About ten years ago I somehow stumbled across The White Stripes music. On the radio or in a club or reading about them somewhere, I'm not sure exactly how. But they had a a fascinating enough look and story for me to check out the music further and I bought an imported copy of their eponymous debut album and the ramshackle mix of punk and blues had me hooked.
It's fair to say that I became pretty obsessive. Tracking down rare 7" singles on tiny labels (even going so far as to buy pre-White Stripes Jack White oddities), reading everything about them I could and telling friends how great this band were, usually to very deaf ears! By the time the wider public had latched on in the UK around 2001 with third album 'White Blood Cells' my interest was beginning to peak and following fourth release 'Elephant' in 2003 with phenomenal 'breakout' single 'Seven Nation Army' I'd had my fill. Fickle as I was.
So coming to this film of the duo's 2009 tour of every Canadian territory was an opportunity to fill in the missing years for me. Covering their career to date including a wonderfully observed tenth anniversary gig and featuring some great live footage - hey I'm a sucker for rock-umentaries anyway - this brought back to me the thrill of hearing the band in their early days. The rawness and the power that Jack and Meg generate. Plus there are some really candid pieces caught on camera, perhaps none more so than when the pair are sat at the piano at the film's close with Jack playing and singing and the (obviously silent/quiet) Meg brought to tears by his rendition of 'White Moon'. It's a touching moment indeed.
It's a joy to see bands who genuinely find pleasure in playing and making music and I suppose, despite whatever else Jack White has done in his extra curricular musical endeavours, The White Stripes will always be the most deeply felt and meaningful of these - both for them and for me.
www.whitestripes.com
www.mekongdelta.co.uk
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