I haven’t seen Jack White since he was touring for ‘Blunderbuss'(?) with two bands and you weren’t sure which band would play each night – and therefore which set list you were going to catch. Since then he has been leading the charge against phones at gigs. You might have noticed, I take the odd photo. His stance didn’t bother me. But as somebody who checks if my trains are still running throughout a gig and usually needs to make a sharp exist if I have any hope of getting home before 1am. I decided this was my point to bow out. So a chance to see Jack White in a small venue was not to be missed.

It was an early start. Doors were 11.30am and I was expecting people to be queuing early. Heading in with commuters reminds me that I don’t want to work in London. (But it would be so much easier for my gigging). There was already a queue building when I arrived just before 10am. No chance of me being at the narrow front of the stage.

Although I had my camera bag with me. I was expecting Jack’s team to announce that they wouldn’t let cameras in, or at the very least there should be no photographs. In the past, I’ve done what he has asked and other than a snap to say I was there, I have not photographed him. But it was worth the risk.

As I would expect from a Jack White gig, his Third Man team were all over Rough Trade organising everything before he arrived. Apparently he literally walking from his car on to the stage. He knows his team will have set everything up the way he wants it.

Let us just say this was a short set. I have only seen one shorter set at Rough Trade. The set came in under a slightly disappointing 20 minutes. I had expected a short set. He was playing three sets at his Third Man London record store that were 30 minutes long including crowd changeover and then heading to the Union Chapel to play a full set. But I hoped it was going to be a linger set.

One thing you can be sure of with Jack is his backing band will all be brilliant artists in their own right. He always seems to make sure he has good drummer, often picking jazz musicians who seem more adept at dealing with his habit of not having a set list. Odd, given Meg’s capabilities when they played as the White Stripes! Today’s drummer was the a case in point, reacting to Jack and vice versa.

With two albums released this year, Jack started with two from his last album, ‘Fear of the Dawn’. This is a pretty normal Jack White album but at contrasts with today’s release, with it’s semi-acoustic sound that draws on American folk music, with strong blues and country blues. While I usually prefer Jack’s full-on sound, I actually really enjoyed the change in pace of his new album. Maybe because of his recent marriage to Olivia Jean, this new album has more love songs. But there’s a reflective aspect to this album with some religious undertones and personal reflection on death and it was these songs he drew upon. These songs appear to be heavily influenced by country blues and gospel with Jack’s unique twist.

Sadly, the set ended very quickly. I would have happily listened to a few more songs, leaving me slightly disappointed. But then how many times am I going to see Jack in a small venue again?

Set List

• Fear of the Dawn
• What’s the Trick?
• If I Die Tomorrow
• Please God, Don’t Tell Anyone
• Love Is Selfish

With the resurgence of vinyl as fans embrace the format as a means of supporting their favourite artists. There has been a surge in vinyl sales across the world. In the UK, 2021 saw the highest level of vinyl sales since the early 90s when CD sales overtook the format.

Record Store Day has undeniably helped drive vinyl sales. Some stores take more on RSD day than any other day of the year. It is effectively a second Christmas. What started as fans rushing out to buy special new content from their favourite artists has started to actually harm music. In the last few years it has been noticeable how many of the major labels are pushing out vinyl re-issues from big artists, dominating RSD shelves. A cursory glance at this year’s list and releases from Bowie, Lou Reed, Primal, Taylor Swift, Prince and Noel Gallagher jump out.

While encouraging people into record stores is a good thing. The production of Record Store Day specials from the major labels is consuming a significant portion of the vinyl capacity across the the world for many months. Although new vinyl plants opening. There are still only around 100 plants across the world. With maybe a dozen able to cater in scale. I know several albums I have purchased in the last year have been delayed because of production capacity, with RSD blamed for production slips. We seem to have reached a point where Record Store Day and the major labels are starting to harm the grassroots. Making it incredible difficult for smaller bands and new artists to produce their albums and EPs that have helped them as streaming has hit their incomes. This is made worse as bands often have tours lined up to accompany releases. Touring without your own merchandise isn’t great. Do we really need another Bowie album?

As always, Jack White seems to understand what is in the best interests of the wider music community.

I have to admit, I don’t think Plant’s vocals are good on here. But that might be down to the mixing. But it doesn’t matter. Two of my favourite musicians on the same stage. If only this could become a regular occurrence…….

However, once the gig started, I did wish I’d bought standing tickets. It was the usual problem. Lots of people talking and getting up every few minutes for the drink / piss cycle. For the first half of the gig,I felt disconnected from the performance, despite Jack doing his best efforts. He was performing to his usual standards. At the halfway point, it improved considerably when people started to stand around me.

As mentioned, Jack and band were on form. But I did notice a difference. The keyboard player, Isaiah “Ikey” Owens recently died while on tour. He’s been replaced by Dean Fertita from the Raconteurs and Dead Weather, and I felt the keyboards weren’t as prominent in this gig. It was a nice touch for Jack to recognise Isaiah By dedicating a song to him.

[youtube vlFysAciLrU 640]

What better way to test the booth than for Jack to make his own recording.

The day day started brilliantly. Boro gave Charlton a (probably undeserved) 4-1 drubbing. So I was already in a good mood before the gig.

With the doors advertised as an early 6.30, I knew there would be little chance of getting on the baririer as there would be little chance of me getting across London after the match in time. By the time I got to Alexandra Palace, there already were two large queues. Luckily by the time everyone piled into the venue i managed to get a place a few rows back from the front.

I’m a big fan of The Kills. I’ve seen them numerous times. In Alison Mosshart. They have a fantastic front women and Jamie Hince manages to keep the music interesting. Over the years, Alison seems to have continuously improved vocally and tonight they were on top form.

After The Kills, we were asked not to take photos, so there’s no photos for Jack.

When Jack announced that he was touring with two separate bangs. I did think it was slightly portentous – and let’s face it Jack White can be a bit portentous. But it actually works well. Both bands bring a different dynamic to the event and it brings an element of suspense as you wait for the band to arrive. Tonight, Jack chose his female band. To be perfectly honest, I prefer this band over the boys. So I was please to see them.

As with his previous gigs. There was no sign of a set list. With Jack choosing the songs as he went along and like previous gigs, he was excellent.

The night didn’t start off well. Due to the last minute announcement of the gig, it meant turning up early to stand in the rain while wristbands were issued. Eventually, we were allowed into the gig with the strict instructions that photography wasn’t allowed.

I’d seen the support act before and was not impressed but I wanted to be as near to the front as possible so suffered them for a second time. The Smoke Fairies seem to have all the components necessary to be a band I would like. Musically they’re okay but the two lead singers just doesn’t work, leading to an almost drone sound that puts me to sleep. Thry’re not terrible, just not for me.

At about 9.40, Jack attached the stage. Right from the off he showed his intention to impress starting with a thundering rendition of the White Stripes song, Leaves the Dirty Ground. He’s touring with two bands, an all girl group and a male group. Each group has a slightly different composition, with the all girl group featuring fiddle, double bass, drummer, keyboards, slide guitarist and backing vocalist. At times the fiddle player leant a ‘country’ sound to the proceedings and it means Jack can choose a style that suits the day. He also played without a set list and Jack clearly enjoyed acting the part of conductor. I wasn’t sure what to make of this approach, but having seen the first band, I can’t wait to see how the rockier male band sound. Hopefully on his return in June, he’ll take the opportunity to play with both bands.