Thighs Wide Shut

Jack White
Roseland Ballroom
May 21st

Gone is Meg and her boobs, so are the good, but not that crazy good side project band pals (Raconteurs, Dead Weather, whatever that Rome thing was).  What remains is rock n roll’s savior, Jack White, who’s looking more and more like Robert Smith these days, but still sounding a lot like a junior Robert Plant.  Jack never really needed anybody.  He’s a enuff of a musician to equal the talent of 1,00000,9022002,29 musicians.  It’s true.  Now he’s fully at the center of attention, and anyone who pays attention to whatever Jack White does (which should be everyone), is paying attention to how super duper his first official solo album Blunderbuss is be.  It’s basically a White Stripes album, with less of an edge, but with a fuller sound, and that also describes what one of his current concerts is like.  Somehow we didn’t get the pleasure of his bouncy babes backing band, but his male band did a solid enuff of a supporting job to keep the focus on Jack and his shipmanshow.  The new songs sounded newlicious, and the old ones, like we said, had less of an edge, but had a fuller sound with the help of that backing band.  But the thing about the new ones is be that they already feel like the old ones, which means they epic classic awesomesss!!!  Which means the show was epic classic awesomessss!!!!

Set List - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground / Missing Pieces / Sixteen Saltines / Hypocritical Kiss / I Cut Like A Buffalo / Trash Tongue Talker / Top Yourself / Two Against One / Black Math / Hello Operator / Weep Themselves to Sleep / You Know That I Know / Blunderbuss / Ball and Biscuit // Freedom at 21 / Steady, As She Goes / Take Me With You When You Go / Catch Hell Blues / Seven Nation Army (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Franz Ferdinand
Roseland Ballroom
May 7th

The list was set, and the Glaswegian quartet set it off, more so than Queen Latifah could ever do, but about the same as when we saw em the first time, and a couple o times after that first time, although they say there’s nothing quite like the first time, cept we’d have to say, there’s nothing like the holidays, yet we haven’t seen that film which chronicles the downs and ups of the Rodriguez clan. Even though their new album Tonight is a lil hum-ho and a tad yesterdayish (is that Joy Division we hear?), nothing can stop The Archdukes from raising the roof (new standout trax ‘No You Girls’ and ‘Twilight Omens’ certainly stood out), well besides a bunch of Amish folk who are raising barns and hell!