The Nashville Feed

Mark it as official - The Raconteurs have played Nashville
or near Nashville too much in 2008.

Too much live Jack White might seem an oxymoron, but after two warm-up shows
in April and Bonnaroo, the Ryman revealed the band's limitations.

Even on the Ryman stage, they could not touch earlier shows at the Cannery
Ballroom or Bonnaroo.

To the untrained eye, they came out, roared through some
of their better material and saluted their adopted hometown audience. But this
night, the band didn't stray far from the studio versions and rarely touched
the frenetic stage presence from their summer festival stops.

Coming close to their tour's end, Brendon Benson, Jack White and company
seemed to run on empty, going through the motions through a set barely passing
the 90-minute mark.

Let's cut to the chase on the opener - The Kills' brand of screeching
tuneless noise rock was awful. The Ryman should institute a "You must be
at least this talented to play on our stage" policy after letting these
two assault eardrums.

I don't know that what this duo (trio if you count their drum machine, which
radiated more musical ability than the flesh-and-bone band members) spat out
between cliched rock poses actually counts as music.

Of course, I believed the Raconteurs would soothe the wounds left by the
opener.

They had to ... if not for their own energy issues.

Lacking in spontaneity, they assembled some highlights from their two
records, stitched in a swirling jam that threatened to go somewhere but
dead-ended with "Rich Kid's Blues."

When they departed the stage after "Blues," just their eighth song
in under an hour, people in my pew each flashed each other "Are you
kidding me?" expressions.

Did the five songs they played upon returning qualify as an encore or a
second set? Bringing The Kills back to play on two songs, including
"Steady As She Goes," didn't earn them any favors.

But overall, the
quintet brought a higher energy for the final five, with "Hold Up"
and Broken Boy Soldiers" showing signs of life.

After mercifully dispatching The Kills, the Raconteurs tore into
"Carolina Drama," White's excellent murder ballad, let the audience
handle the closing lyric, bowed and that was it.

This show practically begged
for an encore, but house lights never lie.

Maybe all the festival shows left the band gassed. Maybe Jack White already
began plotting his next adventure in red-and-white color schemes.

Devoid of nearly anything dynamic, the Ryman show signaled might be time to
get Meg White back to Nashville and let the Raconteurs rest till 2010.

Official Website: TheRaconteurs.com

Technorati Tags: jack black, ryman, the raconteurs