The Dead Weather meet forecast
House of Blues, Boston, July 18, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
Jack White seems to be multiplying himself. First, he has White Stripes, the duo with Meg White with which he first gained a name. Next up was a side band, The Raconteurs, which gained a good rep as well through two albums. And now, he is onto his third concurrent band, the bluesy-based The Dead Weather, taking musicians from different bands. The quartet put out their debut, "Horehound," Tuesday and just started touring.
And once again, the musical genius has a winner, for the most part.
White, who as in The Raconteurs is not a stage hog, played drums and sang occasional lead vocals. The lead singer for most of the hour-long show was Alison Mossheart, one-half of The Kills. Bassist Jack Lawrence is a member of The Raconteurs, while guitarist/keyboardist Dean Fertita is in Queens of the Stone Age.
As expected, these guys know a thing or two about putting songs together. White anchored the drumming very sturdily, setting a good beat with Lawrence forming the rhythm section. White stayed away from merely pounding the skins, more content to keep the songs moving with some speed. Fertita was strong on guitar and keyboards, establishing the melodies on both again without overdoing it. He helped mete out the hard blues sound. Each musician tended to occupy the needed musical space of the songs just right.
For a band that formed earlier this year and only first played out since March, they sounded sufficiently tight, though polish fortunately would never be a word associated with a White project. The songs were a bit heavy at times, although there were also many spare musical moments without the need to go for an overly dense sound. Mossheart, who was not much of a talker, stood out more on slower, softer numbers. Credit the band for also deciding to have the vocals for Mossheart and White to be above the music. At times, such as the encore song and single Treat Me Like Your Mother, there was vocal back and forth between the two and sometimes Fertita and Lawrence kicking in as well during the show to change up the sound.
Mossheart's occasionally assumed too much of a rock attitude, snarling her vocals at times a bit too much, tossing her long hair back and engaging in some big gesture rock moves, like arching her back way way back. (The flip side was that she was very limber - that's for sure). In her case, a little less may have meant a lot more.
But, otherwise, this was a night of sturdy music - closing with Dylan's New Pony - with the emphasis on the interplay of the band. The Dead Weather pretty much met the projected forecast - another winner for Jack White.
