Alive Experience: The White Stripes @ Snowden Grove Amphitheater (Southhaven, MS) 7-31-07

All Photos Taken By: Matt Ziegler


A red-orange moon was rising just as the White Stripes' encore began. Whatever the color, I knew this was a show worth watching. When it comes to red-orange moons you have to be in the right spot and the right spot was tonight (July 31) at the Snowden Grove Amphitheater in Southaven, MS.

This was my first visit to the new amphitheater. As we walked through the shady grove a funnel cake stand (Yes, folks there were funnel cakes and pronto pups served at a White Stripes show) glimmered ahead in the distance. For a split second I felt like I was at the Mid-South Fair, with no Kamikaze in sight. However, the entertainment left me feeling like I had been on one intense ride, sans pronto pups.

I caught the last four songs of Dan Sartain's set, which happened to be his last night opening for the White Stripes. As we settled in on the grassy knoll, Sartain sarcastically thanked everyone for sitting in their chairs. Some of the things he sang about: Leaches, Spring Break '98 Panama Beach USA, cutting teeth, and hitting the street. Formulaic blues-rock with just a hint of a surf-rock vibe. Truly an impressive sound coming out of Birmingham, AL.

Between sets the songs played over the PA were switched back and forth from vintage blues and ACDC--adding to the melting-pot of good vibes.

Just drums, a guitar, a guy screaming and a heap of sex appeal. It sounded HUGE! Their silhouhettes painted across the red backdrop were huge too--adding a dynamic effect.

Jack's performance looked like a personal exorcism all the while converting everyone watching in a ritual ceremony (Catharsis for both the musician and the audience). Slowly pulsating he slithered left and right--appearing a bit demonic. Jack's relationship with his guitars seemed anathematic as he sliced them up and down; and punctuated by slower rifts that harken the Mississippi chicken shacks of the 1930's.

Meg is intensely sexual with her steady rhythm. Her body undulates in perfect harmony with the beat.

Jack sat down behind Meg's drum kit while she took center stage singing, "Come to me in the cold, cold night." Her sultry rasp keeps you longing for their sizzle.

Midway through their set Jack said, "Thank you for letting me come home. You don't know how happy I am to be here." With that he introduced the next song "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)."

The crowd went wild (or maybe it was just me) for "Hotel Yard Buckle."

The encore was something special with the red-orange moon rising.

Jack came out for a solo with his acoustic guitar and whammy pedal...something I've never seen. As he sang--"Wondering which one...that I should choose. Breaking my teeth off"..."All kinds of red-headed women I'm not supposed to kiss. Come and watch me bleed."-- I could hear Robert Plant.

Then the disco ball dropped. "They're coming to get you," Jack sang as he climbed the stairs. He moved across the second level of the stage singing "slowly turning into you," leaving a trail of smoke behind. See for yourself below...

He then announced "Boll Weevil" as their final song of the night.

"This is our last U.S. show we play east of the Mississippi," he said. "Come on Meg, let's bring it on home."

That they did.

It was amazing. On a few occasions--in the controlled chaos--there was a chill that ran through my entire being.

Nothing like hard rock-n-roll on a humid, sticky, southern summer night.