From the pub of a once rat-infested hotel to the historic 87-year-old Orpheum theatre to Granville Street’s famous and infamous Commodore Ballroom, Jack White’s no stranger to Vancouver’s music venues.
But what about Burnaby? The modern rock Renaissance man is in town next week for what is sure to be a jawdropping solo show, following his marathon headlining performances at such world famous festivals as Glastonbury and Bonnaroo.
This isn’t the Detroit rocker’s first time at Deer Lake Park: In 2007, he and White Stripes counterpart Meg delivered an outstanding 23-song set that included a Robert Johnson cover, established radio mainstays like “Seven Nation Army” and “Fell in Love with a Girl,” and the then-brand new title track to their sixth and final studio album, Icky Thump. (They also performed a secret show at the Creekside Youth Centre for 30-some lucky people.)
That tour was the famed duo’s last as White shifted his focus to leading the garage blues quartet The Raconteurs, then got behind the drumkit for alt rock four-piece The Dead Weather before releasing his first solo effort, Blunderbuss, in 2012.
White is currently touring on his sophomore album Lazaretto, but as of yet, only the title track has been released as a single, and he’s sure to delve into his extensive musical catalogue when he sets up at the edge of Deer Lake.
Recent setlists indicate he has a fondness for classic rock covers and an even mix of Stripes singles and b-sides, interspersed with tracks from both solo LPs and a Raconteurs tune dropped somewhere in the middle.
Fans should be braced for a range of White’s trademark 2000s rock ‘n’ roll, ranging from softer favourites like “We’re Going to be Friends” to an onslaught of feverish, unbridled contemporary blues (see: “Black Math,” “Sixteen Saltines”). There might also be an acoustic rendition of “Fell in Love with a Girl.”
Supporting White is Michigan soul man Curtis Harding, who has worked with such musical powerhouses as Outkast and Cee Lo Green.
Burnaby may not get a two-and-a-half-hour rock relay like Bonnaroo, but White is sure to scratch the city’s seven-year itch when he closes out Deer Lake Park’s summer concert series on Thursday, Aug. 28. And if you miss him this time around, at this rate, you’ll be scratching until 2021.
Gates to the concert open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are still available for $76.75 via ticketmaster.ca, by phone at 1-855-985-5000 or in person Ticketmaster kiosks or at the door.
