Friday, July 31, 2009
The Spin The Dead Weather at War Memorial Auditorium, 7/30/09
Posted by The Spin on Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Check out the slideshows for more photos: The Dead Weather; Screaming Females
As we stood on the floor of War Memorial Auditorium waiting for The Dead Weather show to begin, our companion--looking at a group of fans fondling their new DW merch--said, "I bet Jack White could sell his poo and people would buy it." Maybe they would, we thought. Maybe. But not before shouting, "Wooooo!!!"
This was a night of much wooing.
Every time the house music reached the end of a song, the audience would cheer. Every time a roadie adjusted an instrument, the audience would cheer. Every time the lights got darker or brighter, or there was the slightest indication that something in the room was different than the moment before, people would cheer. We don't go to many shows where everyone seems so gotdamn excited about everything.
So when Screaming Females took to the stage, it was to a much bigger ovation than the last time we saw them. We can count on one finger the number of bands we've seen open for JEFF the Brotherhood and then, on their subsequent visit to town, for one of Jack White's bands. The Females are peerless in this category, and why not? Singer/guitarist Marisa Paternoster is a powerhouse, and the band reeled through a frenetic set of heavy chords and cascading rhythms hung with psychedelic shreds. They even played Spin favorite "Bell," and in the process won over the crowd (except maybe the two guys behind us) with their set.
Shortly after SF left the stage, we got a text saying that Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt of Green Day were in the house, though we never saw them. (Lots of familiar local rock faces, though.) It was around this time that the wooing started to get ridiculous. The band's crew, dressed up in black suits and fedoras, got round after round of breathless, anticipatory applause. All the waiting kept reminding us that we'd skipped dinner. But then, at long last, The Dead Weather made their (public) Nashville debut, to a roar that was absolutely deafening. The giant black curtain behind the stage was yanked down to reveal the band's backdrop, which was, uh, it was...a ghost-y fox head with, uh, some kind of shaft coming out of it, rising into, um, a ghost-y...grasshopper-flower? Or something?
Anyway, the band opened with "60 Feet Tall" and came out blazing. With the crowd nearly apoplectic with glee, Alison Mosshart writhed and snarled and whipped around like some hot zombie drunk on kerosene fumes, eliciting screams when she jumped onto the stage monitor and pointed menacingly at some lucky fans up front who, for all we know, fainted from the attention. Then Mosshart did the craziest rock-show backbend we've ever seen. If you had looked away for a second and missed the beginning of it, you might have thought she'd been cut in half by a laser, and just her legs had been left there, flexing at the knees to keep time.
The band, including an animated Jack Lawrence and multi-tasking Dean Fertita, proceeded to plow through their album's worth of material. Highlights included the lead single, "Hang You From the Heavens," the droning, trance-like "So Far From Your Weapon" and the White/Mosshart duet "Will There Be Enough Water," for which there was much wooing that coincided with Jack White's coming out from behind the drums, with his strapping on a guitar, with his opening his mouth, with his brushing his hair aside and, of course, with his taking a solo. As an eloquent young lady to our right exclaimed: "Jack Whiiiiiiiiite!!!"
There were times when the energy seemed to sag, and an air of bloozy sameyness had us thinking about our empty stomach. ("Cut Like a Buffalo," especially, came off a bit gimmicky, in a rap-rock kind of way.) But there was no denying the intensity in the room, and as we made our way out into the rainy night, we could still hear the occasional "Woo!" echo off the empty downtown buildings.
Comments (11)
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"There were times when the energy seemed to sag, and an air of bloozy sameyness..."
My thoughts exactly, I was really disappointed in the show. I'd had buyer's remorse beforehand as I bought the tickets before I had heard the album, thinking it would be a good show as I liked the Kills, Raconteurs, and White Stripes. The show certainly didn't change my mind. First 3 songs were okay, but went downhill after that.
Exceeded my expectations.
I got Hang You From The Heavens all on video. Event poster was sold out by the time I got there. I was pissed. Settled for a shirt instead.
And to the people in the back left. Please, shut the fuck up. I don't care if you know the whole song, I don't want to hear you sing it. I also don't want to hear you woohoo every time your vagina starts to itch. STFU or GTFO.
I'll weigh in... I thought the show was super great.
I love classic rock and roll.
check!
I love a carefully contrived spectacle.
check! they looked like virtual musicians from the game Rock Band, they were so rock and roll and all white Gretsches... and their crew even had costumes!
I love a fearless performance.
check, big time.
And I can confirm the Green Day guys were there. Do rock stars with bodyguards want us to say hello, or not? I was torn.
Hmm..where shall I begin? In my opinion, the Screaming Females were nothing to write home about as far as vocals. They sounded like a teen aged rock band trying to be a big deal. With that said however, the trio can definitely play their instruments extremely well. I think I would have liked them much more without the vocals or should I say screaming. The Dead Weather performance was stellar. VV ripped the mic like no other and worked the stage as always. Awesome show! I just don't think the audience gave enough props to Dean, VV, and Jack Lawrence as they are all from bands who are a big deal. It was a treat to see tre cool from greenday simply hanging out with us common folk.
I'm guessing the poster was either Rob Jones or A. Apparatus? Print Mafia used to rock the War Memorial and sometimes a Hatch print sneaks through.
The poster was a Hatch print. If you absolutely want one, go by Hatch (or call them) and they've probably held on to some to sell.
We ran into Tres Cool in the Oak Room at the Hermitage after the show. A bit of chit-chat about the show, which concluded with "I didn't know he was such a good drummer," referencing (WOO!) you-know-who.
Likable dude. Shorter than I expected, and jumpy...
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