The Raconteurs
Live @ Hammerstein Ballroom
9/6/19 NYC, NY
The Raconteurs are currently on tour behind their newest release Help Me Stranger and are also partnering with nugs.net to get their live shows and tunes out to the masses; safe to say all involved are happy with what is going down on stage these days. Friday night's Hammerstein show was the second of three in the area this fall after the band did a mini club and record store invasion back in the spring when the new record was released.
These shows were much bigger on all fronts as the band played for two hours and ten minutes (one of the longest shows of the tour) and when things seemed to be wrapping up they would dive right back in as Jack White in particular was super engaged leading the charge. Having seen the band on all previous tours, White usually played more of a background role within the Raconteurs, but during this set and encore it was clear he was in charge and loving the stage/crowd.
Not to say the other members are lightweights by any stretch, Brendan Benson was delivering the goods with his Beatles -like numbers as Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler are arguably best rhythm section in rock and roll today. Rounded out by multi-instrumentalist Dean Fritita and guests Nick Zinner on guitar and a fiddle player who joined on multiple songs the band sounded pristine rumbling when needed and playing nuanced as well.
The Detroit (by way of Nashville) band got down and dirty for the most part though, skewing a bit older on this night than recent shows with the excellent Consolers of the Lonely and Broken Boy Soldiers getting as much love as the new release. Bombing out of the gate the title track of the second album was dynamite, before "You Don't Understand Me" saw a switching of instruments as White moved from piano to a screaming guitar solo to close which morphed excitingly into The Stooges "I Wanna Be Your Dog", a show highlight.
"Top Yourself" with Zinner on extra guitar was an electric bluesy bash while "Sunday Driver" revved up from the get go. The band also dropped a few verses of "Louie Louie" into "Broken Boy Solider" and ran through Albert King's "Born Under A Bad Sign" before a dynamite "Blue Veins" closed the first set.
While technically an encore, the boys treated the rest of the show as a second set, scorching through Donovan's "Hey Gyp", "Salute Your Solution" and "Help Me Stranger". What seemed like a show closing "Carolina Drama" the band broke through curfew wanting to rock out even more with "Steady, as She Goes" popping up to end the fantastic night of guitar lead rock and roll.
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Great show, great band, 'nuff said:
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