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Photos by sprout

We were denied for the White Stripes ...so I decided to re-post our first bit of coverage on the band . Vancouver December 3, 2000 Sunday night brought myself and my trusty photographer cohort, Nicole, to the Picadilly Pub to see The White Stripes and Fireballs of Freedom. And as usual, the only decent shows that Vancouver has seen this fall, from touring bands, again fell on a Sunday night. While not knowing what either of evening's bands sounded like, I was hoping they would sound something like The Dragons or The Yo Yo's that was playing through the P.A. I was curious as Portlands "Fireballs of Freedom" took the stage, as they were signed to Bellingham's Estrus Records, home of The Von Zippers and Man or Atroman. Aside from a painfully lame name for a band, they had nothing in common with either of the aformentioned bands, which is truly sad. We were treated to an hour worth of self indulgent noise, which was far too long. Although there were some glimmers of early AC/DC and MC5, the band seemed more interested in letting the audience know how many chord changes they could squeeze into a song and completely forgot about playing a hook or a discernable song. As 11:30pm rolled around, Detroit's White Stripes finally took the stage. By the time the band played their first note, you realized that this bill was completely mismatched and the audience seemed appreciative. In Vancouver, after finishing a tour of Japan & Australia, Jack White (guitar & vocals) and his older sister Meg (drums) took the stage to showcase their new album, De Stijl, released on Sympathy For The Record Industry. The initial impression remined you of The Flat Duo Jets meets early Gun Club, but as the set you were also served up portions of The Stones, Iggy Pop and Jon Spencer. Jack's voice was very reminiscent of Let's Active, Mitch Easter, but the comparison ends there. The sound is very basic, drums & guitar, with blues riffs echoing out of National Guitar & Fender Reverb amp. The drumming was meant to be simple, but at times I found it annoying and distracting. The songs are well thought out and arranged, but maintain a simplicity that still hooks a crowd in. And anyone who can pull of a cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene", scores bonus points. With the youngest two siblings of a family of 10 pulling this off, they must do their mother proud. So you see what we are missing out on !!!! Detroit minimalist duo keep it simple Joe Martin Contributing Writer White Stripes, Commodore Ballroom, Sunday, June 9. Playing in a five-piece band, I often struggle to find new ways of keeping an audience entertained throughout a half-hour show. So, I was quite curious to see how the White Stripes, a two-piece, would keep the attention of a sold-out Commodore Ballroom for nearly an hour. Essentially it comes down to writing killer songs, keeping a couple of spots to display killer guitar chops and basically ripping it up on stage until the sweat shows through your red T-shirt. Jack and assumed sibling Meg White have currently taken on a position as the leaders of the current rock revival and the forerunners of the buzzing Detroit scene. Their show last Sunday was their second stop in Vancouver, (having played the Pic Pub only a year and a half ago) and they seem to have eased into the larger venues in fine style. Their set hit mostly on songs from their breakthrough disc White Blood Cells, but they did play tracks from their cult hit De Stijl as well as their debut release The White Stripes (that's right, radio fans, they have three albums). Jack White makes for a truly captivating frontman and wowed the crowd not only with his vast collection of songs and boundless energy, but also with a display of some pretty mean slide guitar chops. Meg White, who handles the percussive side of the noise, kept things fairly simple but was solid as a rock when it came to keeping the beat and catching shots with Jack. The best part of watching the duo, however, was the impression they gave that even if they were still in the Pic Pub, they would be having just as much fun making music. They seem unfazed by the sudden growth of interest taken in the band and look as though they could almost go right back to where they started and have close to no complaints. It's likely a good attitude for them to take because even if their next album outshines their previous work, today's fickle mainstream audience could fast forget the budding duo and quickly move on to the next wave. I'm thinking something with an accordion. DAMN WE WON'T BE AT DEER LAKE PARK ON THE 24 TH SO IF YOU ARE SEND US SOME COPY AND A PIC . I'LL SEND YOU A TEE SHIRT!

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