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 By Dave Rosen
The Raconteurs
Rock "The Joint" Like No Others
(Except Maybe Jack White's Other Band!)
“How you gonna do it yourself when I'm not there to help you?” Jack White asks
on The Raconteurs' “Top Yourself,” off their new album, “Consolers Of The
Lonely.” He's cocky, but he's right. No one in modern rock music is going to put
on a show like Jack White whether he's with his original band The White Stripes,
or with his side-project (if it can even be called a “side-project”), The
Raconteurs, who rocked The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Saturday, April 26.
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They were also in California this weekend to headline the annual Coachella
festival, but were nice enough to come grace Las Vegas with their southern and
blues rock inspired brand of rock & roll. For those not already initiated, Jack
White teamed up with fellow indie rock-hero Brendan Benson to form this “super
group” of sorts as a way to experiment and try some new things. When their
debut, “Broken Boy Soldiers” came out, some reviewers joked that it was weird
that a side-project would be more commercial sounding than the original band
(usually these projects are a way for a songwriter to break from the formula and
try new things), what with big radio-friendly hits such as “Steady As She Goes.”
This time around, however, on the new record which came out a few weeks ago,
just two weeks after completing the recording (a first in the ever changing new
record business), the experimentation is in full force employing crazy key
changes, horns, and arrangements fit for classic soul, all while bringing back a
lot of White's trademark blues sound from The White Stripes and adding more and
more of the South into its overall sound.
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They opened with the title track from the new album, and continued with new
songs for the first half of the show. Every song was as good, if not better than
the record. Experimentation is key at a concert like this, and the guys really
went all out. Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence (both originally from Detroit's
The Greenhornes) kept the beat going with the drums and bass, respectively while
allowing White and Benson to go crazy on guitar and vocals. The duo share
songwriting, lead guitar, and singing duties, and come in and out like a match
made in indie-garage rock heaven.
Highlights of the show included the aforementioned “Top Yourself,” which drew
huge cheers from White's sexual come-on lyrics such as, “How you gonna get that
deep when your daddy ain't their to do it to you?” The new single, “Salute Your
Solution,” was the most exciting and intense song of the night and got everyone
dancing as White howled, “Salute your solution, yea, salute your solution!” It's
about the most rocking song to hit radio since... well, the last White Stripes
single...
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Then, almost like a special treat just for me, they closed out with my favorite
song off the new album, “Carolina Drama,”a 6 minute long story about a son who
kills his alcoholic-abusive step-dad, told through rhyme and a slow dramatic
groove (sample lyric: “he was a triple loser with some blue tattoos that were
given to him when he was young and a drunk temper that was easy to lose, but
thank God he didn't own a gun”)... not exactly the kind of song you expect to
hear at a concert! But lucky me, I got to hear a note-perfect rendition live.
I couldn't recommend The Raconteurs' new album, “Consolers Of The Lonely,”
enough, and if they come back to Las Vegas any time soon, make sure you go see
them. Now if only we can get the White Stripes to come back to town... Please?
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