Photos and review by Michael Hurcomb - Staff Photographer club.kingsnake.com
Take a hot & muggy summer Toronto night, a thunderstorm warning, an absolutely packed venue and The Dead Weather and you have a perfect storm. An anxious crowd became deafeningly loud when Alison Mosshart strutted onto the stage grabbed the mic and the band kicked into "60 Feet Tall". Alison is a force onstage; writing, bending, screaming, strutting & sweating with everything she has. The only distraction is Jack White, the other force of The Dead Weather; whose remarkable presence behind a drum kit, behind a mic or behind the wail of his guitar challenges Alison as the leader of the band. I genuinely feel sorry for Dean Fertita (Guitar) and Jack Lawrence (bass) because I feel like people forget to notice them and their contributions to the band which are overshadowed by Alison and Jack White.
After "60 Feet Tall" the band moved into Hang You From The Heavens follow by the Them (Van Morrison was their singer) cover of "You Just Can't Win" with Jack White taking lead vocals and finishing the song behind the kit. Now I'm not sure if it was me but it really seemed like The Dead Weather were fighting to find their groove tonight. They sounded great, Jack was ferocious behind the kit and Alison sounded great but they just weren't quite in sync. The few times I thought it came together was when the Jacks switched it up, putting Mr. White behind the mic and guitar and Mr. Lawrence behind the kit. There is something so right about Jack White singing and playing guitar. His raunchy voice and screaming leads add an sonic element to make the Dead Weather groove (and I'm a big White Stripes and Raconteurs fan). And hearing Alison and Jack singing together is even better and their chemistry is fantastic.
The set was made up of songs from Horehound and Sea Of Cowards with a cover of "New Pony" by Bob Dylan thrown in towards the end. The majority of the material is strong but their singles "Die by the Drop" and "Treat Me Like Your Mother" stand out as their strongest and most crowd engaging material. You couldn't hear the last note of the show because the sold out crowd inside the now hot and muggy Sound Academy were screaming for more. With the frequency of their Toronto visits it should take too long.
Click here to check out the rest of The Dead Weather photos by Michael Hurcomb Staff Photographer