Jack White - The Shrine - 8/10/12
Jack White
Timothy Norris Jack White
The Shrine
8/10/12
See also: Our review of Jack White at the Wiltern in May
Our review of Jack White at the Mayan in April
After getting through the prying eyes and loving hands of the security guards at the Shrine last night, one noticed Jack White's rolling record store selling rare 45s, the Third Man Records truck, on the other side of the iron barred fence. Bright daffodil yellow, it was blaring oldies from the speakers on the roof. Most striking was the pretty lady in a yellow dress, which matched the truck.
Most bands have to beg their fans to visit their merch booth at the end of a night. But last night fans were desperately trying to acquire records (not t-shirts, not posters, not buttons, but records) before the show had even started. Perhaps the kind of person who goes to a Jack White show is the kind of person who collects rare 45s, but even so the music industry should take note.
Inside the golden walls of the Shrine, the air hummed with the sounds of people shaking off their work week personas, fighting for a drink, and flirting with their dates. This was a fancy pants rock show with seats, chandeliers and people ordering wine. Floor seats were $90 a pop, people were dressed up and the fans were middle aged hipsters and young people who are doing well for themselves. (Aziz Ansari, we saw you.)
Timothy Norris Drummer Daru Jones
At 9:15 sharp Jack White took the stage with his all male band the Buzzards. (On this tour he has one male band and one female band, the latter known as The Peacocks.) These musicians hail from all over the country and were sharply dressed in black and white. The band was arranged in a semi-circle on stage around White, clad in all black.
The set was a testament to White's complete catalog, equal parts White Stripes and his new solo record Blunderbuss, with a few songs from Dead Weather and the Raconteurs sprinkled in. It was a set of tenderness and rage and betrayal. The crowd was into all of it. Each guitar solo was followed by whoops of joy; in half an hour the temperature had risen enough to overpower the air conditioning, and people started stripping off their outer layers of clothing. 
Timothy Norris Jack White
It was just a shame that the sound couldn't keep up with the ferocity on stage....
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