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INTRODUCING VAULT PACKAGE #58: THE WHITE STRIPES - LIVE IN LAS VEGAS

INTRODUCING VAULT PACKAGE #58: THE WHITE STRIPES - LIVE IN LAS VEGAS

September 2003 was a moment of transition. Not two months prior, the entire existence of the White Stripes was nervously put on hold as Jack White recovered (quickly) from a car crash broken finger, the effects of which had the potential to be catastrophic. Ultimately it only briefly inhibited him from playing the D minor chord on guitar.

Once back into the swing of things, with the profile of the band continuing to rise in the wake of Elephant’s release, the shows started to take on a life of their own. Whereas the performances had always been compelling and engaging, this return to stage found the band measurably more ferocious. The unplanned respite, however fleeting, was just the right timing to give Jack and Meg perspective, catch their breaths, and hit back like a fucking rocket.

In the midst of the run of shows in September 2003, a promotional idea was cooked up by the team at V2 Records – 40 or so fans would be flown out to the White Stripes show at the Joint (at the Hard Rock Casino) in Las Vegas, get a meet-and-greet with the band, and then some time afterward be presented with a vinyl pressing of that evening’s show.

The original pressing is sparse to say the least. With no printed artwork, tracklisting or even credits “The White Stripes Live In Las Vegas” rubber-stamped on the labels is the only true identifier on this record. A dip through the original paperwork shows only 100 copies were ever pressed, all at United Record Pressing in Nashville.

In celebration of twenty years since the performance, the 58th Vault package from Third Man Records is the first-ever commercially available pressing of the White Stripes triple LP Live In Las Vegas.

Consider this snapshot of the night…Josh Hartnett, Steve Mcdonald, Darryl Hannah, Scott Caan and Josh Klinghoffer were all there, not necessarily together or gambling. Soledad Brothers and Whirlwind Heat tore it up as the opening bands, and the Stripes’ set itself was spectacular. The unpredictable moments electrify…an off-the-cuff take of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” to a mid-set abandonment of “Offend In Every Way” because of its reliance upon the D minor chord and an opportune tease of “Mary Had A Little Lamb” imbue the evening with spontaneous joy. Songs from Elephant had taken shape as muscled, taut beasts of energy as

the blasting jolt of pure rock and roll lava via “The Hardest Button To Button” testifies. All these factors make this night stick out as measurably better than the rest.

We’ve gone back to the original multitracks for a complete remixing and remastering done by the trusted and exacting Bill Skibbe at Third Man Mastering in Nashville. These discs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man Pressing in Detroit, in the unmistakable red, white and black colorways we know and love from the Stripes.

All of this is appropriately housed in the unmistakably captivating artwork by Grammy Award-winning designer, Rob Jones. For more than two decades, Rob’s artwork has been synonymous with The White Stripes, starting with concert posters progressing on to merchandise and eventually, album art. As a celebration of 20-plus years of working together, this package brings together elements from ALL those fields, with his stunning album cover pairing exquisitely with his reimagined silk-screened prints and the eye-catching bumper sticker and patch.

While that is all more than enough to justify a purchase, in the spirit of overdoing things, we’ve cooked up a complimentary over-the-top 7-inch single included here.

On March 17th, 2004, with nary a warning, Bob Dylan brought out Jack White for a live rendition of “Ball And Biscuit” at the State Theater in Detroit, to date one of maybe two songs Dylan has covered from this century. The special moment has long been available via audience-sourced bootleg audio, but Third Man, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, went back to the original multitrack recording and put together an impressive fresh mix of the audio, again done by Bill Skibbe.

The flipside to the single is the first-ever live performance of “Ball And Biscuit”, by the White Stripes, from May 2nd, 2002 at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London. Recorded in the middle of the two week stint the band was tracking Elephant just down the road at Toe Rag Studio in Hackney, this embryonic outing serves as a poignant reminder of just how far the band and the song had traveled, literally and metaphorically, in just twenty-two months.

Pressed on glittery red vinyl with artwork by the estimable Chris Everhart, the whole shebang is pretty to hold and pleasing to hear. What more could you ask for?

Order by midnight central time October 31st at www.thirdmanrecords.com to secure your copy of this impressive and important addition to the White Stripes story.

The White Stripes
Live In Las Vegas

3 x 180-gram colored vinyl LPs

Tracklist:

1. Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground
2. When I Hear My Name
3. Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly)
4. St. James Infirmary Blues (traditional)
5. Black Math
6. The Big Three Killed My Baby
7. I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother’s Heart
8. Death Letter (Son House)
9. Take A Whiff On Me (traditional)
10. In The Cold, Cold Night
11. Wasting My Time
12. I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself (Burt Bacharach / Hal David)
13. Offend In Every Way (incomplete)
14. The Union Forever
15. Seven Nation Army
16. You’ve Got Her In Your Pocket
17. I Think I Smell A Rat
18. Look Me Over Closely (Terry Gilkyson / Marelene Dietrich)
19. Cannon
20. Mary Had A Little Lamb (traditional)
21. Cannon (reprise)
22. Ball And Biscuit
23. The Hardest Button To Button
24. You’re Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)
25. Hello Operator
26. We’re Going To Be Friends
27. Hotel Yorba
28. Fell In Love With A Girl
29. Your Southern Can Is Mine (Blind Willie McTell)
30. Screwdriver
31. Boll Weevil (Leadbelly)

 

7-inch single:

1. Ball And Biscuit (live March 17th, 2004) - Bob Dylan & Jack White
2. Ball And Biscuit (live May 2nd, 2002) - The White Stripes

Comments

Kent S.
I remember when I was a boy and pa and gramps loaded all us kids in the old jalopy and headed to Vegas to try and win some money to pay the evil bankers the back mortgage payments on grandma and grandpas rundown shack. Ma and Grammy stayed back home and did anything they could think of to try and raise some greenbacks. They made little stick figures from the fallen branches from the half dead silver maple in the backyard. They made little horses and little people out of sticks hoping someone, anyone might buy one. They never did, but I didn’t mind cuz they would show up under the Christmas tree for me and the other children. They were so neat. They also baked some apple pies to sell along side the stick figures. They didn’t sell many and they weren’t very good on account of we didn’t have any apples. Meanwhile in Vegas, we ended up at The Golden Nugget and with the small sack of coins we took from under grandmas mattress we began to feed them into various slot machines. To our surprise we actually won several jackpots and before we knew it we had close to two thousand dollars. That was more than enough to keep them banker bastards off our back for a couple of months. We were pretty tired and hungry so we drove up the road a spell, deeper into Vegas. We stopped at a 7-11 and granmpa bought chili dogs for all of us children. You know the ones that are all shriveled and leathery from rolling on the hot dog warmer all day. We didn’t mind though, cuz those chili dogs tasted like just about the best meal any of us had ever eaten, we were so hungry. I managed to take a few extra mustard and relish packets and kept them in my coat pocket. Now with our bellies full we all gatherered to head back home. When we walked out of the 7-11 we could hear this loud rock music coming from down the street. It sounded like Mary Had a Little Lamb so pa said “Hell, let’s take the kids down there a spell before we hurry off so fast. “ Lo and behold it was the White Stripes playing they’re guitars and drums for a whole crowd of people. We listened to a song or two and then headed back to ma and grandma back home. That always stuck with me and I look back with fondness on the time spent listening to the rock music of the White Stripes on the sidewalk with most of my family. We finally did make it back home. It was real late in the night so we just went to sleep, and in the morning when grandma awoke to make breakfast for us all I could hear her joyfully exclaim “My Word!?” When she found them mustard and relish packets I left for her in the fridge she was as happy as a jay bird. We ate real good that morning.

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Kent S.
I remember when I was a boy and pa and gramps loaded all us kids in the old jalopy and headed to Vegas to try and win some money to pay the evil bankers the back mortgage payments on grandma and grandpas rundown shack. Ma and Grammy stayed back home and did anything they could think of to try and raise some greenbacks. They made little stick figures from the fallen branches from the half dead silver maple in the backyard. They made little horses and little people out of sticks hoping someone, anyone might buy one. They never did, but I didn’t mind cuz they would show up under the Christmas tree for me and the other children. They were so neat. They also baked some apple pies to sell along side the stick figures. They didn’t sell many and they weren’t very good on account of we didn’t have any apples. Meanwhile in Vegas, we ended up at The Golden Nugget and with the small sack of coins we took from under grandmas mattress we began to feed them into various slot machines. To our surprise we actually won several jackpots and before we knew it we had close to two thousand dollars. That was more than enough to keep them banker bastards off our back for a couple of months. We were pretty tired and hungry so we drove up the road a spell, deeper into Vegas. We stopped at a 7-11 and granmpa bought chili dogs for all of us children. You know the ones that are all shriveled and leathery from rolling on the hot dog warmer all day. We didn’t mind though, cuz those chili dogs tasted like just about the best meal any of us had ever eaten, we were so hungry. I managed to take a few extra mustard and relish packets and kept them in my coat pocket. Now with our bellies full we all gatherered to head back home. When we walked out of the 7-11 we could hear this loud rock music coming from down the street. It sounded like Mary Had a Little Lamb so pa said “Hell, let’s take the kids down there a spell before we hurry off so fast. “ Lo and behold it was the White Stripes playing they’re guitars and drums for a whole crowd of people. We listened to a song or two and then headed back to ma and grandma back home. That always stuck with me and I look back with fondness on the time spent listening to the rock music of the White Stripes on the sidewalk with most of my family. We finally did make it back home. It was real late in the night so we just went to sleep, and in the morning when grandma awoke to make breakfast for us all I could hear her joyfully exclaim “My Word!?” When she found them mustard and relish packets I left for her in the fridge she was as happy as a jay bird. We ate real good that morning.

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Tiffani A.

Woohooo! This was a fantastic show that my then boyfriend, now hubs, surprised me with. I knew he was a keeper when I saw the billboard pulling into Las Vegas. What a night and weekend.

Collin W.

Did Jerry Garcia sit in on this NFA?

Alfonso G.

This is so awesome! Can’t wait!

STEVEN U.

So excited about – VAULT PACKAGE #58: THE WHITE STRIPES – LIVE IN LAS VEGAS. I was there and it was an amazing concert. Can’t wait to re-live that event at home. Only issue will be my clothes will not be pulsating and moving on my body from the speakers’ sound waves; that was so Kool to feel the magic from Jack and Meg.

Dakota N.

I’d say this is why I’ve subscribed to the Vault: to get rare or exclusive recordings I wouldn’t be able to get a chance to listen to anywhere else. Live recordings especially are so special to me. They capture a moment in time a lot better than studio recordings. The spontaneity, the energy, and the impulsiveness all make the music so much better.

Stephanie L.

Speechless just like in flint last year…thaNk You!

Sky R.

I remember finding that audience bootleg recording of Bob and Jack playing Ball and Biscuit together and feeling like I found an artifact from an alternate reality. It’s not lost on me how insane it is that the soundboard recording of that is being pressed onto vinyl. That single alone is worth $75 in my eyes.
Dylan doesn’t invite people on stage to play his shows with him much less to play a song THEY wrote. If I remember correctly Jack was in attendance and asked on stage spur of the moment. Many music legends have been in attendance at Bob Dylan shows and this doesn’t happen.

Marshall R.

Yes!!! This one will go swell with the “Live from Detroit”! I don’t know who picks these packages but you rule. Thanks everyone for making my day…………….

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