White Stripes Play Set In Halifax Pool Hall Before Big Show

HALIFAX — Follow the white-striped road. That's exactly what hordes of music lovers were up to in Halifax last Friday, as they chased a certain Detroit rock group around the harbour city in search of a secret afternoon show.

Fans were on high alert as they waited for word on where the bonus acoustic gig was to go down after hearing about free performances across the country in venues including a park, a bowling alley and a city bus. Dozens of Jack and Meg White followers, decked out in the band's candy colours, descended upon Citadel Hill when they learned the "siblings" were going to yell the command for the daily noon gun atop the tourist hot spot.

Although The White Stripes thrilled onlookers by marching up the steep hill with bagpipers and drummers in tow, they didn't exactly break out into "The Hardest Button To Button" within the walls of the British fortress or on the surrounding grassy landscape.

"We were in the Citadel just having a look around," 27-year-old Merrin Fabre of Melbourne, Australia said of running into the rockers inside the grounds. "We were in the same air space. We inhaled the same air as Jack White."

The blues-rockers kept the crowd guessing, prompting people to swarm downtown streets in search of any sign of The White Stripes. The buzz really started reverberating after fans spotted Jack and crew knocking down some pins Thursday evening at a bowling alley in the Halifax Shopping Centre. Swirling rumours suggested that the band could show up in the idyllic Public Gardens, on the deck of the Bluenose II docked downtown, or even in a small city library.

But the answer was none of the above. Instead, Jack and Meg turned a small pool hall called Locas Bar And Billiards at the corner of Salter and Barrington streets into a bumping concert venue. But by the time the side show was announced, the bar was already closed to hopeful hardcore fans.

It's estimated that between 100 and 150 lucky listeners squeezed through the front doors after hearing about the impromptu gig through inside connections. Most diehard fans were stuck outside, begging the bouncer to ease up or leaning on the brick wall to feel the vibrations of the guitar and drums. The half-hour, six-song set would have been made more memorable had they decided to rock the outdoors in the midst of the Tall Ships Nova Scotia Festival under the sunniest skies of the summer thus far.

"I just work a block away, so I just ran out the door and got in line, but we didn't get much farther than right here," 27-year-old Mike Hogan said 20 minutes after finding out about the show on a local internet forum. The disappointed Halifax man settled for climbing the outside wall and peeking into a first floor window.

"I see that the bar isn't full," he said. "I can see Meg White's hair flapping around. That's about it."