There's no one like Jack White.
He's a garage rocker who's also a blues guitarist. A perfectionist who's also a master of improvisation. A stadium performer who prefers to play in a club. And a rock legend who keeps finding new ways to reinvent himself.
All of these attributes were on display during White's concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night, which was held as part of his ongoing tour in support of his newly released solo album, Unnamed.
As White detailed in a note posted to Instagram earlier this month, the tour marks a departure from the traditional approach of announcing dates well in advance. Instead, he plans to primarily play “small clubs, backyard parties, and a few festivals here and there to cover expenses.” White signed the post with the name “Johnny Guitar.”
Although initially overlooked, the “Johnny Guitar” persona looms large on White’s current tour. As it turns out, this is a Johnny Guitar tour, not a Jack White one. He introduced himself as such during Tuesday’s show at the 9:30 Club.
At a Johnny Guitar concert, the band—which includes Patrick Keeler on drums, Bobby Emmett on keyboards, and Dominic Davis on bass—plays quickly and loosely. Sometimes, they deliver Detroit garage rock. Other times, Johnny Guitar leads the talented group of musicians in extended jam sessions (as in the case of “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and “Top Yourself”). Unlike Jack White’s previous solo tours, there are no band uniforms or stage decorations at a Johnny Guitar concert. This is a free-moving show.
Johnny Guitar focused much of his set at 9:30 Club showing material from Unnamedan album tailor-made for a smoky rock club. Songs like “Old Scratch Blues,” “That's How I'm Feeling,” “What's the Rumpus?” and “Archbishop Harold Holmes” sounded absolutely incredible in the iconic Washington DC venue.
Jack White is by no means the first established rock star to reinvent himself by embodying a new persona at the midpoint of his career. But on the same day that the Gallagher brothers announced plans to reunite for a stadium tour, it's rather refreshing to see a rock legend of similar stature opt to forgo a big-ticket stadium gig in favour of a seedy club tour.
I've seen White in concert on numerous occasions and in various incarnations over the years: with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and various solo versions. He's never put on a bad show. But as “Johnny Guitar,” he seemed more comfortable and content than I've ever seen him on stage.
In a tiny club packed with his most hardcore fans, White didn’t have the prerequisites required for a full-scale tour: Yes, he played “Seven Nation Army” to close out the main portion of his set, but it was just one of four White Stripes songs in the entire show. The others, including the aforementioned “Dead Leaves” and the set-closing “Ball and Biscuit,” were significantly reworked as bluesy jams that rocked out but would have undoubtedly felt a little out of place at, say, a traditional festival-headlining performance.
Watching White play these songs, material from Unnamedor any of the other tracks he ticked off on the fly Tuesday night, it was clear he was in his element. He's a rocker destined to play rock clubs, traveling from city to city in a van, announcing shows at a moment's notice. He has a catalog of hits that few of his generation can compete with, and yet, like his hero Bob Dylan, he's not particularly interested in nostalgia.
He'll never stop being Jack White, but on this tour at least, White has found a way to shed expectations and discovered a new and revitalizing path: that of Johnny Guitar.
Jack White – 9:30 Club Tracklist:
Old Scratch Blues
This is how I feel
Tonight (it was a long time ago)
(A stranger)
It's tough on rats (if you ask me)
Short as a Buffalo (Dead Weather song)
Dead leaves and dirty earth (song by The White Stripes)
Interruption of love
Top Yourself (The Raconteurs Song)
Cannon (The White Stripes Song)
Archbishop Harold Holmes
What is the fuss?
Fear of dawn
The white crow
Underground
Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes Song)
Bis:
Broken Boy Soldier (song by The Raconteurs)
Tomorrow at midnight
Ball and biscuit (song by The White Stripes)
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