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Jack White delivers tenacious set in Burnaby

If there was anything to criticize about the White Stripes’ 2007 show at Deer Lake Park, it was the omission of their 2003 smash “The Hardest Button to Button.” That’s it.
Jack White Burnaby
Jack White rocked Deer Lake Park on Thursday, clocking a 96-minute set that balanced his recent solo work with White Stripes favourites and a few tunes from the modern rock Renaissance man’s catalogue.

If there was anything to criticize about the White Stripes’ 2007 show at Deer Lake Park, it was the omission of their 2003 smash “The Hardest Button to Button.” That’s it.

Jack White’s return to Burnaby last week had curious fans wondering if he’d bust out more Stripes songs, or if his set would be dominated by music from his sophomore solo album. Turns out, it was a pretty even mix of beloved singles from his garage rock duo and brand spanking new instant classics by the Detroit rocker.

Opening the show, Michigan soulman Curtis Harding brought modernized Motown to the stage, or what he described in his kickoff track as “Soul Power.” His amplified R&B sound was an apropos fit that set the stage for the beloved Motor City son.

As the sun set, White and his band took the stage, which resembled something out of a 1950s IKEA catalogue, with a retro television set and furniture to match. The Burnaby crowd let out a raucous cheer as White burst into “High Ball Stepper” off his latest record, Lazaretto, before turning up the nostalgia with 2001’s “Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground.”

It was clear to the fans how fortunate they were to see White, given that the Deer Lake date and many others on the tour were in jeopardy: White’s ankle was taped up, courtesy of an onstage sprain in San Francisco six nights earlier, yet he refused to postpone or cancel any shows and soldiered through Burnaby’s 20-song set.

This time around, White strayed from his Blunderbuss material, performing only “Missing Pieces” before reverting back to more recent tunes like the upbeat crowd-pleaser “Just One Drink” and harmonized with violinist Lillie Mae Rische on “Temporary Ground” and “Alone in My Home.” He squeezed in the acoustic two-minute stompalong “Hotel Yorba” before delivering his first of two Raconteurs songs of the night, “Top Yourself.”

White has previously stated his fondness for trios, such as the White Stripes’ stripped-down combination of guitar, drums and vocals, or the same band’s red, white and black colour scheme. So it was fitting when he delved into three of the two-pieces older, lesser-known tracks: “Sugar Never Tasted So Good,” “Apple Blossom” and “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known,” off their self-titled 1999 debut, 2000’s followup De Stijl, and 2001’s breakout record White Blood Cells, respectfully.

Setlist

High Ball Stepper
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Missing Pieces
Just One Drink
Hotel Yorba
Temporary Ground
Alone in My Home
Top Yourself
Sugar Never Tasted So Good
The Same Boy You've Always Known
Apple Blossom
The Rose With the Broken Neck
I'm Slowly Turning Into You
Steady, As She Goes

Encore

Icky Thump
Ball and Biscuit
Hello Operator
Blunderbuss
Would You Fight for My Love?
Seven Nation Army

It’s common knowledge that White’s back catalogue is extensive, but only hardcore fans may have picked up on his performance of American producer Danger Mouse and Italian composer Daniele Luppi’s “The Rose with the Broken Neck” – a song to which White wrote the lyrics. That was perhaps the most obscure part of his set as he followed that with the Stripes’ “I’m Slowly Turning Into You” and the Raconteurs’ most pronounced hit “Steady, As She Goes.”

At about the 75-minute mark, White and Co. left the stage for about five minutes, but that seemed like forever in the minds of every anxious fan in attendance. They returned to the stage for another trio of intense White Stripes songs (“Icky Thump,” “Ball and Biscuit” and “Hello Operator”).

In a haze of smoke and blue spotlights, White performed the title track to Blunderbuss and the more recent solo song “Would You Fight for My Love?” before ending his 96-minute stay in Burnaby with the unforgettable “Seven Nation Army.”

White’s set was about six songs short of his usual musical haul – perhaps due to his ankle or Burnaby’s 10 p.m. concert curfew – and “The Hardest Button to Button” was once again left off the setlist.

But that type of nitpicking was heavily outweighed by White’s the-show-must-go-on tenacity and the diverse mix of numerous old and new songs that more than made up for any excluded tunes.

White’s alt-rock stardom already has him headlining world-famous music festivals, and this time next year, he may be selling out football stadiums. If this is the last time he performs at Deer Lake Park, even the most disappointed fans from Thursday’s show will reflect on that night with the same nostalgia as those who saw the White Stripes there seven years back.

@jacobzinn