Jack White
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
October 4, 2024
Photos by Tyler King
Jack White has been on a streak when it comes to surprising fans this year. First there was the surprise release of his new album, No Name; initially it was given out to customers at his Third Man Records stores in Detroit, London, and Nashville in July, followed by a wide release soon after. And much like the release of the record, the tour for No Name is also a surprising one, with shows being announced days or sometimes only hours before the concert is set to happen. Such was the case with his show at the Great American Music Hall, with it being announced by the venue and White only days before it was set to take place. I was supposed to see The White Stripes in 2007, but that tour was cancelled; the band would never tour again, and my seventeen year-old self was incredibly disappointed. Flash forward seventeen years later, and I knew that I couldn’t miss seeing Jack White in such an intimate setting.
It was hot in the venue before Jack White and his band took the stage, to the point where members of the audience had removed their shirts hoping to get some sort of respite from the temperatures in the concert hall. “Damaged Goods” by Gang Of Four was playing over the PA when suddenly Jack and his band stormed the stage, armed themselves with their instruments, and began a quick jam together as the crowd erupted in a massive applause. There was Bobby Emmett on keyboards, Dominic Davis on bass, and Patrick Keeler on drums, who had previously played with Jack in The Raconteurs. Shortly after the jam was done, White played the opening guitar line of “Old Scratch Blues,” the first song on No Name, and the concert truly started.
What followed was a twenty-song set that left no stone of Jack White’s musical career unturned. For fans of his most recent endeavor like myself, the first part of his set was full of brand new songs. There was the aforementioned “Old Scratch Blues,” but “It’s Rough On Rats (If You’re Asking)” felt like the true highlight of his recent material for me. Each song was given an extended jam section in the middle of it to show off Jack’s guitar skills, and trust me when I say that he’s one of the best guitarists that I’ve had the privilege of seeing play live. Between fast solos or just bluesy riffing, he knows what style of playing is appropriate for each song. Surprisingly there was no setlist on the stage; instead, Jack would begin playing a song and expect the band to recognize it and jump in at the appropriate time, which showed off just how skilful the players he had chosen to be his band for this tour are.
If you were more a fan of the band that initially brought attention to White, the distorted guitar intro of “Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground” showed that he could pair classic and beloved songs from his back catalogue with newer ones and the transition would work perfectly. The crowd had been into the show up to that point, but once he opened the doors of the setlist to older songs, all bets were off for the crowd not moving as one entity and singing back at Jack and his band, “If you can hear a piano fall you can hear me coming down the hall.” The White Stripes weren’t the only band that Jack has been in, and songs from both The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather would feature in the set as well, with “I Cut Like A Buffalo” by the latter being one of the highlights of the encore for me, The Dead Weather being my favorite band that he has ever been involved with.
Jack switched between three guitars throughout his set, appropriate given his penchant for the number. Also lining the back of the stage were three of his new Pano Verb amps, which he created in collaboration with Fender. All were pushed to their limit, White and his band never slowing down or stopping, the entire set feeling like one dizzying song transitioning straight into another. There were moments where you couldn’t tell where one song ended and the next began, like when the band went straight from playing “Cannon” into “Broken Boy Soldier,” a song I never particularly cared for that was transformed into a snarling beast that made it impossible for me not to bang my head to.
The main set concluded with the popular song, “Seven Nation Army,” a song whose instrumental melody is just as famous as its vocal melody. It’s a song that even people who are generally unfamiliar with Jack White and his musical trajectory are aware of, and the crowd writhed and pulsed with the drum beat and bass line being laid down by Davis and Keeler, the audience finally exploding as White proclaimed, “And the message coming from my eyes says ‘Leave it alone!'” The moment felt like a victory lap for the band and you could tell that the crowd knew how fortunate they were to see such an iconic song performed in such an intimate setting. Is it my favorite song by The White Stripes? No. But considering how now, an entire seventeen years later after I was originally supposed to see this song being played, it was being performed less than six feet in front of me, I joined into the rapturous celebration of the crowd before the song ended and the band took their leave from the stage.
Bobby, Dominic, and Patrick returned onstage, playing an instrumental jam before Jack leapt up onstage behind Bobby, playing the organ while Bobby switched to a synthesizer. Soon he had strapped one of his guitars back over his shoulder and played one of my favorite songs from his new album, “Archbishop Harold Holmes.” Eventually the band played a second massive song originally by The White Stripes, “Icky Thump.” Another huge anthemic song, one would have assumed that this would be the final song of the set, and it would have been a perfect send-off for the show. The song ended. White’s amp was still emitting feedback from his guitar. And then he launched into the opening riff of “Black Math.” I mentioned before that “Seven Nation Army” isn’t my favorite song by The White Stripes. No, that honor goes to “Black Math,” and as soon as the rest of the band jumped in behind White and propelled the song forward, I was there with them, not quite able to believe that I was seeing this song performed right in front of me, screaming every word back at the band with the rest of the audience around me. After a blistering few minutes the song ended and Jack and the band bowed before the cheering crowd before taking their leave offstage. I sincerely hope that I’m able to see him again in the future, but I know that nothing will ever match the opportunity to see him in a small venue with four hundred other fans who all feel a connection to his music. And if I never see him live again, I’ll always have the memory of seeing him play some of my favorite music of his from just feet away.
Opening the evening was the Oakland band Naked Roommate. A sextet featuring Amber Sermeno on vocals, Alejandra Alcala on bass, Mig Zamora on guitar, Andy Jordan on various electronic instruments, and Geoff Saba and Jeanne Oss on saxophone, the band sounded like a perfect fusion of Speaking In Tongues-era Talking Heads and more experimental synth punk. Alejandra laid down never-changing basslines with Mig’s guitar-playing sounding like a combination of laser guns and rocket ships, Amber’s deadpan vocals grounding the song over Andy’s electronic beats, Geoff’s and Jeanne’s saxophones accentuating musical crescendos throughout the songs. Most of the set was comprised of material from their forthcoming album Pass The Loofah, an album I can’t wait to hear.
