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i can see jason but i cant see u. where r u?
Those are the words I saw a mother furiously text to her son from the side of the stage. A moment before she sent them, she took out her earplugs to ask me what time the band had gone on (just 20 minutes earlier). A moment later, she began to dart in and out of the first few rows of the audience, dodging countless 13-year-old boys in a search of her kid. He was probably hiding behind "Jason" so they wouldn't have to leave the show. Of course, as it turned out, it wouldn't end up being a big deal, because the band's set only went on for another half hour anyway.
The Raconteurs only have a ten-song repertoire; it seems crazy, but it's true. The members of the group -- singer-songwriter Brendan Benson, drummer Patrick Keeler and bassist Jack Lawrence of the Greenhornes, and the Jack White of the White Stripes -- have written and recorded hundreds of songs between them, but, as they have proclaimed in pretty much every conversation they've had in the past year, the Raconteurs is its own band, not a fleeting side project. (And the band is not fronted by Jack White, a point made clear by the fact that the limited stage banter was spoken only by Benson.) Since they adamantly defend their non-side-project status, that meant the band could only play songs from their collaborative album, Broken Boy Soldiers.
The band's members clearly influence one another -- White's blues affects Benson's pop and vice versa -- but the combined sounds don't pop on the album like they did live. The band may even have influenced White's wardrobe as well: he arrived on stage in a green and brown ensemble (it seems, in his world, a new band calls for a new color palette).
The band opened with "Intimate Secretary," the purest pop song on their album. Of course, the basic rhymes "I've got a rabbit it likes to hop/ I've got a girl and she likes to shop" seemed much grittier and exciting live. It's hard to imagine lyrics like those sounding exciting, but the moment a band takes the stage in a sold-out, smoky venue in New York City, anything is possible. Of course, it was that same sold-out smokiness that turned that otherwise reasonable woman into a frantic, shorthand-loving mom.
The band's energy never wavered, even during songs like "Together," where Benson's slow singing was met by White's gruff backing vocals. Individually, their voices are unique -- what with Benson's mellow, crisp-sounding voice and White's tendency to howl -- but, when the two sing together, a definite Lennon/McCartney harmony occurs. "Hands" also exemplifies that influence, bringing to mind a harder-rocking version of Rubber Soul's "Think for Yourself."
The band left the stage after about nine songs, then came back to pound out the single "Steady, As She Goes," the obvious choice for an encore. The song began with Jack Lawrence's bass line drawn out for an extra moment before Benson and White turned to face each other, playing their guitars in unison.
The concert's final number, "Your Blue Veins," is a song that never would have struck me as a great closer, but, by the time White finished with it, it seemed like a lost classic. He may have avoided stealing the focus during the show, but with "Veins" his guitar spoke for him, loud and clear, telling the audience that yeah, the Raconteurs might be a rock 'n' roll band, but his love for the blues will not be overlooked.
I just hope Jason and his friend got to stay long enough to see it.
— 13 October 2006
