Blah, Blah, Blahg

Too, bad I wasn't spontaneous when I was 18.

Yesterday A.M., I glanced at Kathy reading what I thought was a review of the White Stripes concert and said that I might have liked to see them. "Still can" she said "concert's tonight"

We weren't really familiar with their stuff, but really liked the few songs we had heard, so we went.

We were not disapponted. Fabulous high energy entertainment from start to finish.
And we weren't even the oldest ones there ; > )

I bought Icky Thump on iTunes yesterday, just after buying the tickets. I'm sure we will be adding more to the collection.



From the Free Press today...

JACK and Meg White are making the most of their sightseeing opportunities during The White Stripes Canadian tour. Various reports trickled in yesterday about the duo riding around on Winnipeg Transit buses and playing a free impromptu show at The Forks before their concert at the MTS Centre. It's nice to see the Detroit duo aren't just content to sit in their tour bus, eat their rider in the Green Room and hang out backstage. "Meg and I are having a really good day, we enjoyed the public transportation system," Jack said early on to confirm the stories and give Winnipeg Transit a quote to use for future ad campaigns. Despite their busy day in Winnipeg the Detroit duo had plenty of energy last night at the arena where they treated an excited crowd of 6,000 fans to a down and dirty 90-minute set of neo-blues and blasts of distorted garage. There are only two of them but at times it didn't seem their large red stage would be enough to contain the antics of lead vocalist-guitarist Jack who made the most of its two tiers by remaining in almost constant motion, while never missing a note and keeping a roadie on his toes making sure his guitar cord didn't become tangled in the three white speakers featuring red maple leaves on them. Maybe that's why they chose to tour all of Canada's 10 provinces and three territories: Our flag fit nicely into their famous red and white colour scheme which was displayed in their choice of all red clothing, red and white instruments and even their simple light show. They veered lyrically from the visual motif though as they took the stage and immediately launched into the heavy-hitting Blue Orchid off the 2005 album Get Behind My Satan. Their new album Icky Thump was showcased with songs like the driving title track, A Martyr of My Love For You and the twist and turns of I'm Slowly Turning Into You, but older favourites like the bouncy Hotel Yorba, Little Bird and Death Letter weren't ignored (even if Fell In Love With a Girl was). At times Jack played the keyboards with his left hand while strumming the guitar with his right, while singing into one of four microphones set up around the stage. Meg was precise and as flawless as always, whether they were ripping through the boogie stomper of The Hardest Button to Button or slowing things down on the Dolly Parton cover Jolene. She got her turn at the microphone for the slinky In the Cold Cold Night off the 2003 album Elephant. Despite the well-known fact the pair are ex-husband and wife, Jack introduced her as his sister. Maybe after all these years he actually believes it. After an hour-long main set the pair returned for an encore that was the highlight of the show with Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground, the tender We're Going to Be Friends and I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself, which turned into a giant singalong. The entire crowd was on its feet for the single Seven Nation Army and its wordless chorus and they remained there until the pair pulled out a Manitoba flag and ran off stage. rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca Concert Review The White Stripes MTS Centre July 2, 2007 Attendance: 6,000