Jack White - Brixton Academy, London and Radio 1's Hackney Weekend 2012 - 21/06/12 and 23/06/12

It took me some months to realise how spectacular Jack White's performances were on both nights. I guess at the time, I was a little disappointed I never got to see him perform with the all-female band, The Peacocks, and as a result never witnessed him perform Love Interruption and I'm Shakin'. But first, some context:

I knew that Hackney Weekend tickets would be free but on a first come, first serve basis as opposed to BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend's regular method of a part-random ballot. I knew I could see Jack perform at Hackney Weekend, but I also knew this was not a sure thing. So when it was announced that Jack White would play on the Friday prior to Hackney Weekend, at the Hammersmith Apollo, I made sure to get tickets. Or at least, I tried - they sold out in three minutes and I failed to acquire them. I spent the next half hour moping and scrolling through Twitter to moan along with others who'd failed also.

Then, an announcement surfaced: The demand was high enough to convince Jack to play a date on Thursday 21st June, a day before the already announced show, at Brixton Academy! I didn't make the same mistake twice, as I knew it was meant for me to go. I also made doubly sure by successfully scoring two tickets to Hackney Weekend for Saturday 23rd June.

Jack White is a true frontman. He struts to the front of the stage with purposeful intent, and breaks the applause with a trademark blistering solo. He's backed by an all-male band called Los Buzzardos both dates and doesn't even use a setlist. Jack dictates the set on a whim, taking the moment with him. The presence he brings to the stage is immense - he dominates the venue with an electric aura with serious hard rock. Los Buzzardos barely need his charge with a drummer that plays with ferocious technique and a soulful keyboardist dancing like he taught James Brown. It's also fascinating to see members of the band playing double bass and even a fiddle.

The showmanship and the quality and skill in the live music aren't the only contributors to the experience. The atmosphere is perfect, Jack playfully but assertively interacting with the buoyant crowd amidst a beautifully-prepared backdrop of white lighting. The band are clothed in black, blue and white as are the instruments. This is especially effective amidst the lovely Brixton interior, as opposed to the festival set-up at Hackney Weekend. In Brixton, no cameras are allowed to be used during the show, as Jack feels it would detract from the atmosphere and it's stated that pictures from the night would be uploaded on to the Jack White website.

Each show is it's own, with completely different crowds and character. At Brixton, the crowd is there to see Jack and had just experienced the powerhouse performance of folk sisters First Aid Kit. We are treated to fan-favourites such as The White Stripes' Ball and Biscuit, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, The Hardest Button to Button and We're Going to Be Friends. Jack also does The Raconteur's Top Yourself, as well as a large portion of his debut solo Blunderbuss - including Sixteen Saltines during the encore. None of the aforementioned tracks are performed at Hackney Weekend, and the show is interspersed with impressive solos as ecstatic as Jack's footwork. The booming latter half of Take Me With You When You Go proves to be a fitting end to the encore.

At Hackney Weekend, the crowd has just had to witness Lostprophets. Jack opens up with The White Stripes' Black Math, just as he did two days prior. Other songs that survive to his third London show in three days are his own Missing Pieces, Freedom at 21 and Take Me With You When You Go, this time mid-set. It's also fantastic to hear The White Stripes' Hotel Yorba, Dick Dale's Nitro, The Dead Weather's I Cut Like a Buffalo again, plus the collaboration with Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi which I love, Two Against One. There are fewer Jack solos and no encore of course, but the Hackney Weekend set ends with crowd favourites such as The Raconteurs' Steady, as She Goes and The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army.

Both performances were riveting, emphatic examples of a man doing what he loves and doing it well. It's only now I begin to realise how lucky I am to have gotten to see a man perform with such talent, passion and technical ability once let alone twice! The free-flowing spirit and unplanned, spontaneous execution of the shows were highly impressive, a feat that is rarely pulled off so well and so fluidly. The aura and presence of Jack White himself is something I can still feel here and now, he was that impressionable. Seeing him play twice in such a short space of time allowed him to prove his versatility, dedication and the genuine ingenuity when it comes to performing music.

Photo from www.jackwhiteiii.com/live-photos/