Concert review: White Stripes rock the temple

By Scott Serilla
Michigan Daily

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (U-Wire) -- It's biting cold as White Stripes fans troop up the antique steps of Detroit's Masonic Temple Saturday night.

Originally scheduled for Aug. 10, but delayed when guitarist Jack White shattered his left hand during a fender-bender in July, this homecoming concert was put on the back burner with a host of other live dates while the front man convalesced.

Inside the picturesque Masonic, an endless stream of vintage Tex Avery and Felix the Cat cartoons play to set the mood before D-town staples, the Paybacks, handle formal opener duties. Led by the rasping fury of Wendy Case, they launch through a dozen neo-garage rockers to a half-empty hall.

Perhaps alluding to Jack's broken finger, perhaps just for effect, the Stripes are lead onto the stage by a kinda sexy, kinda creepy nurse, who gives the duo each a pill and a kiss on the top of the head to get them through the show. Without a word Jack grabs his guitar and launches right into the determination(al) anthem "Seven Nation Army."

Though it's November outside, Jack and Meg let loose a blast of sweltering intensity that must've been baking since August. The Stripes relentlessly and comprehensively plow through their back catalogue, scorching through songs off all four of their albums, with a shake of B-sides and covers for good measure. The pace is blistering with Jack cutting early from "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" to "Cannon" then into "The Big Three Killed My Baby" in what feels like only a few action-packed, defiant seconds.

Only when the Stripes come to Dolly Parton's epic "Jolene" do they finally let up, giving the audience a lesson in the importance of dynamics. A great band like our candy-striped heroes can shift from raw ear-splitting explosions to whispered intimacy in the space of a couple heartbeats.

While Meg's vocals on "Elephant" gave the song a tentative innocence, on this night Meg drips with confidence, infusing an entirely different air of sultry obsession into "In the Cold, Cold Night."

Jack couldn't help but take over just before the encore. He stomps through a mesmerizing down-tempo "Fell in Love with a Girl," before bleeding over into slow burner, "Ball and Biscuit," where he delights the crowd with a solo one-handed just to prove the finger is OK.