Undoubtedly one of the most important duos in music over the last 20 years was The White Stripes. Even though they broke up back in 2011, frontman Jack White has been busy with a solo career, been an integral figure in vinyl’s resurgence, and has dug up so much rare material from his former band, that it seems like they’ve been more active since their demise than before. Now, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The White Stripes, they have shared out a recording of the group’s very first concert.
Having formed The White Stripes back in 1997, after their marriage the previous year, Jack and Meg White spent quite a while capturing their early lo-fi garage rock sound. Then, on Bastille Day of that year – July 14th – The White Stripes played their very first show at an open mic night at the Gold Dollar bar in Detroit, Michigan. The group would soon become a fixture of the venue, honing their craft with numerous shows at the venue.
As The White Stripes’ Facebook pages announces, “Today marks The White Stripes 20th Anniversary! In celebration, the band’s first ever performance at Detroit’s Gold Dollar open mic night on Bastille Day 1997 – 20 years ago today – is now available digitally for the first time.” As hardcore fans of the band would already be aware, the concert had been released previously as a 7″ record via Jack White’s Third Man Records Vault, but it’s now available for the masses to hear in a digital format.
The three-song release features the tracks ‘St. James Infirmary’, ‘Jimmy the Exploder’, and a cover of The Searchers’ ‘Love Potion #9’. While the first two tracks found their way onto the group’s self-titled debut record, the latter has only been previously released as a live recording.
While there’s sadly no news yet of any potential White Stripes reunion, the ongoing release of live material from the group is definitely helping to fill the void left by the dynamic duo. In related news, if your desires are more focused towards the literary, Jack White is set to be releasing a children’s book later this year, based upon the lyrics to the group’s classic ‘We Are Going To Be Friends‘. You’re never too old to enjoy a kid’s book, especially when it’s made of rock lyrics.
Give The White Stripes’ Live On Bastille Day a listen below.
