Customer Reviews

The White Stripes - Under Blackpool Lights

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You've maybe heard of this band but are wondering if they're the real deal? They are phenomenonally real, and this live concert shows why. That boy Jack White has studied the blues masters and seems to have made the same deal with the devil that Robert Johnson did. His playing is positively possessed: an over-amped guitar sound that reminded me both of Hendrix and Blue Cheer's Leigh Stephens, a voice between young Robert Plant and Janis Joplin. The drummer is perfect: solid, beautiful, and very cool. No stage gimmickry or back-up dancers, just an electrifying couple setting the night on fire. For once you can believe the hype.

I was in awe the entire time. The White Stripes are just back to basic music, and Jack White plays the guitar as if he is possessed. Meg White is a solid drummer - a perfect complement to the guitar wailings of Jack. That's it folks, two musicians who make more music than larger bands.

The energy is astounding. The audio recording is beautiful. The visuals are intentionally grainy, but I find it enhances the experience. Overall, the package is very well done. There are no frills. You put the DVD in and the concert begins.

Lover's of music will not be disappointed. I believe Jimi Hendrix would have been impressed.

I got this DVD the day it came out and watched it that evening. Since then, I have watched it at least two more times. The audio quality is brilliant, the performance is past even their usual high standard. The grainy film may be annoying for some people, but, to me, it is classic White Stripes and doesn't detract from the film at all.

Jack White's guitar playing is unbelievable and the band has a stunning onstage presence, especially considering there are only the two of them. I saw the band live in Detroit last year, and this film captures their live energy as well as could be expected, but nothing even compares to actually being there.

The tracklisting has the standard elements of a post-Elephant show, opening with "When I Hear My Name" and "Black Math" and ending with "Boll Weevil." However, it also includes some rare live songs, most notably "I Fought Pirhanas," from their first album, and the mixes of "Death Letter"/"Grinnin In Your Face" and "Let's Build A Home"/"Goin' Back To Memphis." Disappointingly absent is "Fell In Love With A Girl," but, overall, the included songs are the best the White Stripes have to offer in a live performance.

There are actually a few extras, but you have to find them on your own... Mr. White wouldn't want it to be too easy to get at the extras, you know? Another review mentioned Jack's guitar as a Gibson Firebird... Live, Jack has three guitars with him- a 1964 Airline, a Kay hollowbody and a Domino Dawson, the main guitar being the red and white Airline. He uses the Airline (made of plastic!) for most of the songs except the ones that require a slide, such as "Seven Nation Army," "Death Letter," and "I Fought Pirhanas."

While nothing can compare to the White Stripes' actual live performance, this DVD is the closest you'll get without actually being there. The White Stripes are one of the best rock bands around today, and I highly recommend purchasing this DVD - and their albums, if you haven't heard them already.

Before I stopped into the store and picked this album up, I had pretty bunch stopped buying music for six months and was content to listen to the Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The White Stripes playlist I seemed to have running at the time among many other things, when I bought this Video I had the latter 3 White Stripes albums. This video changed the direction I was heading musically, I have since purchased the first two White Stripes albums and many others as this has relit the musical fire that had been smuldering over and not ignited launched into any particular direction. This DVD has actually changed my life, I have purchased, Robert Johnson, Son House, Charley Patton, as well as all the White Stripes albums as said earlier and am on a musical tear to find out as much as possible as to what developed Jack White into the man he is today.

The Concert is one of the most enthralling things I have ever seen in my life. After a couple minutes into it, it becomes truly apparent that you are witness to something very special. I own quite a few concert DVDs (not bragging,) and this is one I will watch over and over again. Jack Whites rendition of Dolly Partons "Jolene" is on par with a performance of Stairway to heaven. His Dylan covers and every single song he runs through on his 90 minute tear are all five star performances. I would suggest this DVD to any music fan above almost everything else. It is an absolute must see, and a must own, that will surely be replayed many times.

After basically giving up on modern rock, I was given a copy of Get Behind Me Satan. Having never heard any White Stripes music (although I knew the name)I was pretty impressed by GBMS. SO being a good little surfer, visited TWS website where they have several videos to view. There you will find their cover of Jolene..which was taken from the concert featured on this DVD.
Upon seeing this video...I knew I HAD to see the whole show.

Blown away, stunned, and instantly addicted to The White Stripes. Other reviewers have attempted to describe what this DVD is like. So I will not rehash. It must be seen to be believed. Powerful, emotional, and a flat out steal at this price. If I could give it 10 or 100 stars I would.

Like your previous reviewers, I was also at one of the 2 gigs filmed for this release. It was the first time I had seen The Stripes and afterwards I rated it as one of the most exciting perfomances I had witnessed in over 30 years of attending rock concerts.
There is, of course, the danger that a film of a concert you attended failing to match up to the memory you have of it. This is not the case with this DVD. The 8mm grainy film quality certainly adds to the atmosphere. You can almost feel the sweat from the audience as they bounce up and down on the sprung ballroom floor, despite the fact that it was below freezing outside on that cold January evening. There are no extras, just the concert, which is how it should be. The packaging is nice though. Buy it now. Highly recommended to get you jumping around the room.

OK, to start off with, I have to say that I am a HUGE fan of the White Stripes. What I hear in this video is nothing less than what is expected of these two incredible musicians. The problem is with the editing.

Get past the grainy video. I've done plenty videos of live concerts, and even with all the gadgets available it still is difficult to pull a good crisp image from a distance of a band performing live. My biggest problem with this vid is that it was totally expected. Fast quick shots jumping from different angles and not giving the viewer much of an experience of the characters.

What is it with contemporary video editors? Can they get it through their thick skull that there are people who would really like to see static or extended shots of the performers doing what they do best? (play)

I certainly can't dog this video, because the music generates the flavor of the duo, however it comes to mind that this disc could be played without the video and be equally enjoyable. (Hmm, sounds more like a cd to me)

Regardless, if you are a big WS fan I still highly recommend you get this cut. Just don't expect to see any of gritty profiles and expessions of Jack or Meg for anything more than 3 seconds. Too bad, because we all love watching them express their music.

With just a slip to the left or the right, this could've been cheese or, worse, the band's miniature aesthetic could've been dwarfed by the surroundings.

But "Under Blackpool Lights" has been put together with the same stark simplicity that makes the band so unique. Jack and Meg sling out one song after another -- Jack does his Robert-Plant-caught-in-a-wringer howl and moan; his guitars wail; Meg, sans shoes, pounds drums; fuzzy, red-lit crowds of fans roil all around and hand-held cameras capture the whole thing. It's gritty, it's grainy, it's groovin' and it's great.

Here's what they play (in just about an hour and a half):

1) "When I Hear My Name"
2)"Black Math"
3) "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"
4) "I Think I Smell a Rat"
5) "Take a Whiff on Me"
6) "Astro"
7) "Outlaw Blues"
8) "Jack the Ripper"
9) "Jolene"
10) "Hotel Yorba"
11) "Death Letter"
12) "Do"
13) "The Hardest Button to Button"
14) "Truth Doesn't Make a Noise"
15) "The Big Three Killed My Baby"
16) "Wasting My Time"
17) "You're Pretty Good Looking"
18) "Hello Operator"
19) "Apple Blossom"
20) "Ball and Biscuit"
21) "Let's Shake Hands"
22) "I Fought Pirhanas"
23) "Let's Build a Home"
24) "Goin' Back to Memphis"
25) "Seven Nation Army"
26) "De Ballit of De Boll Weevil"

Of course I wasn't at the concert when this filmed and I've only been a fan for about a year,but I started getting into them when I saw them on Conan.I bought this dvd when it came out and I wasn't disappointed at all!! Lots of energy,which some bands don't have these days...Too bad there are no extras,but the concert makes up for it...VERY GOOD...EXCELLENT....

I have never had the privilege to see the White Stripes live, but this was an excellent substitute. Even sitting in the comfort of my own home, I wanted to jump up and pogo with the audience. Ever hear people say they have a hole in their sound? Ha! Watch this my friend. Prepare to get a hurricane of sound thrown your way, with the energy and electricty of a lightning storm. Jack is like a mad scientist on stage, constantly tweeking, switching, improvising, concocting fantastic potions of sound. Raw, undiluted, pure- the way any performance should be. Watching this makes you wonder why other bands bother with 2 or 3 more members. I read a review of one of their performances once where the guy said how you can't believe you got your ass kicked my just two people. Exactly. If you're not already a believer, this performance should make you one.
In their version of Jolene, Jack wails with the pain and intensity of someone who knows the sentiment of the song.
As you watch, you begin to understand that, unlike most bands who get up on stage and showboat and puke out what's on their CD, the White Stripes get on stage to please themselves, and along the way ultimately satisfy anyone listening. As you watch, mesmerized, admiring Jack's mad genius, you can't help but scream inside yourself, "IT'S ALIVE!!!"