Jack White “Sixteen Saltines” 2012. Third Man Records. I’ve pulled this 12″ single today because tonight we’re heading to see Jack White perform at the Panther Arena here in Milwaukee; the last time we saw him was almost exactly 10 years ago on a ridiculously hot summer night in July of 2012. It was the night before my birthday, I had waaaaayyyy too many margaritas at dinner prior to the show and was basically hungover by the time the sold-out concert at the very un-airconditioned Eagles Ballroom started. I was not OK. I spent most of the concert ordering Sprite from the bar, mainly for the ice chunks that I put on the back of my neck. They melted instantly. Anyway, back in 2012 he was on tour for his LP Blunderbuss: “Sixteen Saltines” is the second single from that release. The hard garage/blues punk rocker hit #30 on the US Hot Rock & Alternative chart and went to #129 in the UK (for whatever reason it fared significantly better in Belgium, going to #16 on the Flanders region singles chart and to #27 on the Wallonia region chart. I don’t get it either). The B-side is etched with the Third Man logo – it plays just fine – and has the track “Love is Blindness,” a cover of U2‘s 1991 song from Achtung Baby. White’s voice does have some Bono edges to it along with some heavy southern/New Orleans-styled blues along with White’s shredding and squealing guitar.

I’m both excited and conflicted about seeing White’s show tonight. His last few releases have been uneven — I’m intending to write about his latest, Entering Heaven Alive, tomorrow (after a couple of listens I’m not currently a fan) and was hoping to include photos from the show. However, it’s one of those stupid concerts where they make you lock up your phones during the concert which I find hugely problematic and highly irritating. So no photos will be included unless I borrow them from social media. Speaking of social media, White was hanging out in our neighborhood last night and had dinner at one of the local restaurants, owned by a friend of ours who is also a friend of Jack’s. Jack and crew clearly like Wisconsin’s deep fried cheese curds.

Jack White at Vanguard, Milwaukee 2022, photo from Vanguard’s Instagram