Jack White Gets Plug Pulled, Soldiers Through Leadbelly Cover
Nothing can stop Jack White from unleashing live rock & roll power – not even electricity. As spotted by Consequence of Sound, the rock icon hit a snag at his Dublin show Thursday night, when the venue pulled the plug on his P.A. system during an encore cover of Leadbelly’s “Goodnight, Irene.” But White, in reliably bad-ass fashion, didn’t let the technical hiccup faze him. He hushed the crowd to silence, informed them of the bad news and proceeded to belt the track at the top of his lungs.
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“OK, listen up – we gotta quiet down!” White shouts in the above clip after noticing his mic has dropped out (around 4:15 in). He then leads the crowd in a triumphant group shout-along, replacing the power of fiddle and drums with boyish enthusiasm.
While that moment was clearly the evening’s highlight, the show was also memorable for its collaborative spirit. While openers the Kills joined White for “Goodnight, Irene,” vocalist Alison Mosshart (White’s Dead Weather bandmate) also added her brooding voice to the Blunderbuss single “Love Interruption.”
Elsewhere, White and his ace live band tore through an encore medley of the Stooges’ punk classic “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” the White Stripes favorite “Fell In Love With a Girl” and Beck’s jigsaw-puzzle alt-hip-hop staple “Where It’s At.”
Earlier this month, White released his second solo album, Lazaretto, in three-speed Ultra-LP format, which features hidden tracks and a hologram. Last week, 40,000 LPs were sold, marking the biggest week for a vinyl release since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.