Last Night: The Raconteurs at Neumo's

Photo courtesy of our Mackenzie McAninch of Randomville.com.

The Raconteurs
When: Monday, April 21
Where: Neumo's

They took the stage in uniform: all black, from their collared shirts and pressed ties, to their slacks and dapper hats. Tattoos ran up their forearms. And when they take up the instruments, they do so with the seriousness and delicacy of surgeons.

The bozo to my left, for the third time, has just let out a loud, "I love you Jack White." The girl to my right is flirting with her peach-faced date, and fiddling with her ear plugs. The guy in front of me is camera-ready, and won't put it down for the entire set (see above). The Raconteurs have not yet taken the stage.

The coordinated minions on stage are, like the rest of us, in the service of Jack White, only they're on the payroll. And they've traded the opportunity to wait in line for 45 minutes (or shorter, if you're John Roderick and you cut in with Kurt Bloch) to get inside the will-call only show at Neumo's, for a slot on the bus, twisting knobs and tuning drums before the band's intimate club tour in support of their quick-released Consolers of the Lonely.

Seeing The Raconteurs from 25 feet away is like being slapped in the face with a hundred riffs and killing choruses. The wall of fuzz washed out much of the vocals and some of the intricate guitar work handed down by the leaders, Brendan "Joe Dirt" Benson, and the smug-faced White. Consequently, the set felt terrifically redundant at times. But shout choruses on tunes like "Hold Up," and radio-staples like "Steady As She Goes," were unmistakable, and satisfy both the band's desire to road-test new material, and the crowd's appetite for anything Jack White.