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Wow.

If you had Ollie's mindset you would have immediately left the concert and bitched about the White Stripes as well as the Molson Amphitheater the rest of your life, swearing never to return to either.

;)

I am happy to see you could still smell the roses.

Nah, I'd say something mouthy to security and demand they replace my beer and then get my ass handed to me.

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wait a minute Jaimoe - remember the times you didn't know about a band and saw them for the first time?

I doubt the majority were non-fans. C'mon (JOB from Arrested Development voice)!

The crowd was the same last time in T.O. too. The frat boys, MuchMusic kids, greasy hippies and mods and rockers packed the Amphitheatre. The folks weaned on the hits last night, like the last time out, did not anticipate a show like the one delivered to them.

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[The folks weaned on the hits last night' date= like the last time out, did not anticipate a show like the one delivered to them.

maybe they liked the show regardless

I think they did for the most part. It certainly delivered in a musical aspect, with tons of songs aired-out and with lots variety. I'm responding more to what Nellie and New Rider observed around them.

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White Stripes,

July 5, 2007

Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON

Set:

When I Hear My Name

Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground

Icky Thump

Effect and Cause

Hotel Yorba

Pretty Good Looking for a Girl

Hello Operator

Cannon - John the Revelator - Cannon

Death Letter

Jolene

I'm Slowly Turning Into You

Martyr for My Love

Encore:

Black Math

Cold Cold Night

My Doorbell

The Union Forever

Fell In Love With a Girl

Ball & Biscuit

Seven Nation Army

Boll Weevil

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I didn't find the crowd that bad.Ya-some people stand there and do nothing-but that doesn't mean they didn't enjoy it.I don't think musical appreciation is contingent upon screaming lyrics and jumping around.Different people , different dance moves.We can't all twirl around in circles, blissed out looking like fucking idiots.(Not directed at anyone at all-just generalizing).

I'll take a silent mannequin appreciating the music over a screaming Seven Nation Army fan( or a twirling hippie) any day.

But then I was wrecked.

Oh and non dancers don't bug me-but "self portrait at concert" cellphone camera artists do-and the "i'm so indie",cultured ennui, dissection of the music running dialogue during the concert folks sure as fucking hell do.

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Let's keep our ears to the ground for some craxy secret shit in Ottawa. Did anyone catch this story?

White Stripes

Duo plays surprise concert at Saskatoon bowling alley

Jeanette Stewart , Vancouver Sun

Published: Monday, July 02, 2007

SASKATOON, Sask. - It was 7:30 p.m. Saturday night when Allison Hunter got the call.

At first she thought it was a joke, but when the White Stripes' management called to confirm, Hunter knew she would be hosting the internationally acclaimed rock duo in a free surprise show at the Saskatoon bowling alley her family built 30 years ago.

But how to get the word out? Through text messaging, phone calls, Facebook and e-mails, Hunter gathered a crowd of just less than 200 by 3 p.m. Sunday.

"I wasn't sure it was for real until they were setting up today," Hunter said.

The message: White Stripes, free show, Eastview Bowl.

Fifteen minutes before show time, the building was quiet. A few bowlers still played, but a small beaten up white drum kit with a swirled red and white design, Jack White's trademark guitar, a couple amplifiers and a red synthesizer at the far end of the building confirmed the tip was no joke. Dressed in black suits, red collared shirts and fedoras with red feathers, the White Stripes' crew moved silently, setting up sound equipment and picking out the perfect bowling ball for Jack White. By 3 p.m., the space between the lanes and the wall was full. First-comers sat in the stylized 1970s plastic benches in front of the lanes. Others sat atop the coat racks, and more packed into the bar overlooking the lanes. At 3:02 p.m., Jack and Meg White appeared from a side door beside the lanes, casually swinging bowling pins and cutting across the lanes to their waiting instruments, followed closely behind by a camera man dressed in the road crew's uniform of black suit and fedora.

Without a single word to the onlookers, Jack White - wearing his trademark tight red pants and black T-shirt, long mop of hair hanging loosely down - launched into a bluesy rendition of Red Bowling Ball Ruth.

The respectful onlookers stayed seated in their bowling benches, and the rest of the crowd stayed back, taking hundreds of pictures with their camera phones, puny flashes pinging off the polished wooden lanes.

With her sweet, shy smile, Meg White provided the thudding accompaniment to Jack White's screaming slide guitar. The duo followed the first song with Let's Shake Hands, Lafayette Blues, I Fought Piranhas and Let's Build a Home.

At the end of the less than 15-minute set, Jack White continued to play, stepping out into the crowd and grabbing a bowling ball. His first throw was a gutter ball. Pausing only to strum a couple chords to fuel the guitar's electric hum, he threw another, leaving only two pins standing.

And then, it was over.

While the audience chanted for more, the road crew began packing the equipment and the crowd resigned itself to talking about what it had just seen.

"We just love them," said Daryl-Anne Fletcher, 22.

Dressed head to toe in red, black and white and with a tattoo of Jack White's red guitar on her leg, Fletcher travelled to the show from Calgary with her husband.

She went to the group's shows in Burnaby, Edmonton and Calgary. Although there was no chance for autographs at the impromptu show, fan Ryan Leslie will get to take home the bowling ball Jack White used during the performance.

Leslie was instrumental in getting the word out and friend Hunter will let him take home the souvenir.

"I'll put it besides the ticket stubs, and the CDs and the DVDs and everything else."

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MONTREAL (CP) - The White Stripes continued their official and unofficial concert tour of Canada today, surprising fans with an impromptu concert in Montreal.

The duo played a half-hour set at the regimental hall of the Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment, ahead of a concert at the Bell Centre. About 100 lucky fans got in to hear the chart-topping alt rockers.

It was the latest in a series of last-minute gigs the White Stripes have performed ahead of bigger concerts across Canada.

The pair performed on a city bus and a downtown bridge in Winnipeg and staged a short set in a Saskatoon bowling alley.

On Thursday, they rocked a Toronto kids day camp for children aged five to 12.

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I really enjoyed the show-I wasn't too keen on the amount of boozing that was going on. Some pre-show drinking is cool, doobage-whatever-but once the show starts I can't rationalize myself getting out of my seat every 20 minutes to buy a beer. The show should be about the music-not about how much you can pound back in an hour in a half.

Not to mention all the vomit I had to jump over of the way out of the amphitheatre. Gross.

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Please join us at the Arva Flour Mill at 2042 Elgin Street in scenic Arva, Ontario as the White Stripes will be milling their own special blend of organic flour. They will also be performing live at 3:30pm.

This is just ridiculous!!!

Wonder if there is anything in store for Ottawa. Here's hoping.

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JLC, London, Ontario - July 7, 2007

Magnetic Stripes

By JAMES REANEY -- Sun Media

LONDON, Ontario - The White Stripes definitely had something left after playing Arva.

The former husband-and-wife duo of Detroit rockers Jack and Meg White and their crew were playing a little whiffleball inside the John Labatt Centre up to 15 minutes before doors opened for their concert last night.

About 5,400 young fans, many wearing their heroes' red, white and black were soon jamming the downtown London arena in its "hybrid" format. The show was moved up from the 3,200-seat RBC Theatre format, beefed by hundreds of walkup sales.

Many of those tickets were purchased as fans buzzed about the duo's latest surprise gig. The Stripes played a free show for fans invited to Arva Flour Mills via an last-minute online posting.

After rocking Arva, the White Stripes could be found setting up their whiffleball diamond -- portable mound and bases included -- at the arena. Word from observers is that guitarist and singer Jack White was the team slugger yesterday.

About six hours later, they hit the stage at the London arena. Meg White -- in white top and black slacks -- began to pound the drums in her two-fisted style and Jack White -- all in red -- made like a guitar riff god.

By the second number, Jack White had pitched his belt into the crowd. It didn't hurt that it was Icky Thump, the title track and big hit from the tour's reason for being, the Top 5 album of the same name.

The Stripes are hot tickets on their 18-date Canadian tour, which kicked off June 24 in front of 8,000 fans in Burnaby, B.C., and wraps up July 16 in St. John's, N.L.

Many of the shows are at venues most rock stars wouldn't think of playing. That includes the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse, the Shorty Brown Multiplex Arena in Yellowknife and the Arctic Winter Games Arena in Iqaluit.

"Having never done a full tour of Canada, Meg and I thought it was high time to go whole hog," Jack White announced before the tour. "We want to take this tour to the far reaches of the Canadian landscape. From the ocean to the permafrost. The best way for us to do that is ensure that we perform in every province and territory in the country, from Yukon to Prince Edward Island."

The tour supports the blues-charged garage rockers' new album, Icky Thump. It was recorded at the Blackbird Studio in Nashville.

Most acts at this juncture would be playing New York and Los Angeles, appearing on Leno and Letterman. Larry LeBlanc, Canadian bureau chief for Billboard Magazine, says the fact they are even in Canada is mind-boggling. "You do not go to Canada and go on an extensive tour. If you tried to explain this to a manager, he would say it's career suicide," said LeBlanc. This tour proves Jack White is nothing if not a shrewd marketer, having cultivated a credibility most rock stars can only dream of.

"I think this is the smartest group out there right now. I don't think it's hype," LeBlanc said.

The surprise show at Arva was the latest in a series.

Among the most remarkable is one in the classy neighbourhood of Chelsea in London, England, where they played a gig at a home for veterans. The Detroit duo, dressed in red and white, played for about 20 scarlet-clad Chelsea Pensioners. The retired servicemen, residents of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, wear red tunics and black tricorn hats modeled on the uniforms of 17th-century soldiers. The Stripes played an acoustic set in the hospital's oak-panelled state apartments, where Mozart once performed.

"I despise celebrity. I think it's ridiculous," Jack White said. "It robs people of the truth. You end up being more guarded about your privacy. When you see things in your private life get torn apart, it makes you really, really sad. Not sad for Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, they want it, they have no right to complain because they've asked for it completely. I've never asked for it, all I've ever wanted to do is write songs."

Still, the Whites will celebrate a big anniversary for the band in a big way next week as their Canadian tour continues.

Next Saturday, the White Stripes celebrate their 10th anniversary as a band in Glace Bay, N.S., with none other than Jack's real-life, long-lost relative, fiddler Ashley MacIsaac as the opening act.

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"When you see things in your private life get torn apart, it makes you really, really sad. Not sad for Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, they want it, they have no right to complain because they've asked for it completely. I've never asked for it, all I've ever wanted to do is write songs."

Amen Brother Jack.

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too bad that article doesnt say a whole lot about the show, because it was fucking ridiculous.

the opener was dead leaves on the dirty ground into icky thump, and it was pure rock n roll. i forgot about the belt toss, that was hilarious. i have a vivid image of jack up on his amp/monitor/whatever gesturing to the crowd with his right arm like "c'mon fuckers, give it to me!", and everyone givin' it to him. the set seemed fairly long to me actually - i definitely got more out of them than i expected, and the song choice was perfect for me. i basically got everything i wanted to hear.. what i remember, besides the opener and in no particular order:

union forever

hotel yorba

the big 3 killed my baby

we're gonna be friends

the hardest button to button

ball and biscuit

in the cold cold night

i just dont know what to do with myself

i think i smell a rat

you dont know what love is (you just do what you're told

im slowly turning into you

catch hell blues

7 nation army

i know there was another song that had lyrics about the seventh seal, and after he set some dude up to propose to his girl they played a song that ended with the lyrics "im gonna marry you". and i also really feel like im missing more off of white blood cells (offend in every way? finding it harder to be a gentleman?), elephant (there's no home for you here?) and the new one (little cream soda?) - they seemed to play tons. closed the encore with a song about finding a new home.

my first time seeing them and i was totally impressed, all expectations exceeded. jack's a modern rock god and meg, for all the criticism she gets, i think is actually perfect for the part, and i dont really see how it could function in the same way otherwise - it is what it is for a reason.

i missed the afternoon thing in Arva - MK said it was awesome, though.

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same writer... this time he says more about the show.. pretty much bang on.

JLC, London, Ontario - July 7, 2007

Magnetic Stripes

By JAMES REANEY -- Sun Media

Detroit rockers the White Stripes -- lead guitarist Jack White and drummer Meg White -- drew a lively crowd to Arva Flour Mills, just north of London, for a guerrilla concert in advance of their sold-out show at the John Labatt Centre last night. About 300 people turned out for the nine-song, half-hour show. (Mike Hensen, Sun Media)

LONDON, Ontario - The White Stripes definitely had something left after playing Arva.

The former husband-and-wife duo of Detroit rockers Jack and Meg White were in brilliant form at the John Labatt Centre about six hours after playing a surprise show at the Middlesex County community.

Just another fresh twist in the White Stripes' amazing Canadian tour of all the provinces and territories, eh?

With about 5,400 young fans cheering them on, the duo finished with a classic slice of Americana, Leadbelly's ode to the Boll Weevil.

They had hit the stage with Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground as Meg White -- in white top and black slacks -- began to pound the drums in her two-fisted style and Jack White -- all in red except for black shoes -- made like a guitar-riff god.

By the second number, Jack White had pitched his belt into the crowd. It didn't hurt that it was Icky Thump, the title track and big hit from the tour's reason for being, a Top 5 album of the same name.

Last night, Icky Thump tunes included rawer than CD versions of You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told), which arrived in the 30-minute encore/second set and a slice of Catch Hell Blues.

The White Stripes' command of a minimalist Led Zep, bluesy guitar-heavy rock was impressive enough over 90 minutes to qualify as a contender for the year's top concert.

But what surprised this recent convert to White Stripe nation was the sharp visual style and fascinating wordplay to go with the stripped down music.

For much of the night, the huge red backdrop was dominated by the shadowy image of Meg White caressing her drums like a Kill Bill warrior.

Many critics spend a lot of time rightfully praising the darkly handsome Jack White, his guitar skills and admiration for the legacies of Robert Plant and Son House.

But to this critic, much of the White Stripe delight came in watching Meg White thrash away dutifully at her kit and then pause time and again to sweep her hair off her face.

The effect was mesmerizing, like a Warhol superstar in rock mode, and was the rock-like foundation for Jack White's animation and bursts of guitar fury.

The fans obviously love her, too. One of the biggest cheers of the night came for her vocal spot on In the Cold, Cold Night. Tellingly, Jack White disappeared toward the back of the red, red stage and knelt with his back to the audience as he accompanied her quietly on guitar.

The two went off hand-in-hand at the end of the first hour, provoking five minutes of standing ovation time until they returned for the last 30 minutes. Jack White did refer to Meg as his "sister," a sibling fiction the two seem determined to maintain on stage.

He also claimed, "I'm a nice guy once you get to know me," late in the encore. It was a statement he admitted made Meg smile.

They're a mysterious band.

No mystery was the encore that sped along to include an extended rip through Seven Guitar Nation [edit: Seven Nation Army, obviously], with Jack White doing lots of guitar slapping and the crowd filling in when he fell silent, something he does better than many other arena rockers.

Other favourites during the night included The Hardest Button to Button, The Big Three Killed My Baby and I Just Don't Know What to do with Myself.

Such blues-drench relationship disaster songs are perfect for Jack White's voice and guitar.

To this critic, the true highlight was hit with The Union Forever about 45 minutes into the show. Jack White made one of his rare trips up the red, red stairs to the stage's upper level and as a bit of stage smoke swirled around his feet, sang a song derived almost entirely from the great American film classic, Citizen Kane.

Orson Welles' masterpiece was born again in a collage of songs, dialogue and twisted references by the Detroit rocker.

That moment will be hard to top during the 2007 concert season. That's true of the White Stripes last night. U.S. rockers who can mix the best of Zeppelin with the deep meaning of Leadbelly and the dark side of the American dream with Kane will always be in short supply. So, too, are U.S. rockers with red maple leaf images on their amps and an Ontario flag to flutter late in the show.

Walkup sales help bumped the show up from 3,200-seat RBC Theatre format.

link.

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