Jack White proves once again he’s the best in the business

One of the biggest names in music has descended on Sydney to remind everyone in this city how to actually be cool.

It’s hard to write a review of Jack White without drawing on the millions of cliches already used to describe his mythological status in modern rock and roll.

So I’m not going to do it. Here comes a wave of stereotypical music jargon and unapologetic fanboyism.

There’s a reason he has such an allure to anyone who has played blues, punk or rock. After 25 years at the top, where a performer might get just a little jaded, the man just gets it.

White’s appearance in the 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud alongside Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and The Edge from U2 showed what he was all about. He’d talk about intentionally making his performances hard by playing old, beat up guitars and never having a setlist.

The chaos, drama and constant battle with your surroundings is where the blues thrives and White understands this to the letter.

True to form, he jumped up on stage in a leather jacket at the Enmore on one of the hottest days of the year and proceeded to melt the walls with his personal brand of no-nonsense Detroit blues done at jetliner volume.

Jack White is one of the modern day rock titans. Photo: David James Swanson

Why have one amp when you can have three. Photo: David James Swanson

The “No Name” tour is White’s attempt to strip back his “legacy” even further. He knows he has “Seven Nation Army”, the garage rock screamer that has now become a football anthem across the globe, under his belt.

But he’s dedicated to much more than just writing hits. He’s not off joining supergroups to cash in, instead opting to tour with a small and unknown group of murderously talented musicians to play simple music perfectly.

From the very first opening jam in Old Scratch Blues, it was clear these blokes were psychically in tune with each other. The drummer caught every single one of White’s cues and it all stayed locked together the entire show.

He was freakishly energetic for a 49-year-old guy who has done this forever, week after week.

The fire is clearly still in him to do things with his music that still excite him.

White has spoken in the past about intentionally making his performances hard by playing old, beat up guitars and never having a setlist. Photo: David James Swanson

The outrageous moments of improvisation, featuring screeching pitch bends and moments where it looked like he was ripping the neck off his custom Fender Telecaster, are exactly what you want at a rock gig.

It was great to see him pull out early White Stripes songs “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”, “Icky Thump” and the Raconteurs song “Broken Boy Soldier” — all of which were replicated astonishingly close to the original records.

We were all wondering if White, the wizard of cool, would snub his biggest song given he is promoting an album very much opposed to popular music.

Drummer Patrick Keeler caught every single one of White’s cues and it all stayed locked together the entire show. Photo: David James Swanson

Bobby Emmett is ridiculous on the keys. Photo: David James Swanson

But there it came, the most famous riff in the world and the crowd went loco.

The best part was we didn’t actually need it. The past hour and a half was so chock full of brilliantly crafted garage rock that there was nothing left to prove.

The cherry on top that was Seven Nation Army was the final nail in the argument that White is one of the great riff writers in the history of the genre, and we should all probably witness that before he quietly disappears to his Tennessee warehouse to make wacky guitar pedals for the rest of his days.

But something tells me he’s not stopping anytime soon.

10/10, go see it. Photo: David James Swanson