“It’s Blue Rocks tonight, people!” Jack White has an affection for colors. With White Stripes it was the color red, but ever since he parted ways with Meg, it has been blue. The artwork (and tour) for Blunderbuss found White dressed all in black with blue tinted skin, set against a blue background. Lazaretto continued the same theme, with White in a blue suit, surround by blue angels. The guy can pretty much do anything he wants these days, so it was no surprise when he took it upon himself to rename the iconic venue in Morrison. He also banned cameras (including phones) from his performance. But one thing even Jack White cannot control is the weather. As the ‘so close you can touch ’em’ storm clouds unleashed torrential rain from above, the wind took hold and attacked the stage with a vengeance. Summer in Colorado brings weather that refuses to be pacified, so the instrumental “High Ball Stepper” did nothing but agitate the already violent sky. Jack White and his band refused to go down without a fight though. They answered the lightning storm with “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” while the stage hands were resolute in their impossible task of clearing water from the stage. It was one of those nights when I was sure the venue would be evacuated, but as the muddy water continued to test the storm drains, the band kept on.

After Curtis Harding’s inspired throwback soul set, we were asked to refrain from the use of cell phones during the show. This is a common request these days, but this one came with a twist. Professional photographers were hired to capture the show and the photos would be made available for public use the next day. I think this was a genius idea. A lot of people want photographic mementos, so providing us with those photos, without the work of having to capture them, allowed us to enjoy the show without distracting ourselves and those around us. I’m not sure if it was the promise of public access to the professional prints, or if it was the constant rain, but there were very few screens to be seen during the performance.

One thing I love about seeing Jack White perform at Red Rocks is the lack of stage props. Apart from an old television set, and the neon III, he uses the natural backdrop that is so unique to the venue. Bathing it in blue light did nothing to take away from its beauty. Jack White is an incredible musician, and he surrounds himself with incredible musicians, so by employing simple props and lighting (and banning the use of cell phones and cameras), he succeeds in letting the music be the primary focus of the evening. He might have a large ego, but he didn’t even let himself get in the way of the show. Stage banter was nonexistent — every word that comes out of his mouth was unique to what was happening in the moment. So when he bent over and took off his shoes, it was because he thought he could navigate the wet stage better barefoot. When he slipped and fell, he got right back up again. And when he advised us to “open your mouth and take a big sip” before “Just One Drink”, he was acknowledging that while we couldn’t control the weather, we could revel in it. When his guitar malfunctioned (probably because it was soaked), he made light of it with a play on words — “guitar jacked up…get one that isn’t jacked up…so we can play this song sung by Jack..not jacked up”. A lot of artists would have called it a night at that point, but White informed us that he wasn’t going to stop until they forced him to. Luckily, that never happened.

“Hotel Yorba”, a song “that bought us a lot of beans”, led to a few selections from his solo albums, before taking us back to the early Stripes days with “I Fought Piranhas” and “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known”. The former of which was edited to include the line “and I fought the rain and cold”, to which 9,000 people went crazy! His energy was so infectious that the weather hardly seemed to matter anymore. I am not even a huge Jack White fan, but watching someone power through the elements like he did, and to sound so fucking good doing it, I could only imagine how ecstatic the true fans in the crowd were. Despite some of the worst conditions I had seen at Red Rocks this season, by the time he was playing his guitar while hanging upside down on the railing during “Ball and Biscuit”, I knew I would be safe in calling it the show of the year (so far). Everything about his playing style, song selection and energy were just undeniably the best in the business. Jack White is a true rock star in every sense of the term. 

As if to reward us to sticking it out, the sky cleared up and exposed the stars just before the encore. White and his band had rewards in store as well. Just like last time he played the Rocks, we were in for a seven song encore. Things kicked off with “Icky Tump”, which bled into a cover of Dick Dale’s “Misirlou”, before a few more tracks from Lazaretto. “Steady, As She Goes” was the second Raconteurs selection of the night and Jack requested a sing-along for that one, and while most people complied, White didn’t blame those who didn’t — “I grew up with nine brothers and sisters, you can’t hurt my feelings”. “Suzy Lee” brought things back to the very beginning, before “Seven Nation Army” brought things to the end — with White hoisting his guitar in the air while making a victory lap around the stage.

Jack White is a unique individual. People love or hate him, but not many really know him. I can’t claim to know him any more than anyone else, but I do know one thing…the guy literally risked his life on that stage on Wednesday night. He was standing in a pool of water, holding an electric guitar, while lightning cracked the sky open. He didn’t have to do it, but he did. He knew we were dealing with the same conditions, so he gave us the show of the summer. “God bless Colorado” were his last words before making his way through those famous tunnels under the Rocks, and as I drove home, soaking wet and with the heat on for the first time all summer, I decided that I agreed with him. God bless this place…fucked up weather and all.

Curtis Harding:
Soul Power
Drive My Car
Surf
Next Time
Castaway
Beautiful People
The Drive
Keep On Shining

Jack White:
High Ball Stepper
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Just One Drink
Hotel Yorba
Temporary Ground
Weep Themselves to Sleep
I Fought Piranhas
The Same Boy You’ve Always Known
Top Yourself
Three Women
Blunderbuss
We’re Going to Be Friends
Alone in My Home
I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman / Screwdriver
Ball and Biscuit

Icky Thump
Misirlou
Lazaretto
Would You Fight for My Love?
Steady, As She Goes
Suzy Lee
Seven Nation Army