"The Raconteurs" Concert Review
by David Rosen (Originally Posted on www.lasvegasroundtheclock.com )

3 out of 4 Thumbs

“How you gonna do it yourself when I'm not there to help you?” Jack White asks on The Raconteurs' “Top Yourself,” off their new album, “Consolers Of The Lonely.” He's cocky, but he's right. No one in modern rock music is going to put on a show like Jack White whether he's with his original band The White Stripes, or with his side-project (if it can even be called a “side-project”), The Raconteurs, who rocked The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Saturday, April 26.

They were also in California this weekend to headline the annual Coachella festival, but were nice enough to come grace Las Vegas with their southern and blues rock inspired brand of rock & roll. For those not already initiated, Jack White teamed up with fellow indie rock-hero Brendan Benson to form this “super group” of sorts as a way to experiment and try some new things. When their debut, “Broken Boy Soldiers” came out, some reviewers joked that it was weird that a side-project would be more commercial sounding than the original band (usually these projects are a way for a songwriter to break from the formula and try new things), what with big radio-friendly hits such as “Steady As She Goes.” This time around, however, on the new record which came out a few weeks ago, just two weeks after completing the recording (a first in the ever changing new record business), the experimentation is in full force employing crazy key changes, horns, and arrangements fit for classic soul, all while bringing back a lot of White's trademark blues sound from The White Stripes and adding more and more of the South into its overall sound.

They opened with the title track from the new album, and continued with new songs for the first half of the show. Every song was as good, if not better than the record. Experimentation is key at a concert like this, and the guys really went all out. Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence (both originally from Detroit's The Greenhornes) kept the beat going with the drums and bass, respectively while allowing White and Benson to go crazy on guitar and vocals. The duo share songwriting, lead guitar, and singing duties, and come in and out like a match made in indie-garage rock heaven.

Highlights of the show included the aforementioned “Top Yourself,” which drew huge cheers from White's sexual come-on lyrics such as, “How you gonna get that deep when your daddy ain't their to do it to you?” The new single, “Salute Your Solution,” was the most exciting and intense song of the night and got everyone dancing as White howled, “Salute your solution, yea, salute your solution!” It's about the most rocking song to hit radio since... well, the last White Stripes single...

Then, almost like a special treat just for me, they closed out with my favorite song off the new album, “Carolina Drama,”a 6 minute long story about a son who kills his alcoholic-abusive step-dad, told through rhyme and a slow dramatic groove (sample lyric: “he was a triple loser with some blue tattoos that were given to him when he was young and a drunk temper that was easy to lose, but thank God he didn't own a gun”)... not exactly the kind of song you expect to hear at a concert! But lucky me, I got to hear a note-perfect rendition live.

I couldn't recommend The Raconteurs' new album, “Consolers Of The Lonely,” enough, and if they come back to Las Vegas any time soon, make sure you go see them. Now if only we can get the White Stripes to come back to town... Please?