Friday, August 04, 2006

Raconteurs live @ First Avenue 8/3/06

Raconteurs live @ First Avenue 8/3/06

Flickr photos / slideshow

You know, I try not to swear too much on my ole' blog, but tonight's show was fucking unbelievably great. Jack White is a genius. Period. Brendan Benson is way underrated. I go to a lot of shows; this was easily one of the best. Make no mistake, this is Jack's band. However, Brendan & Jack traded off vocals and guitar solos quite a bit. The Greenhornes' guys were pretty awesome themselves... loved the bass, loved the drums.

A few random observations from the show (I posted a few of these on the HWTS Forum, so I'll copy and paste. Yeah, I'm lazy, I know):

1) The gig was extremely crowded. I mean "Arcade Fire" kind-of-crowded.
2) By the end of the show it was at least 95-100 degrees on the main floor.
3) The volume level was at least 100+ decibels.
4) Jack White is a genius.
5) Brendan Benson is way underrated.
6) Jack White is a genius, and this is his band.
7) The first encore, Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" was fucking amazing. I was surprised of how many people didn't know the tune. I didn't weep. Rather, I jumped and danced like a "crazy" person. So did the girl next to me.
8) I met Brendan after the gig. Very cool guy...
9) I didn't meet Jack after the gig. He was hiding in the tour-bus...
10) Raconteurs are unbelievable live. The record is not even close.
11) Jack's plaid pants were awesome.
12) My Flickr pictures are up
13) This guy got way better pictures than I did. Didn't help that my camera/memory card died during "Crazy". Fuck.
14) I have a pretty cool video of the show... no, not "Crazy". Unfortunately YouTube is doing maintenance right now and I can't upload it... That figures... (See update below)
15) Their album already sounds 1000% percent better, now that I've seen them live.

Yes, it's that great:

mp3: Raconteurs - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley Cover - live 7/23/06 San Francisco)

Did I mention Jack is a genius? Ha ha...

Have a great Friday. This was one of my favorite live tunes they played:

mp3: The Raconteurs - Call It A Day

- Steve

Update: YouTube is working now... Let's illustrate the difference between the "album" version of the song and the "live" version:

1) mp3: The Raconteurs - Yellow Sun

2) The Raconteurs - "Yellow Sun" live @ First Ave:



I think you get my point, right?!

Sorry the audio/video sync is screwy... YouTube (or I) is having some problems.

I'll leave you with this little video recorded in San Francisco (we've covered why I don't have footage of this):

3 comments:

c said...

all i kept saying after i saw them at irving plaza was "jack white is a fucking rock star!" he really is. and brendan's voice, oh how i love it. muse was awesome last night - but intensely hot.

man, you go to A LOT of shows. wow.

Anonymous said...

Strictly first rate gig. There are only two or three people I've ever seen with same level of charisma that Jack White has. I don't know what devil he's made a deal with, but the man seems to be able to write a f*cking great power hook whenever he wants.

I also have to say that the bassist, Jack Lawrence, is one of the last great Hanson Brothers impersonators we have left. We should cherish him.

Unknown said...

Nice site. Saw Raconteurs at Lolla and they did Gnarls. Excellent. Saw Gnarls the next day doing Gnarls. In fact a couple other groups did "Crazy" too.

I got some flickr pics too but they suck because I only bring in my crappier camera so I don't lose it. Plus it was too hot to fight towards the front.