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What occurred when the Raconteurs showed up at Oakland’s Fox Theater on July 23 in many ways resembled a concert.
There were people onstage playing instruments. There were hundreds of fans swaying to the music. And there were band T-shirts being sold in the lobby.
But there was nobody standing in front of me and blocking my view as they recorded videos of the performance that they will never, ever watch. There were no faces illuminated by tiny screens or fingers nimbly typing texts that absolutely cannot wait until the guitar solo is over.
In other words, nobody was glued to their phones and willingly missing the show that they paid to see. So, that means that what happened at the Fox on the night in question couldn’t actually be a concert — at least, not a 21st-century one — right? Because modern day music fans can’t actually put their phones away and still enjoy a night of live music in this plugged-in, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) age. Or can they?
As it turns out, they can and they did as Jack White and his Raconteurs performed a phone-free show in support of their chart-topping “Help Us Stranger,” which is the band’s first release in more than 11 years.
Fans were asked to put their phones in little individual pouches as they entered the sold-out show, the first half of a two-night stand at the Fox.. The pouches were then locked and could not be opened until they exited the venue (or went to a special place in the lobby where the pouches could be momentarily unlocked, in case a really important call/text/tweet needed to be made).
The process is described in more detail here.
Some of the people I talked to were experiencing separation anxiety from their phones. They wanted to check a baseball score, Google some other bit of information or post a video from the show on their social media channels.
I certainly felt a bit of that myself. In particular, I found myself wanting to take a selfie picture with my buddy Chris, who accompanied me to the show. So, instead, I drew a “selfie” on my reporter notepad, which you can see below.
No phones allowed at Raconteurs concert … So I had to draw my own "selfie" pic.twitter.com/iwueLJUjsU
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) July 24, 2019
But eventually the FOMO started to slip away and the joy of music took over, as the Raconteurs delivered a blistering hot, hour-plus main set that fused jam-rock, metal, indie-rock, grunge and heavy blues in mostly satisfying ways.
The strongest parts of the show were the face-melting jams, as White swung his ax in big Paul Bunyan style and led the quintet — which includes vocalist-guitarist Brendan Benson, bassist Jack Lawrence, drummer Patrick Keeler and touring keyboardist Dean Fertita — through one dense rocker after another.
The weakest part of the show? Probably the actual songs themselves. The Raconteurs’ songbook isn’t great. It suffers from too many clunky choruses and other awkward lyrical moments, as well as a plethora of melodies that can be labeled, at best, only moderately intriguing.
Yet, White’s incendiary guitar work can cover up a lot of weaknesses and his finger work was definitely the star of the show as the band rocked through “Level” from the band’s first album, 2006’s “Broken Boy Soldiers,” “Shine the Light On Me” from “Help Us Stranger,” “Top Yourself” from 2008’s “Consolers of the Lonely” and other selections.
As White wailed away at his guitar, firing off riffs that seemed both strikingly new and oddly familiar at the same time, I found myself wishing that I had my phone so that I could better document his greatness.
Maybe I really just wanted to check a baseball score.
All things considered, it was nice to unplug from the phone for the evening and enjoy a real retro concert experience. So, thanks Mr. White for making this possible, reminding us that it’s OK to like something even if it doesn’t lead to multiple “likes” from your friends.