White Stripes Strike Prague

I've seen their faces and read their names more often than I've heard the music. Jack and Meg White. The White Stripes.

They're fun to write about because you can easily differentiate them from other bands.

They're the brother and sister rock duo that aren't really brother and sister, but ex-husband and wife.

They're also the band that takes only 29 hours to record an album and not eleven years like the last Axl Rose release.

They're the band that makes all their instruments from scratch in an abandoned auto parts warehouse in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Jack's the one with the tattoo of the Virgin Mary eating a Coney dog. Meg's the one with a the tattoo of Tramp (from Disney's Lady and the Tramp) making love to the bluebird of happiness (Rolling Stone, December 2003).

Like the many rock journalists who adore The White Stripes, I could go on and on about them and their lives. But what's more important? The music, right?

Though I haven't kept up with the White Stripes during their meteoric rise to international fame, I did first hear them years ago when I used to live in the Detroit area. At the time they were called The Ex-Eunuchs. Jack was still going by the name John Gillis and he and Meg White were just second cousins at the time.

The show was at Benchwarmers Bar & Grill. Jack was playing a guitar that he had made which looked like it weighed 120 pounds. The main body was made from an old Edsel Fender and the strings were held in place my rotating spark plugs. Meg's gear consisted of oil drums that had been canvassed over, headlights on music stands and the front grill of an old Cadillac Fleetwood.
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They were doing entirely covers, a lot of old R&B, also some upbeat songs like Bang-Shang-a-Lang (an Archies song from the 60's), some Brian Hyland pop classics and some stripped down, grunged up versions of Falco's Der Kommissar and Hinter uns die Sintflut.

Despite the one dollar a glass beer special that night, The Ex-Eunuchs only managed to draw a crowds of 30 or 40 people, most of them fellow Hamtramck rock musicians and some of the regulars who worked at A & E Autobody across the street.

Which brings me to last night's concert at the Archa Theatre in Prague. True to their DIY austere ethos, there was no amazing light show. There were no gospel choir. No dancers in tight shorts. Not even a cello. There was just Jack and Meg and a half a dozen spectacular costume changes, ranging from mariachi suits to Napoleonic battle uniforms to Maoist rebel fatigues to the obligatory 70’s glam-wear.

The international crowd of Europeans and Americans had high expectations for this show, which came at the high (for Prague) ticket price of 950 Czech krona (38 USD). Fortunately, being a blog star has its advantages and I was able to get free tickets from the Archa management team (Thanks Jiri and Petra!!!).

Those who’d come to hear Seven Nation Army, Jolene and Mama’s Boy were not disappointed. Those who’d come to hear Bang-Shang-a-Lang were probably a bit miffed over how much Jack and Meg have have distanced themselves from their Detroit roots. But there were few of us.