Jackson, Tennessee for Jack White and The Rockabilly Hall Of Fame. Part II

After the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame tour finished, I headed down to the venue. There was still around four hours until doors opened but with nothing else to do I felt it would be best to join the queue and talk to fellow fans.
I met some really cool people and it's always nice to hear other fans stories about how and why they started listening to Jack White. My Tattoos went down well with some of the people in line and it was a generally nice atmosphere. Early entry contest winners were allowed into the venue at around 6.15pm and we were allowed in at 6.30pm which was an hour early according to the ticket stub. As the doors opened everybody rushed inside, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before, women in high heels, running! parents with children on their shoulders, running!

I casually strolled into the venue like the cool guy that I am and still ended up with a decent position near the front of the stage. I then made the fatal mistake that I make at most gigs, I went and bought a beer. This was bad for two reasons. I don't really like beer and it meant I would need the toilet a lot. Now if you are in the UK reading this, you are probably thinking, why didn't I buy a different sort of drink. Here in Tennessee it seems people only drink beer. My favorite drink is cider, here that means apple juice, they do sell "Hard cider" in most bars but not at this venue. My other favorite drink is Bourbon but they get funny about serving "Hard alcohol" at certain function, so there was non of that either.
As expected I was running back to the toilet every twenty minutes and I lost my decent place near the stage. I probably could have fought my way back but being a polite young man I always feel bad about pushing passed people.

Pokey Lafarge started his support set at 7.30pm and I decided to settle in and watch. I was really impressed with Pokey, I had heard really good reports about his music and of course he released a single on Third Man Records. Also he featured on "I Guess I Should Go To Sleep" from Jack White's Blunderbuss album.
Pokey plays a mixture of Rock and Roll, Blues and Americana and the end results make you smile and tap your toes.

As Pokey finished and the Jack White tour team took over the stage, my excitement skyrocketed. I was about to see Jack White again, for the 9th time. As i stood watching the tour crew check mics and equipment, I wondered if we would be getting The Buzzards (all male band) or The Peacocks (all female band)
If you don't know, Jack White decided to take two bands on tour with him. This seems in keeping with how he plays with the differences between the masculine and feminine perspective, which has been present since The White Stripes.
Having two bands on tour allows for songs to be performed in different styles, this adds to the spontaneity of each individual night, not even the bands themselves know if they are performing until the day of the show. The only draw back would be to Jack White himself, it must cost him a fortune to have ten musicians on the road.
The tour crew keep the drum kit covered until the last minute because the kick drum skin is a dead giveaway as to which band are playing. As the cover is lifted off, I recognized that we are getting The Buzzards tonight!
This excited me further as I hadn't seen The Buzzards yet.

For the next hour and forty minutes we were treated to one of the best shows I've ever seen, the band made cuts between songs just as Jack use to do when it was just him and Meg. Tempo shifts and updated versions of old songs from his various projects, also many songs from "Blunderbuss" including the title track which I was overjoyed to hear.
Jack was on form, smiling most of the night and shouting "JACKSON" while throwing his arm up for a cheer, he certainly wouldn't be walking off after 50 minutes. At one point he did wander off stage for around 30 seconds, I have to admit I did worry a little, later I found out that he had gone to give his son a kiss goodnight.

Specific highlights of the show for me were, The Hardest Button To Button, Stop Breaking Down, When I Hear My Name, Blunderbuss and Seven Nation Army. Also I loved how the I I I sign changed progressively as the show went on. One other point I would make is Daru Jones is one hell of a drummer, he sets his kit up so he has to stand for certain drum hits. I tweeted him after the show about this and he said thank you. A nice little added bonus for me. This show goes down as my second favorite off all nine Jack White shows I have seen.

Next up, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals at the Ryman Auditorium review.