The White Stripes - Under Blackpool Lights

[Fincave]

For those who do not know about the White Stripes and their music, the band is a two piece, Jack White (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Meg White (drums and vocals). Musically they are a bit different to say the least, this is thumping, primitive, aggressive, bone jarring rock & roll, definitely not for the faint hearted.

This DVD is of a perfomance in Blackpool, England in 2004 and features songs from their first four albums: The White Stripes, De Stijl, White Blood Cells and Elephant.

Regarding picture quality, it was filmed using Super 8 cameras to intentionally give a grainy look, I would have preferred better picture, the sound quality however more than makes up for not so great PQ.

PQ 6/10
SQ 9/10

To the DVD and songs themselves, there is a good mix from the four albums, a few cover versions thrown into the mix and all the 'hits' are present. The White Stripes pack a lot of songs onto this DVD, twenty six in total, with very little chat in between the songs, this is a fast paced gig with no frills.

Meg is great on the drums, simplistic driving beats with lashings of Jack's guitar make this an energtic performance DVD, if you like this type of music, it will have you tapping your foot and may even make you want to get into a mosh pit and just get carried away by the music.

There are so many songs that stand out out on this DVD, I'll try to give a run down on some of them. 'Balck Math' has some great bass with Meg really giving the drums a good working out, also some very nice guitar by Jack. The intro to 'I think I smell a rat' is cool, the interaction between Jack and Meg or guitar and drums is great to watch and hear. 'Outlaw Blues' is a Dylan cover and is followed by 'Jack the Ripper', this has some great bass again, watch the lights on your BFD if you have one. 'Jolene', a Dolly Parton cover has to be one of my favourites, great delicate intro turns pretty intense, back to delicate and back to intense. 'Hotel Yorba' was a pretty big hit for them and the crowd are loving it. 'Death Letter' has Jack switching to acoustic guitar, still amplified though and Jack seems to be one with his instrument. Back to electric for 'Do' but slowing down the tempo a little. 'The hardest button to button' has a great riff and a nice simple drum beat. On 'Truth doesn't make a noise' you get a melodic intro which turns rough into deicate keyboards followed by some aggressive guitar. 'The big three killed my baby' is another one of my favourites, a song about Detroit (their hometown) and the effects of the automobile industry on the city. 'You're pretty good looking for a girl' always makes me laugh, it is short and funny. 'Apple blossom' has Jack playing keyboards, definitely not his best instrument but still good to hear. 'Ball and biscuit' must have one of the greatest wailing guitar solos on the entire disc. The set ends with 'Let's shake hands' which has Meg only using her right hand and feet. The encore is comprised of five songs and could be seen as a case of saving the best for last. 'Seven nation army' is arguably the best track on the entire disc, I always have to turn it up, the bass on this will make unsecured objects rattle and should upset sensitive neighbours, acousitc guitar with a great riff and did I mention bass that you will feel? Final song 'De ballit of de boll weevil', great song to end a great gig, crowd singing along, I normally find myself hoarse by the time this song comes around.

I was fortunate enough to see the White Stripes in Stockholm, Sweden last year, while this disc does not quite capture the feeling or the intensity or interaction between Jack and Meg, it does come very close to the real thing!

All in all, if you want over produced, nice sounding elevator music do not buy this disc. If you, on the other hand enjoy bone jarring, basic rock and roll with a simple beat and great raw guitar then this could be just the disc for you.

A lot of my friends do not like this music and it definitely is not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it and that is what matters to me.

Feel free to comment on this disc if anyone has seen it or owns it. This so called 'review' is only my opinion.

[Sonnie]

Would this be something similar to Rush (3 man band)? Harder or softer rock?

Good review by the way.

[Fincave]

If you are interested you can listen to some of there stuff here http://www.whitestripes.net/downloads.php, the version of Jolene is great, IMO of course. This has to be one of the more in your face bands, they do exactly as they please, no obeying record companies etc. I think that Rush is a lot more civilized though can not really remember their music.

[spdracer22]

It took me a little while, but I'm really beginning to like their music.

eMusic.com has all (I think) of their cd's in lossless mp3.

[Ohmen]

I love the White Stripes and will definetly be checking this out.

[kurt]

I'll be checking it out as well definitely in my top 3 live shows and they're cd's all have at least a few kick butt songs on them.

Thanks for the review.