Here, at the O2 festival in Hyde Park, London, THE WHITE STRIPES pelted the audience with a no-holds-barred, frill-free power hour of pure unadulterated noise.
Jack White sauntered on stage with no introduction, not as if he ever needed one. Decked out in his trademark tight red trousers and t-shirt, his hair is shorter now, but still the jagged edges of his locks seemed to jab at his eyes.
Behind him, Meg White tiptoed demurely towards her drums, her own black and white stage gear in direct contrast to the dangerous hues of her ex-husband’s own uniform. She took her place behind her pearl white drum kit perching on a stool emblazoned with her name and waited.
Jack White took his time plugging in his electric red guitar and strolled towards Meg, somewhat theatrically. They faced each other briefly and then ripped into 'Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground'. We the people barely have time to draw breath before they launched into 'When I Hear My Name', with Jack thrashing wildly about the stage, Meg poised and alert, exuding serenity to his mad flailings. The Yin to his Yang, one could say.
Fresh from playing unplugged for pensioners, it seemed that Jack White was glad to strap on an electric guitar again, and the sonic boom it delivered stretched far out in to Hyde Park and beyond.
'Hotel Yorba' incited an impromptu hoedown amongst the revellers before the serious business of plugging the new single ensued. 'Icky Thump' actually transferred surprisingly well to the live arena, despite its experimental and almost fractured structure. The song was one of only three new offerings in this gig, as the band seemed more interested in mining their fairly extensive back catalogue, as far back even as their 1997 eponymous debut.
“This is my big sister, Meg,” White offered by way of introduction and the crowd hollered its approval. The well documented Are They/Aren’t They? debate is well and truly a thing of the past now as the ‘siblings’ wreaked havoc with the garage band guitar onslaught of 'I Think I Smell A Rat', before Meg took centre stage for a haunting version of 'In The Cold, Cold Night'.
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Two enormous screens either side of the stage documented the onstage antics in retro red and white silhouettes. At the front it was very much like watching a specially filmed music video in tandem with the band, however one would imagine for those further back and unable to see the stage so clearly, it may prove to be an irritant rather than a clever piece of creative gadgetry.
Meanwhile, when the band played the stellar 'Jolene', the audience screamed along with Jack White as his guttural howl echoed around the myriads of overpriced food stalls and bars around the park.
They finished with the hyper-blues of 'Ball And Biscuit' before leaving the stage to rapturous applause.
Before long they were back with ‘Blue Orchid’ and ‘The Denial Twist’ and, when they wound things down for ‘I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’, rumours were circulating that Kate Moss was going to make an appearance poling dance on stage. Sadly, this never materialized, so we have to make do with ‘We’re Going To Be Friends’ instead. Ho hum.
As the low rumble of ‘Seven Nation Army’ filtered across the crowd the band received the biggest cheer of the night for their efforts, and thousands of people po-goed in unison when the riff kicked in.
Finally, after a quick bow they were gone, leaving us to marvel at the glory of rock and roll. Those heading towards Victoria Station would have been struck by an alluring portent swathed in red that enveloped the entire Constitution Arch on Hyde Park Corner. True, the concert was over, but we were reminded of the duo’s impressive visual power via an enterprising album plug courtesy of a huge projection. Icky Thump indeed!
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