White Stripes & Strokes Display Friendship In Joint Show

08/09/2002 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Matt Ashare

(8/9/02, 3 p.m. ET) -- All was sweetness and light--and loud--as the White Stripes and the Strokes played the first of four joint shows on Thursday (August 8) at Clutch Cargo's in Pontiac, Michigan. Clearly stoked to be playing together, the two bands took ample opportunity to, well, stroke each other during their respective times on stage.

"I hope you guys are as excited as we are," Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said during his band's set, which he ended with the comment, "Stay tuned for an awesome f--king band--the White Stripes!"

The latter's Jack White kept his sentiments simple, too. "One thing--God bless the Strokes," he said as he and drummer Meg White returned for their encore, with Casablancas watching from the wings.

But the friendship didn't mean the two bands cut each other any quarter. Both came to play hard, and the Strokes did just that during a 15-song, 55-minute set that seemed to gain intensity from a recent injury to Casablancas's left knee, which forced the singer to walk onstage with crutches and sit during the entire show--except for a brief moment during "Last Nite" when he hopped over to slap bassist Nikolai Fraiture for "f--king up."

Still, Casablancas and his bandmates tore up their time on stage, offering fan favorites such as "New York City Cops," "Soma," "Is This It?", and "The Modern Age," as well as the rocking new tracks "You Talk Too Much," "Meet Me In The Bathroom," "The Way It Is," and an untitled number referred to on the set list as "Ze Newie."

The White Stripes followed in kind with their 55-minute set that was as powerful as the Strokes' performance but a bit looser, as the duo stretched several of its songs into lengthy jams that allowed Jack White to thrash out guitar licks drawn mostly from the Willie Dixon song book. The Stripes did give the packed club--a renovated church--a chance to sing along to "Fell In Love With A Girl" and "Hotel Yorba," as well as to "Apple Blossom" from the band's second album, De Stijl, and the new single "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground."

White underscored the evening's theme with his performance of "We're Going To Be Friends," which he sang as "we all wanna be friends."

After a performance at the Chene Park amphitheater in downtown Detroit, the Stripes/Strokes friendship continues with a pair of performances in New York City on Wednesday (August 14) at Irving Plaza and Thursday (August 15) at Radio City Music Hall.

-- Gary Graff, Detroit

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