The Raconteurs

The Raconteurs, as you will all know, are the brainchild of mates Jack White and Brendan Benson who up until this point were poles apart career wise. White was the Glastonbury-headlining, Coke-advert-writing and marrying-supermodels-in-the-Amazon-jungle genius behind the massive White Stripes whilst Benson was a purveyor of fine pop songs, but obscurely so as the public largely ignored them. So, you might expect this to be White’s baby, but it’s Benson who’s doing all the talking, however infrequent.

As always, the first thing you look for when you enter the building are the stage times, so you know exactly when to vacate the bar. This causes something of a double take as The Raconteurs are down to play from 9:15 to 10:50 – quite extraordinary considering their album barely clocks in at 35 minutes! As it happens they actually play for 1 hour 10 minutes, not as advertised but still double the album length.



How that extra time is made up is down to some extraordinary guitar solo work from White. With the Stripes coming somewhere from the leftfield it leaves little time for him to ‘spank his plank’ (so to speak) and he relishes the opportunity to indulge in some instrument noodlement. This is most apparent on the stunning cover of Nancy Sinatra’s ‘Bang Bang’ which he attacks with a rattlesnake’s venom, depositing the Audio Bullys into the dustbin of history as he goes about it – this is the version that if you’ve heard it, you’ll always remember first.

Benson’s touch is more subtle and the pair’s songs are easily discernable from each others. On ‘Hands’ in particular Benson’s panache shines through with its joyous Revolver-esque melody and arrangement. ‘Yellow Sun’ is also a pop treat, even when White extends it by 2 or 3 minutes to glue another solo on its finale.

White is like a man on parole doomed to re-offend, determined to enjoy himself to the full before he is forced back to the daily routine. Even in the first song of the night, ‘Level’ it is barely a minute in before he is playing back to back with his friend, jumping up and down and mounting the drum platform. He’s absolutely loving his freedom to play as he likes and indeed to wear what he likes – just simple blue jeans and checked shirt this evening.



Aside from the album tracks, all present and correct and all extended for White’s fun, there is a jaw-dropping cover of ‘I Like The Christian Life’, which is distinctly unexpected given it’s Country flavour. You get the feeling they are testing the crowd with this Americana, seeing exactly what they can get away with, and succeeding – it sounds superb.

We’ve been promised that The Raconteurs are more than just a side project – they are a band built to last. Let’s hope so, because as they depart from the stage with White thanking Manchester and Oldham (the home town of Mrs White) you want some more…not just until 10:50 tonight, but to 2007 and beyond.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.