After a day of hail, showers, thunderstorms, cringing and nailbiting, the weather finally came through for
The White Stripes on Sunday night. Not a drop of rain during their entire set - thank God!
It was obvious from the get go that we were in for a White Stripes show; a bright red stage, stripy microphone and roadies dressed like cartoon hitmen in black suits and red ties. I was in the eternal beer line up when they finally hit the stage (I mean, really.. one hour for two Strongbows??!!) but, my God, what a glorious sound those two make! Cute little Meg flailing away like a muppet behind the drum kit, and Jack prowling around a demented rooster. It just goes to show that you don't need smoke and ice, costume changes, flying pigs, children's choirs and Moroccan drummers to put on a great show.
I loved their cover of
'Jolene' (thanks Kieran for pointing out that it was originally a Dolly Parton song) - beautifully raw and haunting. And of course
'Seven Nation Army' was amazing to hear live. It's definitely one of the best rock songs to come out over the past few years. That guitar solo feels like it's been around since the beginning of time - and I mean that in a good way.
It's my first time at the Deer Lake Park venue. It's a really great place to see a show, but they really need to figure out how many people to work the beer stands. Half an hour to line up for beer tickets (maximum four) and then another half an hour to line up for the beer (maximum two). I persevered, if only because it didn't seem right to see the show completely sober. That would just be wrong.
My only regret is that I didn't pick up the concert T-shirt featuring a monkey playing a red guitar. Sigh.
