get with a Jack White show. Neither does he a lot of the time. He constructs a lot of the set-list there and then, whilst performing. It’s like witnessing a renaissance artist, filling in the colours of his rough sketch, in front of our very eyes. Of course, colour schemes have played their part throughout White’s career. This tour has been no different. Vivid sapphire lights bathe the stage throughout this whole wonderful performance.
The set lists for this tour have consisted of the same few songs from the aforementioned No Name album. These are then accompanied by White’s choices on the night from his extensive back catalogue. The band are set up at the back of the stage. And what a band they are: Nashville producer and session musician Dominic Davis on bass, Bobby Emmett on keyboards and former Greenhorne & Raconteur Patrick Keeler toiling away at a rapid pace behind the drum kit. A lot of room is set up for White, whilst a lone mic occupies centre stage. A stage which White commands. A ringmaster directing the circus. A quick point of the finger and his drummer knows when to fill. A wave of the arm and the whole band knows when to switch key.
The show begins with a quick jam and then the band fire straight into two songs from No Name. ‘Old Scratch Blues’ is quickly followed by the punchy ‘That’s How I’m Feeling’ This has been the opening procedure for all the European shows so far. It’s then, however, time for the first of White’s random choices. A glance at the guitar rack, a selection made. ‘Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground’ from the White Stripes 2001 album White Blood Cells. There are no gaps, and the energy levels do not slip. ‘It’s Rough on Rats (if You’re Asking)’ cuts a swathe through the ether the eager audience giving this 2024 song the kind of greeting usually given to a much older and established favourite. The Albert King blues standard ‘Born Under a Bad Sign’ is sandwiched between two further White Stripes’ songs, both making rare appearances on this tour: ‘Little Bird’ becomes a soaring eagle in the hands of this band, whilst ‘I Think I Smell a Rat‘ is the second song in which said rodent features.
The wonderful ‘What’s the Rumpus’ precedes another catalogue raid, starting with the Dead Weather’s ‘I Cut Like a Buffalo’ . The brilliant ‘Archbishop Harold Holmes’ for me edges it as the best song of the night. A highlight from one of the greatest albums of 2024. White’s other outfit The Raconteurs are featured later in the show when ‘Steady as She Goes’ finishes the main set. After one of the shortest waits for an encore I’ve ever known (such a pity this man doesn’t run our NHS or Travel services), they’re back. Another short jam and then a hand gesture from the ringmaster signals the familiar chords of “Icky Thump’ A treat indeed, as the song hasn’t been played on either of the British dates so far. White stomps around, wielding his axe, safe in the knowledge that he has his captive audience right where he wants them. A lone crowd surfer. Then a bloke who looks not unlike Shaggy from Scooby Doo tries to invade the stage. He fails and is led away. It’s all happening right here under the blue.
‘When I Hear My Name’ crashes into ‘Lazaretto’ and the lovely slide guitar blues of ‘Underground’. No prizes for guessing the last song of the night, however, as we draw nearer to the 11pm curfew.The unmistakable and world famous power chords of ‘Seven Nation Army‘ cause a seismic reaction from the sardine packed crowd. One last magical crack of the whip from Circus Master White. Again….a man with the audience in the palm of his hand. Under his spell, this is wizardry at its most powerful. Not only can he finale with one of rock’s most iconic songs, but you leave the venue into the crisp neon-lit, air, knowing you’ve just witnessed one of the world’s greatest performers. Bravo.
