The 40 greatest concerts in Boston history: 39

The White Stripes | Opera House | November 21, 2005
By PHOENIX STAFF  |  October 26, 2006

concerts_39
Review: The White Stripes at the Opera House. By Matt Ashare

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Getting in front of Satan: The White Stripes
A refurbished Opera House for a refurbished White Stripes. Yeah, Jack and Meg White had done their Zeppelin garage blooze at the Middle East Downstairs and got blown off the stage by an opening band (the Gossip). But this is one band who really benefited from their step up from the no-budget Sympathy for the Record Industry to a real, honest-to goodness-label in V2. There were all kinds of fancy, color-coordinated red-and-white instruments on stage, including a huge, expensive kettle drum, and an even more pricey marimba. But, really, it was all still about the chemistry between Jack’s guitar and Meg’s drums, and her ability, no matter how rudimentary her beats, to follow his every move as he stretched out the solos into long, expressive, string-bending excursions. In the spaces between the riffs and slamming beats, you could hear and see a rock-and-roll band reclaiming rock’s past in the blues, and bringing a little theater back into the process — a sense of theater that grunge, with its flannel and torn jeans, destroyed for a time.
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  Topics: Live Reviews , The White Stripes, Meg White, Rage Against The Machine
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