Liked it. Can't remember who supported them but.. I met my ex gf there and said hi. Jack White is a great guitar player

billyK
8/10
Tue, June 03, 2008

Jack White and Brendan Benson invade British soil with the Raconteurs.

Two sold out nights at the Brixton Academy on your first album? Most bands in the UK can only dream about that sort of fame. With this band though it's not hard to see, as for starters you've got Jack White who's already written a few classic songs and five albums with the White Stripes, and then you've got Brendan Benson who's already reached a certain amount of acclaim with his albums. Their record is also great and the TV ads are actually on the money with this one.

So what is this band going to be like live then? Well I have to confess to missing the first song due to queuing for beers, but the second song was great! The most dominant force seems to be Mr. White as he's got the most stage presence and weilds his various guitars with rock god elegance. But when Jack takes the mic and gently strums through songs like 'Blue Veins' then Brendan comes into his own and solos for all his worth, even jumping over the monitors and playing to the front rows. The problem with any band getting this big so early on is that there really isn't a lot of material to play if you're headlining, so what usually happens is a few covers come out and some songs get extended so much that the guitarist's fingers start bleeding. The Raconteurs were no exception tonight and we get treated to Nacy Sinatra's 'My Baby Shot Me Down', and one song seemed end about 12 times. Some of these extended bits were pretty cool though, with Jack doing a jagged intro to one of the songs from the wrong side of the keyboard player's organ.

They did one encore and ended with the incredibly catchy 'Steady as she goes'. The band were on fire tonight and really seemed to be having fun. It'll be good to see them again.

billyK
7/10
Mon, January 05, 2009