The White Stripes Live in Berkeley(8/12/05)

I have been anxiously awaiting this concert since the moment I first hear about it a few months ago. I saw the White Stripes in Portland a couple years back-and it blew my mind. They were so good. Listening to their albums, you get a sense of how good a band they are because the songs they craft are so fantastic-but seeing them live is a completly different experience. They breathe new life into their songs, creating an experience that is completly different from listening to their albums. I've seen the Strokes twice now, and while they are good live, they don't veer too far from the album. But the White Stripes seem to take painstaiking measures to make their live show seperate from their albums. There is not a boring moment to be found at a White Stripes concert-they put total energy into the 80 minute set they have put together. And it was knowing this, that I eagerly awaited yesterday to come.

The last time I was at the Greek Theater was in high school, and it was to see Third Eye Blind. Yeah-they were decent, but the White Stripes edged them out as a better show. I got to the Greek around 7:15 or so and managed to get a great seat with a great view of the stage, and of the crowd, which I also like to have a good view of. The opening band was decent, but I didn't really pay much attention to them. At around 9 o'clock, the lights went down and Jack and Meg walked onto the stage. They opened with Blue Orchid-which is a great song. However, there were some sound issues, and this song sounded muddier than it should have. The vocals needed to be turned up, but I could watch the sound technician working hard to fix this, and in not much time, he did. After Blue Orchid, they tore into Black Math, which they opened with the first time I saw them. Black Math live is an experience, as they absolutely tear that song up. Now as usual, the setlist gets fuzzy around here-and I can't quite remember order-but I do remember songs. They did a few songs off their first album-playing When I Hear my Name, which is a favorite of mine from that album, as well as Astro, which also rocks. De Stijl was largely ignored at this concert, with Death Letter being the only song they played off of it-but they still did a fantastic job on that song. White Blood Cells had a good showing-with Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground(which, now that I think about it, probably followed Blue Orchid), Hotel Yorba, which is a great live song, and my favorite off of that album, Offend in Every Way. They repeated the second verse and omitted the third verse, but aside from that, they killed that song. They also played I Can Tell that We are Going to be Friends, which was shortly interruped when a balloon from a local radio station found its way on stage, finding itself face to face with an angry Jack White. He stopped the song, and said "What is this? A fucking radio promotion? What the fuck is this?" He then kicked back into the song from the start and upon finishing it, continued with this: "Now before we get blacklisted from the radio station for what I just said, I would like to request a written apology for interrupting my song." This was met with thunderous applause. I for one am glad it happened because it was a side of Jack White I hadn't seen. They hardly talked to the crowd at all the first time I saw them, so it was nice to hear it, even if it was more out of anger than anything else. Elephant had a good showing as well with Seven Nation Army(which I love what they do with that live), Black Math, I Just Don't Know What to do with Myself(which killed, they did a great jon with that) A great version of Ball and Biscuit which allows Jack to tear it up on the guitar for 7 minutes, which he does a great job doing. That man is fantastic at playing the guitar. And they of course did a rocking version of The Hardest Button to Button. And not to be outdone, Get Behind me Satan had a very strong showing as well, seeing as that it is the album they are touring in support of. Blue Orchid opeend the show. They played The Nurse-which was awesome, with Jack on a huge red and white xylophone, and Meg with a distorted guitar noise on an electric kit positioned near her standard kit. Everytime she hit it, it sounded so great. They also played My Doorbell, which I expected a lot more from, as it is one of my favorites on the album. It just didn't have the energy I was expecting it to have. They played Forever For Her, which was awesome. And they played a great version of Little Ghost, which Jack almost forgot some of the words to, but quickly saved himself. Meg also got a chance to shine on Passive Manipulation, which they played not once, but twice. And both times were great, with Meg pounding away on the red and white tymponies on the stage-which answered my question as to what exactly they were going to do with those. Her voice sounded great and as sexy as ever, although hearing her do Cold, Cold Night was sexier. One of the better songs of the evening was I'm Lonely(But I'm Not that Lonely Yet). It was the first song after the encore, and only Jack came out and played it on the piano and it was fantatsic. He put a lot of emotion into it. And to close the evening they played De Ballad of De Boll Weevil, which was a suitable closer. And he left the stage proclaiming his love for San Francisco since it was the first city in the US outside of Detroit to really embrace the White Stripes.

Overall this was a fantastic show and I will not hesistate to see them the next time they come around. They are one of the best bands in the whole world and their live show easily show why that is the case. They make it all look so easy while making it sound complex. They rock hard, possibly harder than any other band out there. Go see The White Stripes, you will not be disappointed.