White
- hot - Stripes
Gigs:
Brixton Academy, April 11, 2003 |
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| Meg
and Jack White |
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After
all the hype surrounding the release of the Elephant album,
Detroit's finest finally get back to doing what they do best.... (writes
Clark Ainsworth) |
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SEE
ALSO
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LINKS
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After
making such an explosive debut at the 100 Club in 2001, it's only
fitting that Jack and Meg White should end their triumphal UK tour
with two sold-out nights in the capital.
And the bond between London and The White Stripes was cemented further
when Jack declared: "Hey
London, it's good to be back home."
There
were, undoubtedly, die-hard fans who felt the size of the Brixton
Academy spoilt the intimacy the Detroit duo are capable of generating.
Hottest
| "Hey
London, it's good to be back home...",
Jack White |
But you
don't get to be one of the hottest acts around without having to make
a few changes.
And the dilapidated grandeur of the south London venue somehow lent
itself to their bluesy, garage-rock sound perfectly.
Those
expecting the set-list to be dominated by Elephant and White
Blood Cells may have been slightly disappointed - and it did take
the crowd some time to get going.
Bluesman
Yet once the Brixton faithful got into it - even if they didn't know
all the tracks played from The White Stripes' eponymous and De
Stijl albums - they let their appreciation ring out.
The Stripes responded in kind, with Jack milking the screaming bluesman
role and Meg whipping him up into a further frenzy with her thrusting
drum beats.
 Eclectic,
well-chosen covers are always a feature of the band's live shows and
they didn't disappoint - pulling off superb renditions of Jolene
and I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself, and
managing to slot Screaming Lord Sutch's Jack the Ripper into
a medley of
debut album tracks.
Success
The most
exciting thing about The White Stripes is that, despite their success
and the sudden hype, they haven't lost either their blues edge or
their pop sense.
At the
Academy they managed to crank out indie-dancefloor classics such as
Hotel Yorba and Seven Nation Army in the same breath
as Death Letter and Isis. White Stripes - white hot!
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Listen live
Click
through amazing shots of London from high up in a helicopter!