ISO Jack White Empty Bottle Chicago

Unbelievable evening.  I don't feel worthy of witnessing what I just witnessed.  I don't know anything about playing instruments or the technical side of things, but I feel like just by being in that room I can pick up a guitar and just start wailing, through divine osmosis or something.

Doors were at 730.  I arrived at 7 and was about 75th in line.  The standard locking of phones in the yondr pouches upon entry.  A couple of small prints for sale (the cooler ones of the venue were gone quick), appeared to be the regular tour shirts.

Wound up about 4 or 5 people from the front, just left of center, which was no more than 10 feet from Jack.  Scheduled to go from 9 to 11, they entered through the door right next to the stage right at 9 and went until right around 11:15. Just 2+ hours of pure rock with a brief encore break. Face and ear drums melted.  Even with earplugs they are ringing now, but it sounded great.  Great energy, so fun watching him bounce around that tiny stage.  Looked like he hit his forehead on the mic at one point later on, and accidentally hit his guitar tech with the guitar neck another time. Watching him interact with the rest of the band as he signals what song he is about to go into next is great, especially in such close proximity.  Could clearly hear him singing when away from the mic.  Had a great view of his drummer for probably the first time, such a unique setup, he's like in the kit (again what do I know about actually playing music).  Opening to the show and to the encore just burned.  So many highlights I tried to just take it all in and try and remember every moment.  I believe it was Suzy Lee that blew my mind.  Carolina Drama is always a standout for me.  Ball and Biscuit ended it was clear that was the last song of the night, there was no topping that energy.  

At the end he said something along the lines of how magical of a place the Bottle is, and don't ever let it get torn down/taken away.  Sounded like the White Stripes had played there 7 times back in the day.

My buddy was turned onto the White Stripes when a member of Pavement mentioned that they were a new band he was listening to. After that tip he saw them open for Sleater Kinney at the Metro, then headlining at Empty Bottle a handful of times, I think overall he saw them 14 times over the years.  So it was really cool to see this show with him and get some of those stories.

Aside from a handful of Raconteurs festival sets over the years, this was my 6th time seeing Jack (Chicago Theatre 2014, Rave-Milwaukee/Metro/Aragon 2018, UIC 2022), and Ill be seeing him at the Aragon again tomorrow (later today technically I guess).  Tonight was just such a highlight of a lifetime of my 500+ shows over the years.  I should have a more profound end to this rant.