By Andy Sears
Photos By David Swanson
The shameful part of this show is that is inevitably going to be characterized by Jack’s mid-show rant and not the giant 28 song career-spanning set he delivered. Most people are grabbing the Foo Fighters jab, or the Rolling Stone digs, not the blistering “Icky Thump” face-melting solo. But the media’s fascination with the rant rules the insta-age we live in, even if the larger theme of it was lost or chopped out of the headlines. For those who were there, the show will be known for the genre defying rock n’ roll onslaught that Jack and his band delivered at historic Fenway Park, configured in the intimate bleacher theater set-up.
That theme however, is Jack’s crusade against pop-culture; his quest is to simply have people wake up and stop staring at their phones. It also speaks volumes to the way Jack sees himself not only as rock n’ roll’s savior but the voice of a generation of forgotten people that used to make careers out of rants. They were called hippies. The so-called “rant” began with him simply talking to the audience in his typical traveling snake-oil salesman type of way, which could hardly be considered a rant at all. Then it became apparent that Jack realized his talking would be headlined as such and he just decided to run with it. Clearly, he’d thought about the difference between a rant, freedom of speech and the role of a rock star in the scope of pop culture before.
The thing is, I think a lot of us totally feel Jack’s angst; I was right there with him. He’s got a platform and it would go to waste if he didn’t use it as a soapbox to speak his mind. There’s lots of us right there with him bashing the Kardashians, and telling people sarcastically not to worry about whats going on in the world. He was essentially preaching to a choir of his fans. The same ones that helped him break a modern day vinyl record, buy tickets to see him, and yes, read publications that cover him. Ripping on computerized microphones and digital computerized music has some validly, but then he ended it all with “and all I really wanted to say was, Hello Cleveland!” Hello Cleveland? Seriously? Did he really just forget where he was?
So therefore it’s a good thing that the rest of the show was as stellar as it was because if it wasn’t, Jack’s teasing, or fuck up might have lost some of his loyal audiences. Unlike some other shows on the Lazaretto tour, this crowd did get up and give him the energy he demanded. Did everyone put their phones away and not take pictures like his hype-man so politely asked of us? Hell no, but for the most part the six thousand plus people in the Fenway Bleacher Theatre totally rocked out right along with Jack and his internationally cherry-picked band of musical all-stars.
It took three or four songs into the set before Jack got his guitar volume up to ear piercing level, and when he finally did, he didn’t stop shredding for over an hour and a half, plus a nine-song second set encore that had you questioning how much longer he would play for. His work ethic is undeniable. He truly wants to reintroduce you to what real rock music should sound like both in a traditional and progressive manner. From futuristic thumpers like “High Ball Stepper,” the Dead Weather’s “Cut Like a Buffalo,” to rootsy Americana twangers like “Hotel Yorba,” and Hank William’s “You Know That I Know,” Jack wanted everyone to know that rock n’ roll is not dead, it’s alive and well, and with a new king. Something has been said for his fearless approach towards consistently playing sets full of gems from all of his bands and projects. Right along with them are a slew of traditional covers that slip in and out of his set without the bat of an eye. “Top Yourself” was a mid-show blues shredder that was jam-heavy and “Ball and Biscuit” closed the set with similar gusto. The encore was filled with his greatest hits, and was sparked off by “Icky Thump,” and an extended “Steady as She Goes.” The encore closed out with a raunchy “Hello Operator,” and always epic “Seven Nation Army.”
Without delving into the rest of the
set-list, it can really be summarized by the same type of aggression he expressed in the tirade. If you know or have seen Jack before, you know that this is his demeanor. It’s almost in his character to play and carry himself with a chip on his shoulder. Despite the grand amount of coverage he does get from all the media outlets, he still views himself as an outsider, or maybe simply doesn’t want to see himself on the cover of a magazine that hosts not only himself but Taylor Swift and co. Furthermore, it may be because of the obscurity of rock music in pop-culture, or a sense of snubbery felt from legends saying “rock is dead.” Regardless, with sets like this one this past Wednesday at Fenway park, Jack continues to carve out his place in rock history, even if the rest of the world has forgotten about it.
