The Dead Weather, August 25 at the Wiltern

Monday morning I sent an e-mail to my concert buddies saying that Austin City Limits for this year (in October) probably wouldn't work. Vanessa e-mailed me back saying that we should try to catch the Dead Weather when they were in town. I didn't know if she was joking so I asked her if she knew that they were playing the Wiltern that very night. She said we had to go, and I was in, so she went there before the show to get some scalped tickets and I rode my bike to the train station then took the train to the Wiltern. Vanessa had the tickets so we had time to get drinks at the restaurant next door, then some other drinks when we got into the place and during the show. They were selling tickets for the Franz Ferdinand show on Thursday for $10 so we got on that. As for the Dead Weather show itself: you keep wanting to see Jack White's new group as a band but you can't help but experience it as being Jack White, even when he's behind the drums and singing barely half the time. It never hurts that the rest of his band melt into the background. Even snarling vixen Alison Mossheart (more in her element in the Kills) can't quite keep up. Jack finally completes being a one-man band by becoming a full-time drummer for a while, making you wonder why he collaborates with anyone else at all. The band seemed to try to cover themselves with volume and strobe-lights for a while, until Jack started singing and the crowd got into it. It seemed like this band had a lot of hype behind them for a while, and the music is probably great, but it seemed that everyone moved on right after, eagerly anticipating Jack White's next, other new band. As it was, none of the songs sunk in with me, though I admit to not being familiar with this material at that time. But Vanessa and I were drinking and having a good time so the rest didn't matter so much.

The Dead Weather's set-list:
"60 Feet Tall"
"Bone House"
"Hang You From The Heavens"
"You Just Can't Win " (Them)
"So Far From Your Weapon"
"I Cut Like A Buffalo"
"Jawbreaker"
"Rocking Horse"
"I Can't Hear You"
"No Horse"
"No Hassle Night"
"Will There Be Enough Water?"
"Forever My Queen" (Pentagram)
"Treat Me Like Your Mother"
"New Pony " (Bob Dylan)