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Real name John Anthony Gillis was born in Detroit, Michigan and is the youngest of ten siblings. His earliest musical influences came from his brothers and he began playing drums at the age of sixteen after finding an old discarded kit in his attic. He began listening to iconic artists such as The Doors and Led Zepplin at an incredibly young age before finding a love of blues and 1960s rock in his teenage years which would go on to inspire the sounds for The White Stripes. He met future collaborator and wife Megan White in a restaurant that she worked in when he was a senior at college, they began a courtship and quickly married.
Whilst finding his way in the music world, Jack was running an upholstery company called 'Your Furniture isn't Dead' during the day and moonlighting in local bands in the evenings to gain live experience and debut some of his solo material. It was only by chance that White began to play the drums yet after the couple branded themselves The White Stripes they scored their first live gig just two months later.
The pair publicly presented themselves as a brother/sister duo and kept a monochromatic theme whilst performing live, only wearing white, black and red. Jack enjoyed huge successes with the White Stripes, winning a handful of Grammy awards, critical acclaim for their revolutionary sounds and numerous sell out worldwide tours along with a prestigious headline slot at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival. In 2011 the band announced they would be splitting "mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band". Due to the successes of his work with White Stripes, Jack White had the chance to collaborate with many esteemed artists on his debut 'Blunderbuss' which was a huge success worldwide charting atop UK and US album charts and performed all over the world with his promotional campaign.
Still working on experimental blues rock, his 2014 LP 'Lazaretto' was another huge success and was applauded by critics for the intelligent minimalist style that has been consistent through his career. Jack White is an eccentric, mysterious artist who has kept the music at the heart of everything he has done.
Jack White is sure to melt your face off with his his thrashing guitar and raw energy on stage. My heart always feels like it's going to explode in a Jack White mosh pit.....and trust me, it's in a good way.
Although Jack toured with two entirely different bands on his last tour, one made up of all females (the Peacocks), and one made up of all males (the Buzzards), his tour this summer is a collaboration of the two (along with some new faces).
Jack likes to keep it real on stage by not dedicating himself to any particular setlist, but instead calling out which song to play next on a whim. This keeps things fresh as neither him nor his band know what song is coming next until it is time to play it (although there does seem to be a rotating list of songs you can count on hearing!).
One of the other things I really love about seeing Jack live is his interplay with the crowd. I like how chatty he is with the crowd, and he doesn't just run down the same old spiel every time. Jack's level of energy is always matched by the crowd, so if the crowd is amped, he will rock the roof off.
Songs you can (probably) count on hearing: --"Steady as she goes" by The Raconteurs, --"Top Yourself" by The Dead Weather --"I Can Tell That We Are Going To Be Friends" by The White Stripes, --"Hotel Yorba" by The White Stripes, and you can definitely count on hearing --"Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes as the encore finale.
The best part about seeing Jack again and again is that Jack and his band play all of your favorite White Stripes, Dead Weather, Raconteurs, and his solo work a little differently every time. Some other interesting things to note about his current tour: --Theremin solos!! (Get ready to have your mind blown) --Jack has been playing some covers, which is something I have not really known him to do in the past. So far, he has played songs by Metallica ("Enter Sandman"), The Police ("Message in a Bottle"), Talking Heads ("Psycho Killer"), Bob Dylan ("Isis"), and even Kanye West ("Black Skinhead"). Jack makes it his mission that fans that come to his shows will not be getting the same thing every time, so do yourself a favor, and find a Jack White tour date near you!