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Made In Detroit: The White Stripes Final Hometown Shows
Earlier this month, the White Stripes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During Jack’s acceptance speech he included a heartfelt story that he had written for the occasion. An allegory about a brother and sister, who created something in the Motor City, and put on a show, parading it through the Cass Corridor. In honor of the band's induction, for this month’s Third Man Thursday, here are the final shows that the White Stripes ever performed in their hometown, live at the Masonic Temple in Detroit.
Unlike so many bands who quickly move away in order to be closer to the music industry, or to join an emerging scene in another city, the White Stripes stayed put – they were all Detroit, through and through. When they started out, the house they lived in at 1203 Ferdinand Street was just 3 miles from the Cass Corridor, the neighborhood where both The Gold Dollar, where they played their first ever show, and The Masonic Temple were located. There were even deeper connections there, as Jack’s mother had been an usher at the Masonic, and Jack had performed there as a member of the choir at his high school, which was located just across the street.
Since forming in 1997, the band had come a long way in 8 years, from the early shows at the Gold Dollar, to the Magic Bag and Magic Stick, to the performance at the Detroit Institute of Arts, to a two night stand at the Royal Oak Theatre, a headlining performance at Chene Park, and of course their first visits to the Masonic on the Elephant tour. It was a long road, with each achievement bigger than the last, proof of just how far they were able to go, all while staying in their hometown. Given their success, and the strong connection they had maintained with the city along the way, the story is practically Arthurian, where in many ways the band and the land were indeed one.
These final shows at the Masonic Temple were the last dates on the US leg of the Get Behind Me Satan tour. Unlike previous years, where Detroit was
The first night plays as a proper homecoming, complete with Jack recognizing classmates and friends in the audience throughout the show, while making inside jokes about everything from the significance of where they were playing ("South of Taylor, North of Birmingham!") and even the city’s embattled mayor. Night two, and the energy is a level up, with the band going deeper into the catalog with a set fit for the local crowd, including a whopping 12 song encore. By night three, the homecoming atmosphere gives way to an inspired and focused performance which plays out like one long continuous medley, featuring unique improvisations and covers, making sure they get all the songs out before they’re done. The final night held additional significance, as the openers included The Greenhornes, who had played shows with the band going all the way back to 1999, and The Muldoons, a newly-formed band featuring Jack’s former upholstery mentor Brian Muldoon and his sons Shane and Hunter, a full circle moment and a symbolic introduction of a new generation into the fold.
Not long after these final shows in Detroit, Jack would move away from the city. Newly married, having recently turned 30, and with a baby on the way, he had been vocal in the press about the challenges that had come with continuing to stay in the town that he grew up in. As he would tell the audience at the end of "Boll Weevil" on the final night, “I’ve been here for 30 years and 3 days, and it’s time to move on!”. Making good on that statement, he would soon purchase a house in Nashville, Tennessee – a migration practically foretold by the making of Get Behind Me Satan - which had been recorded in Jack’s house in Detroit, but was mixed in Tennessee at Ardent Studios in Memphis. While the White Stripes would of course continue on, with the Icky Thump era still to come, they would not make it back to the city. Jack would eventually return as a member of The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and as a solo artist, but these would be the final shows that he and Meg would ever play together in Detroit. One final parade through the Cass Corridor.
9/30/05 Detroit
Masonic Temple Theatre
Even though they had been on the road for nearly 5 months, energized by their travels to so many new places, there really is no place like home. Brimming with energy from the start, the band’s return to the Masonic Temple Theatre delivers in all the ways a homecoming should. Unlike the first performances in 2003, where it was enough of a milestone that they had made it to the venue at all, the 2005 return demonstrates that this was where they deserved to be. If they didn’t belong there, nobody did. As with all three nights, the show includes a setlist that goes all the way back to the first album through to the new songs. Instead of the standard band introduction, Jack addresses Meg instead “Well, where are we tonight Meg? North of Taylor, South of Birmingham!” The familiarity extends to the crowd, as he recognizes members of the audience throughout the show. This show is a perfect start to the run, kicking off their final ever shows in Detroit. "Black Math" features an energetic stop/start section after the guitar solo, and listen for the off-mic delivery of Blind Willie Johnson’s "Lord, I Just Can’t Keep From Crying" before "Death Letter." There are also some confessional moments in the show, as if confiding to the audience of friends and family, with Jack ad-libbing “Good lord, what have I done!” during "Cannon", followed by a version of "The Big Three Killed My Baby" featuring the lines “It was good when it started girl, and it was good when it started boy, it was good while it lasted now…it was good when it came to me”. But no doubt it’s the warmth that shines through on this opening night, with Jack guiding the clapping crowd before "The Hardest Button to Button" with instructions of “A little slower, like this…boom, boom, boom”, and asking them during "Red Rain", “Hey, you don’t mind if I play a little bit longer in this encore, do you? I got nowhere to go!”. "Seven Nation Army" features an adlib of “I’m going to Saginaw!”, and during "Boll Weevil" he gets everyone to join in by saying “I want everybody in this room, from the back of the balcony to the right in front of me...brother, sister, coworker, former grade school classmate....I mean, I expect all of you to sing, because I know half of you!”, before closing the show with a farewell of “See you tomorrow!”.
10/1/05 Detroit
Masonic Temple Theatre
Following the warmth and enthusiasm of the first night, the second night ups the energy, with the band delivering yet another career spanning set. After the opening of "Let’s Shake Hands", "Blue Orchid" is followed by the Stripes’ cover of Captain Beefheart’s "The Party Of Special Things To Do", an updated version featuring the POG effect. There is a brief pause during the opening chords in "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground", as Jack lets the guitar feedback ring out before excitedly asking the crowd “How you doing?!” and answering “Me too! Me too!”. The setlist is packed, with the band jumping between songs from each album, ensuring that each performance of the run gets something different. "Ball and Biscuit" features quotes from both "Smokestack Lightning" and "Cool Drink of Water Blues", with Jack ending the song with a wail of feedback before adding a reprise of the main riff and jokingly calling out “Harold, Harold, there’s something wrong with this guitar!”. This gets followed by "St James Infirmary", the first song they ever played at the open mic at the Gold Dollar, here played on the piano complete with the “Oh, Koko” introduction. A callback to a time over 8 years ago, and like so many other songs in the set, somehow not aged a day. Where the first night featured a performance of "Death Letter", here the crowd get a performance of "Little Bird", and an especially rare appearance of "Stones In My Passway." You can hear Jack using Meg’s kick drum while he plays the guitar during "In the Cold Cold Night", before a flawless version of "The Same Boy You’ve Always Known." A brief version of "Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine" sets up a reprise cycle of "Cannon", "Passive Manipulation", and "I Think I Smell A Rat", before the main set closes with another driving version of "The Hardest Button To Button." A stunning 12 song encore follows, a literal mixtape of songs across all five albums, practically a standalone concert in its own right. With the audience right there with them the whole way, listen as they take over the verses during "I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself", before Jack gets in one last burst of energy with a rare placement of "Hotel Yorba" before closing out with "Boll Weevil."
10/2/05 Detroit
Masonic Temple Theatre
With Jack setting the tone at this final show at the Masonic with the comments “From where I’m standing now, a block away from here I went to high school, and a block in the other direction, Meg and I played our first show”, there’s an almost formal setup to this concert, their final ever performance in their hometown. As if compelled to extract every last drop of inspiration and get out every last note of music before closing out the run, the show features many wonderful embellishments throughout the songs in the set. From the seamless openers, to the inclusion of a quote from George M Cohan’s "Harrigan", to the improvised version of "John the Revelator" in "Cannon", and a unique slow-grind version of "Astro." Even the first attempt at "Ball and Biscuit" somehow gets converted into a mini-jam with the out-of-tune guitar, before "My Doorbell" picks up the baton and keeps things moving fluidly. With the bulk of the show played on the electric guitar, as if returning to their original state as a band, the placement of "As Ugly As I Seem" and "Little Ghost" (which features a quote from "Blue Moon of Kentucky") provide just enough balance in the set. The performance of "Do", with its self-reflection and lines about idols that fade away, never felt more appropriate. This show also features a blistering impromptu jam,
Thanks Ben!
Brilliant write-up as usual.