The morning after the show, Jack shared some Bluebird nostalgia on Instagram, writing, "Twas so nice to play the Bluebird again last night, I first played that theater 30 YEARS AGO (!!!) as a drummer for Goober and the Peas, had to recreate the photo under the marquee."
Ticket buying was fast and furious. Early access was awarded to Third Man Records Vault subscribers, with that limited lot selling out instantly. An hour later, public sales opened to the masses, and lucky fans in line at the Bluebird the next day recounted getting flagged as bots, fervently refreshing to a number of "sold out" notices, until fortune found them with a blessing from the ticket gods. Ultimately, the show sold out in minutes.
The original band slated to headline the Bluebird for that date was Acid Mothers Temple, which opened Jack White's show with a psychedelic krautrock set complete with the guitarist playing his guitar with his ass. But those who bought tickets to that original show were refunded without explanation, and most were not able to secure tickets for the Jack White show. "Disappointed" would be an understatement for those folks.
Not that it was needed, because we knew, but the show reminded us what rock and roll looks and sounds like.
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
Being in the Moment
Everyone around us shared sentiments of how we couldn’t believe we were in the room — especially this size of a room — on such short notice. But that’s how Jack has been hitting the road to tour his latest album, announcing shows at smaller venues with just a day's notice. Along the way, he’s also been selling posters at each stop. Denver’s was designed by poster artist Rob Jones, and only 150 were sold at the show. Before Jack came on stage, the audience was also reminded to be present in the moment. On recent tours, he's established a no-phone experience, but that wasn’t the case at the Bluebird. However, the audience opted out, and it was refreshing to be surrounded by fans watching the concert through their own eyes, not a phone.
“I saw pay phones at the Denver airport,” Jack said. “Must be a sign of the end times.”
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
Let’s get into it
Jack and his band destroyed. Shredded. Melted. Not that it was needed, because we already knew, but the concert reminded us what rock and roll looks and sounds like. It also helped that we were so close that we could see the sweat fall.The stage setup was simple, with drums, bass, keys and the axman himself letting it rip on his new Fender gear. My eyes lit up when I saw how much room was left open in the center of the stage for thrashing.
As predicted, Jack played a lot of tracks off his phenomenal latest album, No Name, but he also unleashed a number of White Stripes classics such as “Icky Thump,” “Hotel Yorba” and “Ball and Biscuit,” as well as the Raconteurs track "Broken Boy Soldier." There wasn’t much banter, but there was one observation made before he went into one of my personal favorites, “Hello Operator."
“I saw pay phones at the Denver airport,” Jack said. “Must be a sign of the end times.”
If you are lucky enough to have Jack White pop into your city, don’t sleep (and best of luck) on getting tickets. This is now my absolute favorite show I’ve ever been to.
Everyone around us shared sentiments of how we couldn’t believe we were in the room — especially this size of a room — on such short notice.
Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek
