The Dead Weather

Last night at The Depot, The Dead Weather's scuzzed-out blues rock, well, seriously rocked. The D Man and Rip were fired up from the guitar pyrotechnics and almost had to throwdown with some sloshheads to defend a woman's honor. But we're good like that.

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The super group formed in Nashville, Tennesee, after playing together in Jack White's Third Man studio, with Alison Mosshart (The Kills) on vocals, Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) on lead guitar, Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) on bass, and White (The White Stripes) on drums/vocals. A few thoughts and highlights from the show:

• The band's set was tight and furious. 75 minutes. Loud. Real loud. Ears still ringing.
• Mosshart was cool. Her lead vocals were sharp but not shrill. She was slinky, assertive, and commanded the stage. But she also knew when to get out of the way of the music, or, say, a lights-out solo shred. And yes, White came out from behind the drum kit on two songs and killed it with some lightning fast up-and-down fretwork. And yes, he is my hero.
• Fertita is a GQ-looking axeman that can really play. His presence equalled his dense guitarwork. And his swank keyboards added volume like the Count all night long.
• "Hang You From the Heavens" rocked just like you would expect.
• "I Cut Like A Buffalo" just blew the place up with its funky swagger.
• "So Far From Your Weapon" was almost nice. But White sounded downright manic on "You Just Can't Win"
• "Treat Me Like Your Mother" was an appropriate encore. And it's a simple request.
• The send-off: a righteous cover of Bob Dylan's "New Pony." To answer the question: much, much longer.
• White knows how to brand a band. The White Stripes color schemes, album covers, and throwback canvases are well recognized. The Dead Weather continues to trade on past Americana images, but does so with a darker, backwoods dread that befits the music. The tones and themes, from the album art, t-shirts, and stage backdrop, were flawless.
• Which leads The D Man to his next observation: White has decontructed, recreated, and blown up again American roots and blues music more than any other person alive. The Dead Weather is White's latest vehicle to explore the dense, dark side of blues rock in all of its possible variations. After last night's show, The D Man can attest that White's project is a rousing success. Just a quick listen to White's music this past decade demonstrates his complete command and reinventiveness of America's primal sounds without ever hinting at pastiche. See here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for just a few examples.