Jack White concert review: Rock god shakes Brisbane’s sonic youth

A 16-time Grammy Award winner has left his mark on Brisbane with a full-throttle sonic explosion that fired up a tightly packed crowd, but came with one very clear caveat.

Jack White performs at The Fortitude Music Hall. Picture: Supplied

Jack White filled Fortitude Music Hall with an explosion of sound on Thursday night, but it was only granted under one condition.

The 16 time-GRAMMY winner launched his 2024 Australian tour in Brisbane, promoting his fittingly-titled album No Name that was launched in July with little announcement or marketing.

Ever since its release, the festival headliner would intentionally pick smaller venues, trying to maximise energy in more constricted spaces.

The concert’s one rule was asserted 15 minutes prior to the concert, when a man sporting glasses and a neatly-trimmed beard walked onto stage. Like all of the other crew members, he wore a cleanly pressed suit, blue button-up shirt and a fedora.

Adjusting the microphone to his height, he greeted everyone the way you’d imagine an esteemed gentlemen greet his colleagues at the smoker’s lounge. He laid down the rules for the night.

“I have one simple rule slash (sic) request,” he said.

“I ask for you all to be completely present. So that means doing what you are doing now, which is no phones.”

Jack White performs at The Fortitude Music Hall. Picture: Supplied

Soon afterwards, Jack White, born Jack Anthony Gillis, walked onto stage to the collective roar of smashing drums, thumping bass and thunderous applause.

Amid all the deafening noise, he feverishly paced back and forth across the stage, waving to the audience to get increasingly louder.

With little warning, White quickly picked up his guitar and launched into a sensory shockwave of heavy rock and blues.

Every band member appeared as if they had been possessed by the music. White would sing and lean into the microphone stand, spinning it away from him as he ripped into one of the evening’s countless guitar solos.

The rule-announcer would then stroll onto stage to fix his microphone with exaggerated precision; a cheeky juxtaposition to the chaotic performance unfolding behind him.

After the first three songs, White clarified what kind of behaviour was welcome for the evening.

“Brisbane, you have my permission to do whatever you want. You have my permission to be loud. You have my permission to scream. Let me see you scream,” White said.

The set list of the tour was a tour-de-force across White’s career of over twenty years.

Avid fans of The White Stripes, The Saboteurs, and White’s solo work were all satisfied, as the rock conceptualist paid tribute to each era with passion and fever.

There was admittedly little interaction with the audience, with White clearly wanting the music to speak for itself.

Jack White performs at The Fortitude Music Hall. Picture: Supplied

The seasoned rocker would stay silent as he’d perform songs before tearing them apart in a fury of guitar shredding, drum bashing and bass plucking.

Just as the audience thought a song was over, White and his band would put it back together, gradually rebuilding the rhythm and bringing the song back to life.

The highest energy of the concert came from the three-song encore which began with the comedic mock-evangelist song Archibald Harold Holmes.

Without pausing, the band then dived into the foot-stomping Blue Orchid, leaving everyone clapping along as White and his band delivered punchy blues-rock riffs that shook the floor.

White roared over the crowd’s applause to announce that there was only one song left, with everyone in the room already knowing what it was.

White began to tap a simple tempo on the guitar that everyone instinctively clapped along to. As the clapping persisted, White played the iconic descending riff of Seven Nation Army.

The relentlessly-played sports anthem sounded fresh here, as White led the charge playing the riff with a heavier, dirtier guitar tone.

Brisbane responded by chanting the riff and jumping, establishing an electric back-and-forth of energy between White and the audience.

And before the audience knew it, White was bowing with his band, announcing, “Brisbane, you have been great and I have been Jack White”.

Jack White will continue his Australian tour this Friday at Ballarat’s Civic Hall. Afterwards, he’ll perform two shows in Melbourne before making one appearance each at Hobart and Sydney.