Jack White – Alexandra Palace, London Review

Words by Scenewave Oz - Published on November 7, 2012

Leaving a path of destruction throughout Australia earlier this year, dominating the Friday slot at SITG 2012, smashing out his own shows in Sydney and Melbourne, time was the only factor to see Jack White in a solo environment in a palace in London. What my music dreams are made of and a fitting introduction to ole London Town.

It’s indisputable, that Jack White is a boss. Boss not only on stage, but through his foundation of music, that has arguably defined a generation and will no doubt leave an impression for many decades to come. Everything he touches (besides the Insane Clown Posse rubbish) is unique, pushes boundaries, and leaves all that enjoy his music, craving more.

Now, he has let it be known, that he doesn’t like the festival environment. This in mind, I only imagined that he was going to put on something amazing at a two hour sold out back to back London show. As has become a customary to his solo antics, his set list is full of tracks from all his works, and is meticulously delivered by his male and female bands. The band, all dressed in a matching attire gave the set an authentic roar with the backdrop filled with a smokey blue lit stage.

Opening the show with two White Stripes tracks being, “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and “Cannon” he ventured into a mix bag of hits from Blunderbuss throughout the set being “Love Interruption”, “Weep Themselves to Sleep”, “Hypocritical Kiss” and “Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy”.

The nights platform was set, the Halloween costumes embraced and the 10,000 fans amped.

Giving us nine White Stripes track, across albums dating back to his early works, including De Stijl (“Hello Operator”), White Blood Cells (“Hotel Yorba”), and one of my all times of a heavily improvised, solo driven, “Ball and Biscuit”, us informal palace peasants got more than we paid for.

Now for me, his works off his other projects by The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather are some of my favourites. When he delivered, “Blue Blood Blues”, and “Broken Boy Soldier” I lost my marbles, and ugly danced the shit out of the palace ballroom with my friends in check.

One hour forty in, the band leave the stage, only for the crowd to bellow they want, “more”. As usual, they return to the stage and in his boss fashion, he rips into a three track encore, made up of, “Sixteen Saltines”, “Steady, As She Goes”, and the world wide anthem to close of, “Seven Nation Army”.

The night was complete, the crowd blown away and the rest of us battling our way home in the “warm” London weather.

Complete set list:
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Cannon
Missing Pieces
Cannon/John the Revelator
Love Interruption
Hotel Yorba
Weep Themselves to Sleep
Lord, Send Me an Angel/Top Yourself
You’re Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)
Hello Operator
Hypocritical Kiss
Two Against One
Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy
We’re Going to Be Friends
Screwdriver / Blue Blood Blues
I’m Slowly Turning Into You
Broken Boy Soldier
Ball and Biscuit

Encore:
Sixteen Saltines
Steady, As She Goes
Seven Nation Army