Jack White was recently spotted at Liverpool’s disastrous defeat against Nottingham Forest. The rock star appeared to be less than impressed with the Reds’ performance as he was spotted in the crowd.
The Merseyside team won its first three Premier League matches and was leading alongside the reigning champions, Manchester City, going into the international break. However, their momentum came to a halt as head coach Arne Slot experienced his first defeat during his tenure.
Jack White is all Liverpool fans right now 😖 pic.twitter.com/AexKAxJljL
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) September 14, 2024
Jack White recently played an explosive, last-minute and intimate show at London’s Assembly Hall on September 13. Details of the gig at the 890-capacity venue were shared four days before it took place.
Jack White shares details
White shared news of the ad-hoc tour for his surprise-released sixth album ‘No Name’ last month, telling fans via social media:
“We won’t really be announcing dates in advance so much, we will mostly be playing at small clubs, backyard fetes, and a few festivals here and there to help pay for expenses.
“Shows will be announced as close to the show date as possible, some shows we won’t even decide to do until that morning.”
Support Heartworms hailed the musician for the “amazing” opportunity, ahead of the former White Stripe appeared onstage, kicked over a guitar, and ordered the audience to scream. He poked fun that anyone not sufficiently moved by the ensuing performance would be “arrested”.
Leading a four-piece band that included a bass player, drummer and keyboardist, he complemented tracks from the stripped-back ‘No Name’ with classics by The White Stripes and The Raconteurs.
Following a ferocious rendition of the new album’s ‘Bombing Out’, he summed up his current era when he exclaimed its lyric about “anyone who wants less than more!” His simple black t-shirt and jeans were also in keeping with the no-frills theme.
He demanded the audience wave their hands to ‘It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking)’, stood on a speaker at the front of the stage to command applause and asked, “Are you alive and well, London!”
This led White to reflect on his relationship with the city: “I’m no stranger to London Islington… I used to live in this neighbourhood. But I don’t call anywhere home. I haven’t in a long time. As soon as you call somewhere home, someone tries to take it from you. As soon as you join a group, someone tries to kick you out.”
White didn’t refer explicitly to the White Stripes’ current lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, who featured ‘Seven Nation Army’ in a campaign video without permission. He did, though, express distrust of the political class in general:
“As soon as you join a political party, someone tries to lie to your face… I got news for you: you got a brain, you got a mind. Can I hear an amen, London!”
Less than halfway through the set, after performing the White Stripes’ ‘Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground’, he insisted: “That’s all I got!” White exited the stage, with fans chanting for more amid squalls of feedback.
Upon his return, he tore into ‘No Name’’s ‘Archbishop Harold Holmes’, boasting: “This is the kind of rock’n’roll you’re not gonna get at Wembley Stadium for £400!” Tickets for Islington Assembly Hall show cost £55 before booking fees.