The Dead Weather awakes Chicago

Wednesday, July 29, at the Vic Theatre

By Genevieve Diesing
Published: August 1st, 2009 | 1:30am

The Dead Weather singer Alison Mosshart is the last person one would want to treat like his or her mother, despite the singer’s command to do just that as she performed the aptly-titled track from this year’s Horehound (Third Man) at Chicago’s Vic Theatre.

In the second of the group’s back-to-back Chicago shows promoting their debut record, Mosshart’s performance cemented her image. As she slithered, seduced, and screamed to her adoring fans, the Kills front woman made one thing clear — she would not be outshined by her drummer, Jack White.

Although Mosshart has paved her own fame in the Kills, it was necessary to make the distinction. White, for his part, is not only a legendary performer but also has earned superstar status through his rare and dynamic approach to music. He has led the two-person White Stripes to unlikely heights of acclaim, rocked out with the guys via the Raconteurs, and has sold music directly to fans from his own production studio.

While White has handed over vocal reigns to Mosshart for this latest collaboration, many simply consider the Dead Weather Jack White’s new band — even though it is also comprised of Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs and the Greenhornes. Not to mention, Horehound’s musical arrangements and style reek of White.

While White did little to deflect attention — he shared the mic a good deal more than on the album, and even opened the set singing “I Cut Like a Buffalo” while drumming simultaneously — he didn’t need to hand Mosshart the floor because she quickly stole the show.

With self-assurance practically dripping from her shirt, Mosshart barked choruses into the microphone, swaggered atop the speakers, and shifted to the thumping beat as though she herself were an instrument. She was all attitude as she repeatedly swung her hair and sang with an unflinching glower.

White and Mosshart played off each other’s energies, as his theatrical soulfulness balanced her aching grit. They cupped the microphone to both mouths simultaneously, the sexual intonations roaring as they elicited verses such as “Just cause you caught me / Doesn’t mean it’s a sin.”

Wanton undertones are as much a part of the Dead Weather’s straightforward garage-rock as their eardrum-splitting guitars which boomed underneath strobe lights as the crowd beckoned for a stage-dive. The audience pumped fists and head-banged with abandon before the band returned for an encore with their single “Hang You from the Heavens.”

In today’s age of new modesty in the indie rock community, where unassuming demeanors and grandpa glasses continue to dominate what are sometimes emotionally frozen shows, this uncomplicated, raw expression was refreshing.

Although Horehound has been the recipient of much hype, it’s not the revelatory album that White Stripes, Raconteurs, and Kills fans may have fantasized. Rather, it is a to-the-point rock album that resulted rather rapidly and fluidly from its members’ impromptu jam sessions earlier this year. Though light on the songwriting, it’s heavy on attitude — and an extra helping of the latter made for an exhilarating live performance.

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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page

The Dead Weather official site

The Dead Weather MySpace page

Third Man Records