It’s a warm spring Friday night in uptown Oakland here on 16 May, and the Fox Theater on Telegraph Avenue is sold out for guitar maestro Jack White’s return to town. Recently accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his leading role with the White Stripes around the turn of the millennium, White is still riding high with his No Name Tour in support of 2024’s rip-roaring No Name album. The record is a vibrant blast of blues power that blends vintage tones and modern rock energy, powering electrifying shows that have been winning acclaim far and wide.
Last year’s first leg of the tour featured White and his quartet playing small pop-up shows for intimate experiences rarely available for such an acclaimed artist. The blue-toned color scheme of the album art was matched by a blue-toned light show, permeating the shows with an all-encompassing bluesy vibe. The 2025 tour keeps the energy flowing in mid-sized venues, and there’s no shortage of demand. White also released a live EP culled from the 2024 tour, with No Name Live featuring five tracks that capture the vibrancy of this material onstage.
Jack White’s songcraft and musicianship are readily apparent on the albums, but witnessing the live show delivers an even more multidimensional appreciation of his skills as a guitarist and vintage tone scientist. “That’s How I’m Feeling” is an early highlight here at the Fox with a blast of energy that finds White getting his mojo working early.
“Black Math” from the White Stripes’ 2003 Elephant album maintains a gritty vibe, featuring powerful drums from Patrick Keeler and hard-hitting guitar chords. Bassist Dominic Davis and keyboardist Bobby Emmett are dialed in, too, and it’s easy to see that this quartet has continued to develop their chemistry.
“It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking)” is a melodic and groovy number from No Name that shines with some early Led Zep overtones as the band and audience rock out. The song appears to be tied to the poster from the Hollywood Palladium shows earlier in the week, which featured three black cats hovering over a white rat. Black cat parents in the Bay Area are envious of the Hollywood poster, but they get a killer rendition of the song here.
“Catch Hell Blues” from the White Stripes’ 2007 Icky Thump features some tasty slide licks that sound so good at the Fox, displaying White’s mad skills at making every note count and resonate just right. Lots of indie bands can rock out, but White stands out from the pack as a long-time Major League-level all-star performer at dialing in the killer tones that take such bluesy rock songs to the next level. He’s even got Fender designing and producing his signature guitars and amps now.
Jack White mixes things up with a couple of tunes from his time with the Raconteurs, utilizing a cool-looking guitar that may be his signature, the Triplesonic Acoustasonic Telecaster, on the simmering “Carolina Drama”. He sings a troubadour’s tale about some Southern misadventures with a preacher, a milkman, and an affair gone wrong, with Emmett contributing a big organ solo to power the song higher.
The White Stripes’ “Hello Operator” delivers a blast of straight-ahead old-school blues rock, where the full quartet brings the sound to life, with White’s fiery riffage over the heavy drums powering the crowd pleaser. It pairs well with a newer crowd pleaser as White commands the Fox Theater on “Archbishop Harold Holmes”, featuring a more syncopated groove and scintillating riffage that feels like it could ignite the stage. “Are you ready for the message?” White sings with a vibe that feels shamanic. The audience is very much ready to receive the message, and it’s one of the most exhilarating songs of the evening to close out the set.
The group quickly return for an extended encore sequence where the title track from 2014’s Lazaretto ignites the room again. White’s shamanic vibe continues to impress with infectious riffs and rhymes that have the audience unified in this sonic temple of the blues. The rhythm section is crushing it here, as the guitar man tears it up with some of the most incendiary riffage of the night.
“My veins are blue and connected, and every single bone in my brain is connected,” White sings, as if he’s tapping into the essence of a bluesy mojo that goes back to another age. Jack White is clearly an old soul, with a signature presence that unifies retro blues origins with modern rock vision.
“Screwdriver” from the White Stripes’ 1999 debut is a treat, tapping into the hard-hitting blues rock vibe that made the late 1990s such an excellent time for modern rock. “Freedom at 21” from 2012’s Blunderbuss features the entire band on a killer tune, complete with electric organ and a more dynamic drum pattern that White locks into with his catchy riffs. He goes off on the solo for some scintillating electrified mayhem, again displaying his mastery of the instrument with how he makes every note count.
This vibe carries over into the White Stripes’ “Ball and Biscuit” as White sings of being a seventh son, a historical designation legendary for mystical powers (as Iron Maiden once detailed on their 1988 album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son). There’s some wicked riffage here that’s less about shredding furious notes than the feeling and the sound, with overtones of “The Lemon Song” from Led Zeppelin II. It’s a vibe that dates back to Jimmy Page’s study of Howlin’ Wolf‘s “Killing Floor”, featuring guitarist Hubert Sumlin, and tracing back even further to blues legends like Robert Johnson and Skip James.
There’s been a sense throughout the show that continues to clarify down the stretch: if America ever needed a guitarist to beat the devil in a cutting contest, Jack White would have to be one of the leading contenders for the mission. If only politics and wars could be fought with the power of music, instead of bombs and financial corruption.
“Sixteen Saltines” provides another blast of rocking blues power with a freaky twist in the syncopation, before White showcases a slide guitar masterpiece from No Name on “Underground”. It’s one of the more melodic numbers on the album, yet the song dives deep into the blues well with shimmering slide riffs that recall Led Zeppelin‘s “Traveling Riverside Blues”.
“Seven Nation Army” closes out the night with its anthemic power, which has become one of the most recognizable grooves in modern rock. It serves as a climactic closer for a show that comes in at just under 90 minutes, though it feels like it was longer, since every song has smoldered with a mesmerizing blues power that electrifies the soul.
The blue tone lighting scheme has enhanced the essence of the music throughout the night, creating a distinctive vibe that highlights Jack White III as one of modern music’s best practitioners of blues rock. Jack White has been like a sonic preacher testifying with his message of blues rock power, and the congregation is delighted to have received such a cathartic blessing on this spring evening.
