The Raconteurs – 12.30.06 – Riviera Theatre – Chicago, IL
Posted by James Munson on 01.10.2007
Nashville-via-Detroit supergroup played the first of two nights at Chicago's Riviera to a packed house and a few new covers to boot.
By now, you've all heard that the The Raconteurs is not just a side project to frontman Jack White's other successful indie-rock group The White Stripes. Judging by his new band's Chicago performance on the eve of New Year's Eve, I sincerely hope that remains true. The four members (Dean Fertita, of Detroit band The Waxwings, is their fifth unofficial member / touring keyboardist) make a lot more racket than the frantic, stripped-down (and often sloppy) White Stripes, but at the same time there is a rawness and sense of urgency to The Raconteurs' songs that barely differentiates them from a White Stripes performance. This could be a result of the group only having one ten-song record from which to pull material or the byproduct of a well-mixed chemistry between the core four members: two singer/songwriters and two members from Detroit garage/blues outfit The Greenhornes. Either way, the capacity crowd was treated to a supremely modified Broken Boy Soldiers in its entirety along with some bonus cover songs.
Equal parts 70's roots-rock and 60's power-pop, the band toyed around with faster-tempo guitar onslaughts (opener "Intimate Secretary") and lengthy improvisation (encore-favorite "Blue Veins", which was extended to a mere nine minutes). Guitarists Brendan Benson and Jack White conversed and interacted with each other much like Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. During one jam where White knocked over his microphone with his guitar, he and Benson belted harmony/melody counterparts into Benson's mic. During other parts of the performance, like first set-closer "Broken Boy Soldier", White bounced back-and-forth around the stage on his toes and heels while intently plucking his acoustic.
Drummer Patrick Keeler and bassist Jack Lawrence kept a tight, solid rhythm section throughout the concert that flawlessly complemented White's relentless soloing (much more than he could have pulled off in The White Stripes). Benson and White also readily chatted with the crowd (Benson asked how the holidays were and White nobly introduced each member and then guaranteed the audience, "I'm Jack White as long as you want me to be."). They wouldn't have asked for anything more.
Accordingly, their show proved that the band is much greater than the sum of its parts. Transforming selections from their sole-release Broken Boy Soldiers into power-shredding rock epics, the band only began to lose steam midway through their cover of "Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". Unlike Nancy Sinatra's version, who many recognize as the opening theme to Kill Bill Vol. 1, The Raconteurs beefed up the song with loud, blistering guitars and Jack White's Robert Plant-like yelp shouting the refrain into a distorted microphone toward the back of the stage. Just when the song began to build momentum, it fell flat and drug on until the next chorus.
Their cover of Bowie's "It Ain't Easy" (sung by Benson) was much welcomed and a by-the-numbers rock 'n' roll take on the original. Elsewhere, Benson introduced the first song in the chorus, "Call It A Day", with a drum solo and guitar riff that resembled The Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?" It took me a minute to figure out that this was, indeed, not a cover, but a sped-up, alternate version of one of their songs. Furthermore, "Store Bought Bones" was played as a two-part medley, with Benson and White trading off verses in a tame, lounge-version of the song that evolved into the heavier album counterpart around the lyric, "You can't buy what you can't find what you can't…" With only one album to pull from, The Raconteurs triumphed in keeping the attention of their fans for an hour-and-a-half. Alternate takes of almost every song, including "Level" and encore finale "Steady, As She Goes", kept the crowd engrossed in what material they would play next and how the songs would be altered from their originals. The band appeared to be having a blast and if tonight's set was any indication, what they had planned for New Year's Eve would be something extraordinary.
The 411: Much more powerful, if not more frantic, live than on record, The Raconteurs are a force to be reckoned with. While part of me wished they included their cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" in the set, I was thrilled by their performance. With White hinting to a new White Stripes record in 2007, I hope he doesn't put The Raconteurs on the backburner, because they really are something exceptional.
