STATIC and FEEDBACK

Goodbye to the White Stripes

When a band is finished, folks want to know what the defining moment was. If given three or four minutes to describe the White Stripes to the unfamiliar, where to turn? Was it “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” or “The Denial Twist?” The piano rumble of “My Doorbell?” Their live performance of “Seven Nation Army” and “Death Letter” at the Grammys?

It could be any of those. But since this is my forum, the White Stripes discussion begins and ends with their performance of “Let’s Build a Home” on Conan O’Brien in 2003. Finishing of a week in which the Stripes were Conan’s musical guest every night, Jack and Meg kicked into a bit of southern boogie from their second album, De Stijl.

Immediately, Jack White is nearly off the rails. Wringing every tortured note and chord out of a beaten-to-hell guitar, he’s the 21st century incarnate of the head-cuttin’ blues man storming into the dance hall to show off his chops. It’s not refined, it’s not pretty and it’s not clean, but it’s a blast, and it’s real. After about three minutes, Jack makes a bee line for Conan’s desk to tear up some slide action. On the way back to the stage, the guitar cuts out, he tosses it, grabs the mic and jumps into Son House’s “John the Revelator.” Crash, thud, bow, the end. It was musical carnage.

It’s the greatest four minutes of television I’ve ever seen.

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