Peppermint Twins Strike Back:

Ah yes the White Stipes, can I review the last night’s town hall action without mentioning the dreaded "R" word.

My reluctance to use Rock, Rocking, Rock ‘n’ Roll or any other derivative stems from the inane review in this morning’s Dominion ‘we’re still in touch with kids’ Post. Oh Jack you are so "uber-cool." Who talks like that?

Not only did their faithful drone do a 5-minute job on the review, but he name-dropped the now legendary ‘Bodega 2000’ White Stipes gig. Yes they played there, yes before they were famous blah blah blah blah. It was almost forgivable, but not in the first sentence? What a spanner.

For me I didn’t know which version of the White Stripes was gonna turn up, (like the way you never know which Hurricanes team will play). Were we in for the demented all out garage attack or the more playful yet sinister side of the stipes?

Obviously in their repertoire there is room enough for both personas, but the overriding feel for the evening saw an emphasis on the subtle sinister tones. This was helped but the lighting of soft reds and yellows which gave off a light, hazy, and somewhat menacing effect.

The usual rapturous cheers greeted them as the sauntered on stage sporting haircuts that can only described as the ‘post-shagged look’.

They jumped into Black Math first-up and Jack had the crowd watching intently (as opposed to moshing up a storm), while he moved between 3 microphones strategically placed at various points around the stage. The applause was huge as they rattled off song after song in true White Stripes fashion *power chords, lead breaks, snares and howls, minimalistic yet pounding, pounding drums*

Jack thankfully never played the ‘I love you Wellington’ game. He introduced himself and his "sister" and got on with the job. I didn’t realise he had such a yank drawl, glad he doesn’t sing like it : )

The no chit-chat approach worked in well with overall feel of the set and kept their mystique alive.

Of the whole sister-brother thing?

I think watching them interact live killed any legitimacy that concept had. Trust me, if I danced with my sister like that, let’s just say the courts would not be likely to look favourably on it.

What makes a set extremely special is when bands change the rules. They played ‘fell in love the girl’ not at its usual break-neck speed but at a wry almost swing beat pace. The cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene was sincere and made us think about what the world would’ve been like for Darcy Clay had he been from Detroit. I am pretty sure there was another cover in there, I didn’t recognise it, but the singing was really 60’s-ish and it ruled. The playful guitar-drum grooves thrown in here and there got the crowd moving in unison.

There was also a good splattering of stuff of De Stijl (second album), which would of appeased long-time fans. It was disappointing when the crowd couldn’t sing back ‘You’re pretty good looking for a girl……..’ but they did respond to the guitar acrobatics of Hello Operator really well. Oh well win some, lose some.
Ultimately though the songs off Elephant were the ones that hit the collective crowd ‘G-spot’. And why not, you’d have to be made of stone not to go nuts to an encore performance of Seven Nation Army *dum dun dun din dunnnnnnn*

Was it worth 80 bucks is the big question.

A good mix of mellow and upbeat, the sound was crisp as you’d expect, and the performance pretty captivating. They mixed the set up a bit too and it left me with the impression that they weren’t putting on a paint by numbers performance. I’m sure someone in Auckland could easily correct me. The point is it felt pretty genuine.

RCOK ON : )

[ http://www.pierced.co.nz ]