First of all, I would just like to say that I have THE BEST
husband in the history of husbands. His
help & cooperation in Jack-White-A-Thon 2012 was so welcome & appreciated, I can’t even tell you. I
had no idea he had it in him, but he is a super-sleuth detective and if it
weren’t for him, half of my tale would not exist.
*insert CSI ‘duh-duh’ sound here*
Tuesday August 7th: I’m scatterbrained, too excited thinking
about the next few days. Thank goodness I took a few days off work for all of this. It’s obvious
(?) the Third Man Rolling Record Store is making its way to Denver. I know it was in Omaha, it’s gotta come here,
right? So I start baking cookies. To take to the Rolling Record Store. Because I am that big of a TMR dork. Roughly 2pm-
my other half calls to inform me he’s staring at the RRS. It’s here.
In Denver. And we’re the first to
know it. Devine intervention +1. So I deliver cookies to it.
'And that was all that I needed'
Wednesday August 8th: At Red Rocks by 9am to get in line for the show. Because I am that crazy. Four others in line ahead of us. Luke & I establish ‘Tarp-City’ and set up
camp. Twitter/
email-early-entry-confirmation scouting commence. A long, hot day made better by chatting with all of the
super-cool Jack White fans in line around us.
(That's one of my favorite things about
all of this, meeting other folks and hearing about their Jack White adventures-
because what else can you really call them?) Multiple hikes down the hill for bathroom
breaks and water. Our awesome friend
Kris arrived around 2 with much appreciated sandwiches. Luke
"insults" my shortbread and a throw-down is set for some point in the
future. Meanwhile…
… En route to the
post office, my husband spies the RRS driving down the road and follows it.
Because he is that cool. Thus we had a roughly 3 minute advance notice over the official RRS tweet announcing a B-Show. Devine Intervention +2.
Kind folks hold our places in line at Red Rocks (we did provide the tarp after all) and we bolt to the B-show site. A 45 minute drive in traffic that I was able to make in 20 minutes. We arrive just in time for the show. It's at an old-school, independently owned tire shop/garage on West Colfax. Clint was 1st in line to purchase a Lightning Bolt ‘Blunderbuss’ and was then able to get us a spot right in front of Jack's mic. I cut through the growing crowd to take my place next to him,
and a second later Jack strides onto the makeshift stage.
Launching into a seething rendition
of ‘Black Math’,
quickly followed by ‘Freedom at 21’,
a note-perfect cover of Dick Dale’s
‘Misirlou’,
capping off his 20 minute set with the most spectacular rendition
of ‘Ball and Biscuit’ I’ve ever stood 4’ from. The mic cuts out for the first few lines of the song. It's just the kind of challenge I know Jack is looking for to make this a great show.
Surreal. I can’t believe I was
there for it.
He sets down his guitar & stalks away, right past my friend Kris where a photog caught one of the best crowd photos I’ve ever seen.
We
head back to base camp because the line natives are getting restless and the crush is on.
Catch up with my brother as soon as we get back. It’s his first time to see Jack White in concert. The line has become a place inhabited by douche bags. Seriously, complete fucking douche bags. And to the assholes who jumped the line, pushed past us and managed to get a better spot us, Fuck You. I know one day karma is going to seriously fuck you over because you, sirs, are complete fucking douche bags.
*End of rant*
( Yes, Ivana, I’m mommy’s other friend that curses)
Finally get through the cluster that is the entrance, snag 2nd
row seats (alas, no early entry for any of us), luck out on getting a poster
and a set of tour edition 7” before they sold out.
Pokey Lafarge & the South City Three were a fantastic opener for this venue. They fit right in with the history of the place and put on quite a show to boot. To this point I have only been familiar with the 7” put out through Third Man, so it was great to hear some of their other material. The guy who plays harmonica is insane, I don’t know how he does it. They wrap up and soon Jack's band's equipment is uncovered less the drum kit-- he likes to keep it a surprise 'til the last minute as to which band you’re going to see and the bass drum head gives it away.
‘I’m Shakin’ comes over the loudspeakers (!!!!) and Jack
White finally takes the stage. It’s the Peacocks,
which I was hoping for (I think they just lent a better vibe to the
venue). Clint & I had made a bet on
what would be the opening song. I was
right with ‘Dead Leaves’, but it was followed up by ‘Missing Pieces’ which was
his choice, so in a way we were both correct.
It didn’t matter. The girls totally brought it on ‘Love
Interruption’, Ruby Amanfu is such a little powerhouse. Jack delivered a lovable flub during ‘Hotel
Yorba’ that made the concert that much more special for me. He really did top himself on ‘Top Yourself’ and
the girls were in the groove right along with him. ‘Weep Themselves to Sleep’ was amazingly good, such a treat as I had so
hoped they would play it. Follows that
up with ‘Cannon/John the Revelator’.
Here’s were I get sentimental.
Hard to watch this without Meg.
By the end I’m screaming right along with him- Evil! ‘Fell in Love With a
Girl’. OMG, he’s breaking my heart. Can’t quite get into it, but it’s a fine
version. He takes to the piano. Talks about the lack of air making it harder
to breathe, has to remind his lungs to catch up. Yeah, it’s like that. We’re a mile high, don’t you know? ‘I Guess I Should Go To Sleep’… his children
have nodded off on the side of the stage with Granny, priceless. ‘Take Me With You When You Go’. So happy the set is turning out so ‘Blunderbuss’-y. I think it was about this time he mentioned how nicely painted the venue was and how it looked just like the outdoors. ‘I’m Slowly Turning Into You’. I get teary (WTF???). It’s amazingly good. ‘We’re Going to Be Friends’. I try to think about ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ and
not Meg. A pause where he laughs a bit
to himself and then breaks into ‘Hip Eponymous Poor Boy’. My heart completely melts. It’s magical.
‘Blunderbuss’, beautiful just as I knew it would be. This night is amazing. OMG!!!!! ‘Broken Boy Soldier’. ‘Blue Blood Blues’. Meh.
Sorry, I just need Alison, LJ & Dean for ANY Dead Weather. ‘Ball
and Biscuit’. So nice to see the
contrast between the Buzzards (who played the B-show) and the Peacocks. Nothing could beat where I stood in the afternoon
to see it but his guitar solos were thrilling to watch nonetheless. I felt he really got into it and kind of lost
the band there for a minute, but you’re really only paying attention to Jack
during those segments anyways, so I paid it no mind. Exit stage left. I’m concerned the encore chanting is not loud
enough, but after a bit the band reclaimed the stage.
‘Sixteen Saltines’, ‘Freedom at 21’, a 'Lafayette Blues' riff gave way to ‘Hardest Button to Button’ where we were prompted to clap along in time,
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| Photo Courtesy of Third Man Records |
a
completely rocking version of ‘Steady As She Goes’, the anthem call of 7NA (blah) but fortunately
followed with ‘Goodnight Irene’, Jack’s sign of a good show. He was so appreciative of Denver’s-good-lovin’-vibes
washing down the ampitheatre to him, it was such a warm feeling all around.
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| Photo Courtesy of Third Man Records |
August 8, 2012 is a day I will never
forget.
I’ve been fairly vocal in the fast few months re: how I’ve
felt about him doing Stripes songs at his solo tour shows. But kudos, Jack White, you got me. Yeah, OK, it’s not Meg. But it’s gonna be
OK, you're still there. I couldn’t see it before. I see it now.
I can’t help but to still be captivated by the chemistry you two shared
on stage, it jumps off of the screen for me when I’m watching your concert
videos. But I’m sorry I doubted you, I can see you
miss it more than I do. So rock on with
your bad self. I will try not to speak of the lack
of Meg any more, do what you like with your songs. I don’t know why you said in your letter that
they were ‘ours’ now... they’re so obviously yours its blinding, so I’ll shut up
about it.
You know, Clint & I have pretty basic, ordinary lives. We work, we work harder and then we work some
more. So I'd love to send out a huge thank you to Jack White
& all of his hard-working crew at Third Man Records for all the fun and excitement your crazy shenanigans
add to the mix. We seriously have so much fun chasing you guys around. Ben’s, Lalo, Cam, Dani, Rebecca, Buzzards, Peacocks, Road Crew and all of the other
staff I don’t know the names of, you guys rock. Thank you so much for doing what you do. I know I get irritated at times with certain
aspects of the Vault, etc., but I just so appreciate all the work you put into giving us
fans these great experiences. It’s such a blast! We’ve met such great people and have made so many cool friends along the
way. I’m sure you get burned out and
tired of us all pestering you, but you keep at it, and just keep
coming up with more & more interesting things to keep us entertained, so thank you. But after all of this, I’m exhausted. I don’t know how y’all keep up this
pace.
Oh, and did I neglect to mention that upon arriving home from the concert I found my Vault 12 waiting for me?
Way to deliver TMR. Way. To. Deliver.
