Tuesday September 27, 2005

Prince of Darkness

We went and saw The White Stripes at Coney Island on Sunday night. While I’ve always liked the band, I was somewhat skeptical when they hit it big with White Blood Cells. After covering bands like The Oblivians in Memphis in the late ’90s, the sudden popularity of the Stripes presented me with a Nirvana moment. Here was a genre of underground music that had been going strong for years and was now suddenly being “discovered.” The Oblivians’ pinnacle, for example, came with the genre exploding Play 9 Songs with Mr. Quintron, which was released in 1997, the year The White Stripes released their first single. Jack White even acquired his first red Montgomery Airline guitar (now a signature) from the Oblivians’ Jack Yarber. Claims of White’s originality were irritating, in other words.

Sunday’s show, however, was incredible. While the duo’s no bass lineup long ago discarded rock convention, White’s organic performance seemed bent on reinventing the band’s songbook as well. He played, at various times, the guitar, the piano and the marimbas. He screamed and whispered. He stomped and writhed. Often he seemed completely overcome.

While The White Stripes were once lumped in with the spate of “The” bands that appeared on the scene a few years ago, it is clear now that Jack White will be making records for a long time to come. The contrast with opening act The Shins was instructive. The New Mexican combo executed their songs competently, if a little too perfectly. They sounded like their records. They will be doing something else for work one day.

But Jack White was born to do this. After the show, I searched my memory for comparable performances. Was it like The Oblivians in their prime? Like Jon Spencer on the Orange tour a decade ago? No. The only analog I could come up with was Prince, that other purveyor of Northern State Rock and Soul, who I once saw swoon off a piano bench, overcome by his own rendition of “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” as the crowd screamed and urged him to regain himself and continue. Jack White’s performance was like that—and the crowd was more than happy to urge him on.

Posted by jim at 09:14 AM ||