{"id":4348,"date":"2012-10-10T10:52:51","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T14:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/home\/?p=4348"},"modified":"2012-10-22T10:54:51","modified_gmt":"2012-10-22T14:54:51","slug":"free-from-tiny-screens-jack-white-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/free-from-tiny-screens-jack-white-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Free From Tiny Screens: Jack White"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlottesville nTelos Wireless Pavilion
\n<\/strong>Sept 27, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Removing light-blue sheets from various instruments onstage, each roadie at the Jack White concert sported suspenders, a blue tie, and a fedora\u2014despite the inescapable Virginia humidity. Their antiquated outfits clashed slightly with the modernity of the stage backdrop, where three tall rectangles, which would later radiate an electric blue, loomed. One suspendered gentleman, timidly walking up to a microphone, politely asked that the milling crowd \u201cwatch the show live,\u201d instead of through \u201cthose tiny screens\u201d of their phones.<\/p>\n

This outdated request caused quite a murmur in the standing section before the stage. Was this small, Amish-looking man being serious, I wondered, or is this part of the old-timey act? Did Jack himself request this? Despite my confusion and my generational twenty-something urge to document all things for social media, I surprisingly found myself tucking my phone away for the remainder of the night. Jack White, known for his eccentricities and nostalgic tendencies, seemed to exert an odd hold on me even before physically stepping on the stage.<\/p>\n

The narrative of White\u2019s life, crowded with bizarre stories and rumors, runs like creative nonfiction, partially explaining the obedient fascination that seemed to hold me transfixed to White\u2019s every move on Thursday night. Born in 1975, White grew up in a Catholic family of twelve (six brothers, three sisters) in Detroit, Michigan, as John Anthony Gillis, and was strongly influenced by music from a young age, especially blues and R&B rock. After declining seminary school for a public school education<\/a>, White continued on his road of unconventional choices and began an apprenticeship at the age of 15 at an upholstery shop. By the time he was 21, White opened his own yellow, black, and white hued business, Third Man Upholstery<\/a>. Although he was a founding member of \u201cThe Upholsterers\u201d, White decided the world of recovered sofas was not for him, and went on to put his talents to good use elsewhere.<\/p>\n

As White\u2019s personal life becomes difficult to follow, tracking his musical career is probably the most reliable way to get a factual, firm hold on him. Even so, White is not the idle type, and has littered his career with one project after another. He first crawled into the public eye as the singer\/guitarist\/pianist for The White Stripes with the release of White Blood Cells <\/em>in 2002. In a review, Rolling Stone initially described The White Stripes as \u201cgothic garage punk.\u201d<\/a> The band, which consisted of White and his supposed sister, Meg White, quickly followed suit with Elephant <\/em>(2003) and the loud Icky Thump<\/em> (2007). Perhaps the epitome of the White Stripes, visually and musically, is the music video for the catchy \u201cSeven Nation Army,\u201d which hypnotically cycles through black, red, and white images of Meg and Jack to a distinctive guitar riff and solid drums.<\/p>\n

By now, The White Stripes had further developed their sound and turned heads with their unique, color-coordinated image. Rolling Stone described White in a review for Icky Thump<\/em><\/a> as, \u201cless a songwriter than a sonic architect […] what his hits have in common isn\u2019t anything he stands for. It\u2019s instantly enticing musical constructions.\u201d Musician or architect, the band grew in popularity until 2011, when a string of cancelled tour dates and vague justifications led to the break up of the band.<\/p>\n