{"id":495945,"date":"2026-10-14T15:46:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/495945\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T15:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:46:20","slug":"jack-white-takes-san-francisco-with-a-dynamic-double-feature-popmatters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/495945\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack White Takes San Francisco with a Dynamic Double Feature \u00bb PopMatters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, 23rd September<\/p>\n

The autumn equinox has arrived here, and it\u2019s an extra-special occasion in San Francisco, with guitar hero Jack White back in town for the third straight year. Fans were already looking forward to a big show at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on 24th September. Then White<\/a> pulled another card from up his sleeve when he announced an additional show at the fabled Fillmore Auditorium a week earlier. Now it\u2019s a two-night stand, and fans are amped up.<\/p>\n

White is having a big 2026 after following up 2024\u2019s rip-rocking No Name album with Frozen Charlotte this summer, another <\/a>killer<\/a> album<\/a> of edgy blues rock power that keeps the same quartet going for another victory lap. White has also continued stepping up in the role of progressive culture worker in recent years, periodically sparring in the media with America\u2019s anti-democratic Commander in Chief Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been truly refreshing to see a straight shooter like Jack White among a number of rock stars speaking out for liberty and justice, at a perilous time for America when the Trump regime has been waging a war on truth and reason. White has also been stepping out as a 21st-century renaissance man: promoting independent artists on his Third Man Records<\/a> label, designing unique music gear with Third Man Hardware<\/a>, creating art via Jack White Art and Design, and publishing a book of his lyrics and other writings last year through Third Man<\/a> <\/a>Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

Jack White Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing Volume 1<\/a> finds the iconic musician and creator making another impromptu appearance in the City, when it\u2019s announced that the Fillmore show will be preceded by an afternoon reading from White at the famed City Lights Bookstore<\/a> in San Francisco\u2019s North Beach neighborhood. Those who have to hold down a day job can\u2019t attend, but White posts a video on Instagram<\/a> that captures a heady moment from the event. The Gen-X rocker sounds a bit like Jim Morrison while reading poetry, creating a surreal vibe and conjuring a sense of spiritual connection to the bohemian era of the 1960s.<\/p>\n

Around 9:00 pm, Jack White and his band hit the stage before a packed crowd at the Fillmore. No ubiquitous cell phones were in the air recording videos, as White required everyone to store their phones in Yondr pouches for the show. It\u2019s a change of pace that generates something of a retro vibe to the turn of the millennium era before everyone had cell phones, such as when the White Stripes<\/a> rocked the Fillmore in 2002.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Scratch Blues\u201d from No Name opens with a heavy sound as the quartet rock out and White rips off an incendiary solo. The White Stripes\u2019 \u201cLittle Bird\u201d is an early highlight, with the vintage slide-guitar sound Jack White has mastered. \u201cIt\u2019s Rough on Rats\u201d employs similar deep blues slide guitar over a hot progression, and it sounds so good here at the Fillmore. \u201cAll Along the Way\u201d from 2022\u2019s Entering Heaven Alive brings the sound down to a simmering yet still mesmerizing level, as White sings of a romantic road \u201cinto the light from the dark\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

The Raconteurs<\/a>\u2018 \u201cCarolina Drama\u201d has a blues-noir vibe, telling the story of an illicit affair in the Old South. The group are dialed in, yet the Fillmore is so packed that a shoegaze vibe sets in because of the lack of elbow room. The sharp riffs and deep-pocket groove of \u201cDerecho Demonico\u201d from Frozen Charlotte flip a switch, though, as the syncopated sound sparks a more dance-friendly vibe. Bassist Dominic Davis and drummer Patrick Keeler lock in tight as White throws down mad tone-science riffage, followed by keyboardist Bobby Emmett\u2019s hot electric organ. \u201cI got one rule, I don\u2019t start nothing, nothing that I can not finish,\u201d White sings defiantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s Nobody There\u201d is a hot rocker from the new album that keeps the vibe lit with fierce riffs over tight fills from Keeler in a syncopated groove. \u201cCannon\u201d from the White Stripes\u2019 1999 debut conjures that turn-of-the-millennium vibe, though the song\u2019s heavy blues tone goes back much further. Likewise for \u201cThe Union Forever\u201d from 2001\u2019s White Blood Cells, as Jack White and the band flesh out the White Stripes\u2019 stripped-down duo sound with the full quartet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

\u201cI Cut Like a Buffalo\u201d from the Dead Weather<\/a> is a treat; the band features White playing drums behind enigmatic singer Alison Mosshart of the Kills<\/a>. The bluesy garage rock syncopation fits the Fillmore\u2019s dynamic sound and timeless aura. White cranks it all the way back up with modern rock mayhem on \u201cG.O.D. and the Broken Ribs\u201d, the first single from Frozen Charlotte that lights another fuse. There\u2019s something about this song and its infectiously edgy groove that\u2019s made it feel like an instant classic from the moment it was released, to the stylish Liam Lynch video<\/a>, the Saturday Night Live performance, and now the way it rocks the Fillmore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh Ball Stepper\u201d from 2014\u2019s Lazeretto is another delight as Jack White throws down more electrifying riffage over a big beat. The man isn\u2019t just an ace guitarist; he\u2019s a Doc Brown of the tone sciences, fusing blues elements from across the decades to create a fresh, vibrant sound that resonates through the space-time continuum.<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

\u201cArchbishop Harold Holmes\u201d from No Name is one of the evening\u2019s most electrifying rockers, with a fierce groove and edgy riffs as Jack sings about \u201cthe walls of Jericho\u201d and finding seven friends. The back half of the set has been alternately groovy and mesmerizing. \u201cBall and Biscuit\u201d from the White Stripes\u2019 2003 Elephant album seems to continue a theme. White sings of possibly being a third man, but definitely the seventh son while throwing in some \u201cLemon Song\u201d riffs too.<\/p>\n

Toward the end of the set, Jack White suggests he\u2019s going to head back to his hotel after the show to watch film noir movies set in San Francisco, a sub-genre that includes classics like The Maltese Falcon and Vertigo. The latter Alfred Hitchcock<\/a> film seems to be referenced in the traditional free poster handed out after the show, with an image of a man falling (similar to the original movie poster). There\u2019s also another larger print at the merch table, with stunning artwork featuring a mythical creature in space and a black cat.<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

The Raconteurs\u2019 \u201cSteady as She Goes\u201d draws a cheer when it kicks off the encore sequence, and \u201cFreedom at 21\u201d from 2012\u2019s\u00a0Blunderbuss\u00a0is another crowd-pleaser with its deep, bluesy riffs. The new \u201cDollar Bill\u201d from Frozen Charlotte electrifies the Fillmore, one of those tunes that sounds fresh and familiar at the same time as the guitarist utilizes retro riffage some might recognize from Jimmy Page\u2019s bag of sonic tricks. Yet White transmogrifies those vintage blues licks into a fiery modern rocker that targets the pervasive, greed-driven mindset that plagues modern society.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The show ends with smash hit \u201cSeven Nation Army\u201d, the White Stripes tune from 2003\u2019s Elephant that\u2019s become one of the most ubiquitous songs in modern music. Played to hype up crowds at sporting events across the nation, the familiar riffs conjure a collective consciousness of sorts that feels like a fitting way to close this special night at the Fillmore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James SwansonThursday, 24th September<\/p>\n

Fans line up outside the much larger Bill Graham Civic Auditorium across from San Francisco\u2019s City Hall, where capacity increases from 1,200 at the Fillmore to about 8,500 with general admission seating. The arena fills up, from the packed floor section to the upper balcony. The band rocks out on energetic tunes like \u201cThat\u2019s How I\u2019m Feeling\u201d and \u201cOld Scratch Blues\u201d, yet the floor scene looks really tight, as if there\u2019s no room to move. Most of the balcony crowd remains seated, an ongoing trend among the Bay Area\u2019s older demographic for at least the past decade, driven by the city\u2019s existential real estate crisis.<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

White takes notice and asks, \u201cIs this an acoustic show?\u201d He suggests they bring out some chairs and, in fact, takes a seat for a few songs. The melodic hooks in \u201cLove Interruption\u201d make solid use of the acoustic guitar, as do the old-school blues sounds of \u201cTemporary Ground\u201d and \u201cAll Along the Way\u201d. The band lifts the energy on the Raconteurs\u2019 \u201cBroken Boy Soldier\u201d before \u201cDollar Bill\u201d sends a charge through the audience as it did in the encore at the Fillmore. \u201cUnderground\u201d from No Name electrifies the set further with an upbeat major key sound and scintillating slide riffs reminiscent of Led Zeppelin<\/a>\u2018s \u201cTraveling Riverside Blues\u201d, before \u201cDerecho Demonico\u201d ignites with its monster groove.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

The floor starts to loosen up during this sequence, while more fans in the balcony rise to dance too. The vibe is getting lit now, thanks to three new songs released over the past two years. It goes to show what strong material White has put together on his two latest albums, in turn revealing what disingenuous liars Donald Trump and his propaganda-pushing minions are when they tried to claim this past summer that White was washed up. They clearly knew White\u2019s righteous critiques of the Trump regime were on the mark, hence the backlash. The reality is that Frozen Charlotte and No Name find the guitar maestro at the peak of his considerable sonic powers, making 2026 a great time to be a Jack White fan.<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

The vintage blues power of Albert King\/Booker T & the MG\u2019s classic \u201cBorn Under a Bad Sign\u201d from the late 1960s adds to the old-school San Francisco noir vibe, as if Jack White could be one of the anti-hero characters in such a flick. There\u2019s some tasty interplay between White\u2019s guitar and Emmett\u2019s organ, as if they were just working it out at the Saloon in North Beach. White keeps rocking the house with tunes from Frozen Charlotte on \u201cThere\u2019s Nobody There\u201d and \u201cG.O.D. and the Broken Ribs\u201d again, with the latter tune really getting the Bill Graham crowd going with an energy that ripples across the room.<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

White mixes things up in a big encore sequence with 2007\u2019s \u201cIcky Thump\u201d, featuring some of the White Stripes\u2019 most recognizable riffs and zeitgeisty lyrics as he sings, \u201cWhite Americans, what? \/ Nothing better to do \/ Why don\u2019t you kick yourself out? \/ You\u2019re an immigrant too \/ Who\u2019s usin\u2019 who? \/ What should we do? \/ Well, you can\u2019t be a pimp and a prostitute too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

The show again closes out with a big romp through \u201cSeven Nation Army\u201d, which feels even more fitting in a larger arena where the anthemic energy cascades across the venue. The song seems to take on more and more of a timeless vibe as the years slide by and feels like it could play \u2019til the end of time, or perhaps the next beginning when \u201cone boy and one girl\u201d are ready to start again as White sings of in \u201cG.O.D. and the Broken Ribs\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a sensational 48 hours in San Francisco with Jack White and his killer band. It\u2019s only too bad that this blues power can\u2019t be utilized to vanquish the greedheads in the White House who have been working to strip America for parts to sell off to their cronies. Yet hope for the rebellion lives on with rockers like Jack White speaking truth to power, then backing it up with kick-ass tunes that take no prisoners.<\/p>\n

\"JackPhoto: David James Swanson