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A Reported Outbreak of a Rare and, as yet Unidentified, Contagious Disease!

A Reported Outbreak of a Rare and, as yet Unidentified, Contagious Disease!

Last night at midnight in Central London, Jack White played a secret show in the basement of a disused office block, to fans clad entirely in powder blue medical gowns.

The event was a collaboration between Jack and the Punchdrunk Theatre Group who had temporarily transformed the space into the Vescovo & Co Clinic for contagious diseases, and had staffed this fake medical facility with dozens of their actors playing the roles of doctors, nurses and orderlies at the time of a disease outbreak.

Drawing on the themes of Jack White's current album, 'Lazaretto', a term used to describe a quarantine island, the experience began with an elaborate online treasure hunt. A spoof medical infomercial from 1949 appeared in the archives of online medical resource The Wellcome Trust, which contained various obtuse clues that led Jack's superfans to a website belonging to the fake medical company, Vescovo & Company. Thousands of fans submitted their details to this website as part of an online screening for a contagious disease. A lucky few progressed through the screening process that lead to them receiving a telephone call from Punchdrunk actors inviting them to an out-of-hours appointment at the Vescovo Clinic. The clinic had been created for this one occasion by Punchdrunk Theatre across multiple floors of a disused building owned by The Vinyl Factory.

On arrival, fans were asked to change in to blue medical gowns before being subjected to a variety of treatments testing in a maze of medical rooms staffed by Punchdrunk actors. Chaos descended as an outbreak alarm was raised and terrified fans were herded into a smoke filled quarantine chamber. Finally a screen was dropped to reveal Jack and band in full medical uniform who proceeded to belt out a thirty minute set before Jack himself succumbed to the mysterious disease. The rock star fell to the ground in a fit of convulsions before being strapped to a stretcher and wheeled off to a waiting ambulance.


Comments

Patti Hogan

oh yes please… the dvd for the next vault would be SOOOO awesome!!!

Jamza36

I sure hope the DVD is a bonus on an upcoming Vault package ,so so cool.

Terje

Ultra cool!!!! Wish I was there.

Mary

Jack !!! More impressive !!! You know how to surprise your fans and you’re a genius !!! Really amazing how you take the music to the people !!! I am filled with admiration !!!

Quizze

Oh mercy….

Jeffrey Baumiller

You guys are amazing in all that you do to create unique experiences!

athinkingcat

I just noticed the cufflinks nice touch details details details. Beautiful details!

ramsay

Amazing idea- so so so awesome. Thanks for the pics!

Goodtunes82

I don’t care that I wasn’t there and am not concerned with something like this happening in my area. I just supremely amazed and thrilled that my favorite artist goes through such intense planning to create an experience for fans. Not only does the music touch the soul but the whole fan experience is like no other. Thank you so much to Jack White and the TMR family for existing and making being a fan of music so fulfilling!

Osnat

This must have been so cool to see!

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