I’m dead on my feet after a day at Reading full of bands to dance to and I’m still damp from the drenching I got at Flogging Molly but as Sergio Leone’s Fistful of Dollars soundtrack pours out from the purple lit stage I know I’m going nowhere.
Jack White, Brendon Benson and their compadres The Raconteurs rush the stage like Butch and Sundance’s finale, they scatter melodies into the crowd before straightening into a country tinged Intimate Secretary and it’s weird psychadelic lyrics. Jack looks real pale and kinda weird as he marshals centre stage with Brendon to his right and the powerful but sparse rhythm section of Jack Lawrence on low slung bass and Patrick Keeler on drums.
It’s strange to think that the debut album Broken Boy Soldiers was only out this year and that this is a fresh new band. The way Jack and Brendan hook up on vocals and guitars it’s as though this is a band of brothers playing incestuous music they’ve known since birth.
Only in the music they play is there any clue that they haven’t been around long enough to have their own tunes. But then Jack does like to make covers and 'Bang Bang' is a huge moment slowed to almost a standstill and yet edgy and wild with Jack’s howling angst ridden vocal. They remind me hugely of The Black Crowes and though they meander the heartland of America’s guitar music they always have that country twang of Brendon’s acoustic guitar. Their own 'Steady As She Goes' is truly a highlight with the crowd reverently staying in harmony, fantastic. Jack occasionally playing keyboard and they finished with 'Hands' and the hour had just flown by.
A home grown super-group in the making and dog tired but happy I leave the arena for a good night’s sleep. Musicianship of the highest order and it washed over me soothing my ears, my blisters and aching muscles like a balm. A worthy headliner for Reading Festival, they are easily a match for Muse, who are also blowing the crowd away on the main stage.
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