Raconteurs pretty damn spectacular

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      At Malkin Bowl on Thursday, September 18

      There’s something about Jack White and raven-haired beauties. First there was wife/sister/sex-tape-star Meg White, then country queen Loretta Lynn. So it made sense that when White’s other band, the Raconteurs, played Malkin Bowl, Alison Mosshart, the brooding front woman from reverb-heavy two-piece the Kills, was along for the ride.

      On this cool September night, the vixen with the slender hips and midnight-black tresses gave an electrifying performance that nearly stole the headliners’ thunder.

      White and his Nashville-based cohorts—singer-guitarist Brendan Benson, bassist Jack Lawrence, drummer Patrick Keeler, and touring multi-instrumentalist Mark Watrous—were pretty goddamn spectacular themselves, with their huge arena-rock riffs and booming wall of amped-up noise.

      But it was Mosshart and her bandmate, Jamie Hince, who got the sleepy crowd, sprawled leisurely across the lawn like a bunch of Sunday-afternoon picnickers, more excited than a hormonally overloaded 16-year-old boy with a tub of Vaseline and his uncle’s back issues of Juggs.

      Strutting across the stage in pointy gold boots, tight grey jeans, and a stylish leopard-print cardigan, Mosshart belted out seductive vocals while Hince (soon to be Mr. Kate Moss) kept things nasty with a thundering bass line as the duo pounded through punchy tracks like “U.R.A. Fever”, “Sour Cherry”, “Tape Song”, and crowd pleaser “No Wow”.

      Gyrating her way through a blisteringly raw set, Mosshart mesmerized cheering fans with jaw-dropping moves straight out of Tantric Sex for Women. Clearly more than a little satisfied with her arousing performance, the fiery hellcat then lit up a cigarette on-stage, as though she’d just finished doing the horizontal mambo with a passionate lover.

      With the sold-out crowd’s pulse now pounding something fierce, White and the Raconteurs took the stage for 90-minute classic-rock showcase of the most epic proportions. Considering the deafening barrage of distorted guitar, it’s a bloody miracle the intense sonic vibrations didn’t ravage Stanley Park like the great storm of ’06. The five-piece pummelled those who had gathered to admire the lead White Stripe’s legendary guitar work.

      Despite looking a little tubbier than usual in grey-plaid pants and a simple black T-shirt, White’s phenomenal musicianship and charming Midwestern drawl more than made up for the aftereffect of all those White Castle double cheeseburgers on the road. Dishing out devastating hooks and pedal-heavy stoner-rock masterpieces, the all-star band scorched through heavy hitters like “Consoler of the Lonely”, “Level”, “Blue Veins”, and an inconceivably epic 12-minute-plus version of “Rich Kid Blues”.

      Although White and his gang of broken boy soldiers were officially the stars of the night, Vancouverites had to give it up to the Kills’ resident bad girl for adding some spunk to the testosterone-laden event.

      Comments