JACK WHITE – FORUM THEATRE – MELBOURNE – 09.12.2024
Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: David James Swanson
Tonight we experienced one of the most incredible and mesmerising shows we’ve seen this year, with Jack White and his band completely blowing us away with a powerful rock n roll performance. They played a continuous, tight set of music combining songs from The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and his solo work as part of their 2024 No Name Tour at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne.
Knowing this was a sold out show, we got to the Forum early and secured a great spot upfront. To visualise the stage set, it was almost like a horseshoe formation with JW front and centre. The drummer was situated on the left side of stage along with the bass player next to him, a row of amps at the rear and the Hammond organ on the right side of stage. This allowed JW to have total command on stage within the horseshoe and move around as he constantly engaged with his band.
JW was like a conductor of an orchestra, leading from his centre stage position and his band connected with him on all levels. You can tell JW is a perfectionist and incredibly meticulous when it comes to his music. His stagecraft is next level and the whole band behaved like one organism, so in sync.
The band:
Jack White – lead vocals/guitar
Patrick Keeler – drums (from The Raconteurs)
Dominic Davis – Bass guitar
Bobby Emmett – Hammond organ
They performed several songs from No Name (2024), opening with OLD SCRATCH BLUES with its huge riffs and thumping drums sparking excitement right from the get go. THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING followed and we were already totally hooked into this show. They also sang IT’S ROUGH ON RATS (IF YOU’RE ASKING); ARCHBISHOP HAROLD HOLMES and WHAT’S THE RUMPUS from JW’s wonderful new solo album. It certainly has a White Stripes sound to it but with so much more!
The audience was totally ‘in the zone’ and felt a real connection to the music. This gig was quite a euphoric experience, with everyone getting completely lost in the music, our bodies rocking along in some sort of Jack White-enduced rock ‘n’ roll trance.
Much to the delight of fans, they sang eight The White Stripes songs tonight – DEAD LEAVES AND THE DIRTY GROUND; LET’S BUILD A HOME; HELLO OPERATOR; THE HARDEST BUTTON TO BUTTON; CANNON; I’M SLOWLY TURNING INTO YOU; BALL AND BISCUIT and the anthem SEVEN NATION ARMY.
They played a few The Raconteurs songs – BROKEN BOY SOLDIER and crowd favourite STEADY AS SHE GOES.
Even though JW didn’t talk with the crowd, he still managed to draw us in and we all felt part of the occasion. The crowd joined in on the call-and-response sections singing the choruses, riffs and echo’s when directed by JW. As I looked around The Forum, the look on punters faces told a complete story awe, exhilaration and appreciation.
Throughout their set, JW’s musicianship and stage energy is so noticeable. He is an incredible guitarist and his voice was crystal clear. I noticed he had some kind of echo box on his microphone stand that he used with great effect to create certain sounds during the show. JW wildly performs several mini guitar solos on a variety of guitars with his band jamming along with him. The Hammond organ completed their distinctive sound.
As for the music, it was noisy, fast and incredibly large, featuring so many different textures and tones. There’s a heaviness, ferocity and swagger about it too with loads of catchy hooks. The hair was standing up on my arms for literally the entire show.
I kept thinking to myself how lucky I was to be experiencing such an incredible event, one of the most exciting shows I’ve seen in years. This will definitely go down as one of the most memorable shows the crowd has ever seen and will have fans listening to No Name on high rotation for many years to come.
Rock ‘n’ roll at its absolute best!
Jack White plays to another sold out 2nd show at The Forum tonight. If you can manage to score yourself a ticket, I would highly recommend going.
SET LIST:
Old Scratch Blues
That’s How I’m Feeling
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes song)
It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking)
Let’s Build a Home (The White Stripes song)
What’s the Rumpus?
Hello Operator (The White Stripes song)
The Hardest Button to Button (The White Stripes song)
Broken Boy Soldier (The Raconteurs song)
That Black Bat Licorice
Cannon (The White Stripes song)
John The Revelator (traditional cover)
Freedom at 21
I’m Slowly Turning into You (The White Stripes song)
Encore:
Steady as She Goes (The Raconteurs song)
Archbishop Harold Holmes
Ball and Biscuit (The White Stripes song)
Underground
Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes song)