White Stripes stuff

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  Isn't it a bit ironic people blame a less than perfect concert (if it was that) on a "lame crowd"? The performers are giving the performance, not the crowd.

you are right. and jack did not much to get the crowd going and thier stage presence is not much, but that crowd didnt get crazy ONCE!!  I dont know if Motley Crue couldve gotten those people off thier ass.

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by mustourdman:
 

But the Smith Center was a pain to get to? It's nearly the same distance from a Metro as 9:30, and the on-street parking is probably slightly better (and less risky).
 [/b]

oh, its a personal thing. Traffic in Baltimore was terrible on saturday evening, my friend wasnt ready, my girlfriend had to "get cigarettes and pee", then traffic heading to DC was bad, then we TRIED to get a drink beforehand in DC and went to the slowest bar in town apparently, then we waited 12 minutes for the freaking train....
 
   anyway, it was just madness....took us like 2 hrs and 25 minutes.  it was one of those evenings where everything seems to take forever.

[Bags]

I agree with the review as well.  We were on the floor near the back (which is cool with me; I no longer want to fight to stay center front in a crowd).  But, being near the back, there was plenty of room to let loose, and the only folks doing so were in my posse of five or so.  
 
 That being said, I thought the W.S. really rocked -- I was amazed they had no filler tour musicians, so I came to really appreciate Jack's skill.  They're schtick sometimes annoys me, especially his, but he plays so well he can do whatever damn schtick he wants with his sister!
 
 Not a great venue, but a good show none the less.
 
 We hit Velvet Lounge after for the Washington Social Club, and that kicked ass -- again.  So glad I got to catch an entire set by the Club...it combined with the big gym show to make for a nearly perfect night out.  
 
 I wish Detroit Cobras were this Saturday...I definitely woulda been there.

[kosmo vinyl]

the smith center was certainly a better venue than bender,  the long stage along the  side, as bunnyman pointed out, enables more to be people to be up front verses the layout at bender.
 
 i had earplugs in most of the night, so other than muffled thought the sound was good. didn't hear much of the crowd noise either. they also did a good job of focusing the sound over those in the front.  
 
 the lack of energy imho was due to the pacing of the show... why it took them so long to hit the stage after the whirlwind heat.  it sucked whatever energy out the created... the cartoons just becaming irritating after 10 minutes.
 
 they certainly needed more dynamic groups playing shorter sets to whipped up the energy of the crowd before them... do it like the 60's.  get the acts on and off the stage quickly doing only their best materials.  which makes even more sense nowadays with all the shorten attention spans.
 
 when i saw the white stripes at the old black cat in 2001 the audience was totally into the show... lost now a days is the rawiness of the early records.  jack has become a slicker guitar player and it shows in terms of urgency of the shows.  the black cat had a great warmup act in the gossip, that really got the audience going..  
 
 seeing both the detroit cobras and the white stripes in the same night showed why it'scbetter to see a great bar band working hard in the small confines of a club... verses a band going through the motions in a large venue because it's expected of them.

[chaz]

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
   
 
 seeing both the detroit cobras and the white stripes in the same night showed why it'scbetter to see a great bar band working hard in the small confines of a club... verses a band going through the motions in a large venue because it's expected of them.

Yeah I spoke briefly after the show with a guy who had been to both the White Stipes and Detroit Cobras show that night.  We both agreed that the Cobras show was much better...in my opinion mostly because of the audience and the venue.
 
 I was at the Black Cat the night the White Stripes played there a few years ago.  The Greenhornes opened the show and I decided not to pay to get in cuz I got there too late to see them.  I wish I'd just gone anyway.

[kosmo vinyl]

borrowing broadkat's drywall for a moment, lets analyze whirlwind heat...
 
 Creating a new band.
 
 Requirements  
 
 Young - check
 Skinny - check
 Squiffy Hair - check
 Spastic Dancing - check
 Unique Lineup (drums, bass, occasional analog synth and second bass) - check
 Actual Songs - MISSING!!
 
 This band didn't come across as being geniune, all flash and image little else.  Like the emo guitarist in box product Guitar Center is selling , there must be a checklist for creating the next buzz band.  Well Whirlwind Heat isn't going to be it.  I noticed very little interest in most of the audience in them, which one would think is who would be most likely to run out and buy their record.  Jack must have burned all his bridges in Detroit....

[kosmo vinyl]

Originally posted by chaz:
 

Yeah I spoke briefly after the show with a guy who had been to both the White Stipes and Detroit Cobras show that night.  We both agreed that the Cobras show was much better...in my opinion mostly because of the audience and the venue.
 
 [/QB][/QUOTE]
 
 by the way... do you know who the tall guy in the Iota audience is, that a number of people after the Detroit Cobras show were hanging around and posing for pictures with.  enquiring minds what to know....
 
 thanks to markie for dragging my ass to see the detroit cobras and to jaquar for prodviding the ride.  event the four songs we caught were entirely worth it...

[mankie]

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
 

by the way... do you know who the tall guy in the Iota audience is, that a number of people after the Detroit Cobras show were hanging around and posing for pictures with.  enquiring minds what to know....
 
  [/b]

GGW?

[chaz]

I think I know who you are talking about.  Pretty tall, square jawed guy?  If we're talking about the same guy, he looked real familiar to me.

[ggw]

Originally posted by mankie:
   

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
 

by the way... do you know who the tall guy in the Iota audience is, that a number of people after the Detroit Cobras show were hanging around and posing for pictures with.  enquiring minds what to know....
 
  [/b]

GGW? [/b]

My fans love me......

[mustourdman]

oh, forgot about the cartoons -- yeah, those were annoying. The novelty wore off on the second one... the third one was unfortunate, the crowd grew testy at the fourth, and actually started booing at the fifth. It was like seeing Lord of the Rings at the Uptown on opening week when they throw in about a dozen previews and commercials before the film.
 
 Since the roadies had done all the set up that was needed by the third cartoon, I couldn't help picturing Jack White backstage with nothing to do but wait until ALL FIVE cartoons were finished. Why not just go on when the stage has been set up?
 
 If the band had been interested in energizing the crowd with any aspect of a performace other than their music, they could have waited until the crowd grew testy... then started another cartoon -- just long enough to get a few scattered boos, before abruptly shutting it off and coming out on stage.
 
 Sure, little teasing tricks like that are cliched and more showmanship that artistic, but if you're going to play to 4,000 seat-plus arenas and a mainstream, less concert-experienced audience, it's probably not a bad idea to pull a few of those out of the bag every once in a while...
 
 But then again, maybe they don't CARE what the crowd does, as long as they buy tickets.

[MaLo]

Originally posted by  mustourdman :
    <img src="http://www.bloggerheads.com/can_weblogs/images/mustard_man.jpg" alt=" - " />  

yes, the cartoons were really annoying...especially the betty boop ones, grr, i can't stand betty boop

[kosmo vinyl]

Originally posted by mankie:
   

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
 

by the way... do you know who the tall guy in the Iota audience is, that a number of people after the Detroit Cobras show were hanging around and posing for pictures with.  enquiring minds what to know....
 
  [/b]

GGW? [/b]

nay... this guy was handsome  

[mankie]

I saw Tin Machine and they did the cartoon thing...someone walked out and put a small tv on a chair then walked off and cartoons starting showing on the telly...The audience had a collective "HUH" but after the 4th cartoon started getting pissed off, by the time the band came on after the 6th or so, the crowd was so fired up they went wild when the band walked on, and the energy carried on for the whole of the show.
 
 Sounds like the White Stripes tried to do the same thing but failed miserably....because they just aren't as cool as Mr. Bowie, but then again....who is?

[Bags]

To clarify, I don't think there was *no* energy at this show.  I think the reason that it's a discussion point is that the music was so good that the lack of a concomitant buzz in the audience is especially...inconsistent, and a bit of a let down.  But the show was great, I thought.  Just lower wattage overall then I would have hoped.
 
 It was a show in a gym, though, so I never thought it was going to rock my world completely.