Sit & Spin
Seattle, WA
December 2nd, 2000
---
Check it out on nugs.net HERE
---
I must admit I have some difficulty writing about White Stripes shows that I wasn't in the room for. My insight, my drive, my perspective is so driven by the experience. But this performance at the Sit & Spin (or is it Sit 'n' Spin...I've seen it both ways and it drives me crazy) from December 2000 is just one of those gigs that, even though I wasn't there for, having listened to the tape for almost twenty years it's locked into my psyche as a barn-burner.
First off, some details...the White Stripes played two shows at the Sit & Spin on this day. There was an earlier, all-ages show to accommodate minors who'd otherwise be left out due to Seattle's draconian liquor and live performance laws, and a later one that same night, 21 and up performance.
Funny thing is...we don't know which of those two shows this recording is from! If I was forced to guess, I'd imagine the later one, but I don't have anything concrete to back that up. Just a hunch I guess.
Jack and Meg start the show with an impromptu jam. Totally made up on the spot and never to be heard from again. And honestly, for me, I think it's bonkers good. Just the thick, muscly Jack White Airline guitar tone that was front and center in that era, power chords riffing, Meg kicking ass keeping time, lyrics a garbled mess all except for the barely discernible "Back to School" which we've felt was an appropriate a title as could exist for this one.
Everything else performed here feels just as sublime, rare outings for both "Slicker Drips" and "Sister, Do You Know My Name?" delight while a downright volatile run on "Hello Operator" invigorates. Jack even calls out a journalist from local weekly the Stranger in his introduction to "Truth Doesn't Make A Noise" using the writer's own words to introduce the tune as a "sketch of a great song." Asking the crowd for requests and actually following through on someone's shouting of "Astro" is unabashedly quaint here. And tying it all together with a solo rendition of "You've Got Her In Your Pocket" to end the set is a fitting audio denoument for what stands as one of the best live recordings of the band from this year.
If you've got a spare minute, it's worth taking a look at the show preview in the Stranger that got Jack's dander up. Still available for perusal here...thank god for digital publication! https://www.
---
Check it out on nugs.net HERE
---
Sit & Spin
Seattle, WA
December 2nd, 2000
Back to School
You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)
Hello Operator
Lord, Send Me An Angel
When I Hear My Name
Slicker Drips
Apple Blossom
Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground
Death Letter
Little Bird
Let's Build a Home
Goin' Back to Memphis
Let's Build a Home (reprise)
Sister, Do You Know My Name?
Truth Doesn't Make a Noise
Astro
Jack The Ripper
Cannon / John the Revelator
I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself
Jolene
You've Got Her In Your Pocket
