Jack White still has more to say as he makes latest return to his favorite Detroit venue
After eight months traversing the world — including a run of gigs at small venues and out-of-the-way spots — Jack White at last made his back way to the most familiar room of them all.
Saturday night at the Masonic Temple Theatre, the Detroit-born star waged a nearly two-hour show to kick off a two-night stand at the Midtown Detroit venue that has long been his favored concert habitat when at home. It followed unconventional dates last summer at Detroit's Saint Andrew's Hall and Ann Arbor's Blind Pig, part of a global band-on-the-run dash on the heels of White's album "No Name."
Saturday brought a sinewy performance with episodes of explosiveness, zigzagging across White's career work while plucking from some less-explored corners of his library amid the seasoned hits, including a night-closing "Seven Nation Army."
That now-iconic White Stripes classic may be a standard show finale these days, complete with a requisite singalong chant like the one belted out by Saturday's sellout crowd. But back in April 2003, "Seven Nation Army" was a brand-new number the first time it got a Masonic workout, when Jack and Meg White gave the song its live Detroit debut.
These days, that sort of historical subtext is naturally built into any Jack White homecoming concert: It's a sense of rich tradition mingling with the latest musical adventurousness from an artist who, at 49, still seems restless for creative stimuli. White will always have a foot firmly planted in blues-wired rock, but Saturday showed him once again toying with the terrain.
At the Masonic, that mission was aided by three longtime musician friends — bassist and childhood pal Dominic Davis, drummer Patrick Keeler (the Raconteurs) and veteran Detroit organist Bobby Emmett. They offered nimble interplay as White led the proceedings up front while reliably coaxing all manner of freakout tones, squeals and scything runs from his battery of guitars.
Including vigorous show openers "Old Scratch Blues" and "That's How I'm Feeling," the night featured half a dozen tunes from "No Name," the 2024 album that started as an enigmatic vinyl release before being officially registered as White's sixth solo record, joining his discography of work with the Stripes, Raconteurs and Dead Weather.
The evening included a rare appearance of the White Stripes' "The Union Forever." The searing, growling rendition of that 2001 album track now came outfitted with a brief tirade aimed at Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, a longtime target of White's ire. Social commentary returned in the encore with "Archbishop Harold Holmes," the infectious "No Name" song that takes on spiritual hucksterism.
The mood was lighter elsewhere. While introducing a carousing "Hotel Yorba," White alluded to his Masonic visit three years ago, when he proposed to — then immediately wed — girlfriend Olivia Jean during a surprise mid-concert ceremony.
"I've got to be careful," White told Saturday's crowd. "Last time I was in this spot, I ended up getting married by the end of this song."
Olivia Jean and White's 93-year-old mother, Teresa Gillis, were among the 4,900 on hand Saturday, a crowd that included plenty of friends, family members and colleagues from White's Third Man Records. (White's mom worked decades ago as a Masonic usher — one of the personal connections that endeared him to the venerable Detroit complex.)
White and company plowed through a handful of onstage technical hiccups, including issues with guitar cables and Keeler's drum kit, whipping up a cover of Robert Johnson's "Phonograph Blues" and offering a quick flash of the rock 'n' roll chestnut "Shakin' All Over" as channeled by the Who.
A seven-song encore then piled on the energy, with the Stripes' "Icky Thump" and a frantic "Bombing Out" eventually leading to a potent Detroit-centric closing that coupled the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with "Seven Nation Army."
White has two more Michigan shows in hand — undoubtedly with shuffled set lists — as he returns Sunday to the Masonic before heading Tuesday to Grand Rapids' GLC Live at 20 Monroe. The No Name Tour will include a twofer in his adopted home base of Nashville before wrapping up on the West Coast in May.
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com .
This story has been updated to add video.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jack White hits Detroit's Masonic with tradition, fresh energy
