Jack White, Islington Assembly Hall, London review • DIY Magazine

Jack White is nothing if not a man who pays attention to detail, so that tonight’s show at a sub-1,000 capacity venue - announced just days prior as part of a series of similarly unpublicised shows - directly mirrors the way in which new album ‘No Name’ was released is entirely by design.

But what’s more pleasing – and arguably harder to fashion – is how his stage presence echoes it too. There’s minimal production: the lights vary only in their shade of blue and the band are all in black, the only nod to excess being the use of a disco ball and a leather jacket that’s given up on a few sweaty songs in.

Together, they make for a compelling show that’s as mesmerising as it is raucous. At one end, ‘Bombing Out’ is every bit the punk riot in real life as it is on record, while a cover of Robert Johnson’s ‘Kind Hearted Woman Blues’ reaches full ‘70s heavy metal blast. At the other, the hip-hop sermon of ‘Archbishop Harold Holmes’ is complemented by a series of spat one-liners on duplicitous politicians in a rhythm pulled directly from a preacher’s rule book, and is followed by a (mostly) tongue-in-cheek call for ‘Amen’. It’s a straightforward rock’n’roll show - albeit one with an intermission, as Jack and his band briefly leave around the mid-way point.

As the show continues, yet more clicks into place. Jack is mid-way through a typically erratic guitar solo when keys player Bobby Emmett begins to echo his same refrain on a loop, his action noticed and met with a quick nod before Jack turns and moves over for their movements to gradually converge into one. Where most of Jack’s collaborators have acted as foils – and at this point his rhythm section, longtime live bassist Dominic Davis and drummer Patrick Keeler (also of The Raconteurs), are suitably understated – here, he’s got somebody to match his freak.

Perhaps most telling – both of the evening and of the devil-may-care mood that seems to emanate from the ‘No Name’ release and rollout – is the choice to drop ‘Seven Nation Army’ in mid-set. The song is obviously met with a roar, and Jack goads the crowd into singing along to the riff from the off, before opting instead to close with The Raconteurs’ ‘Steady As She Goes’.

Jack may have earlier jested that this is "the kind of rock’n’roll you’re not gonna get at Wembley Stadium,” but in reality, these are the kinds of set list decisions that he probably couldn’t even make at Brixton Academy, let alone Wembley Arena; and therein lies his enduring appeal.

Tags: Jack White, Reviews, Live Reviews