The White Stripes Across Canada: Burnaby, B.C.

In theory, kicking off a summer tour across Canada in late June on the sunny left coast seems like a grand idea, an icky thump of an idea, if you will (got that one out of the way early). But unfortunately for The White Stripes, this has been an uncharacteristically bummer of a June. Not enough sun and too much rain, which does nothing for the west coast defence that the rainy winter months are worth bearing for the gorgeous weather the summer is supposed to lavish upon us.

Intermittent rain and ominous clouds throughout the day surely made for some tense moments for concertgoers. Prior to the gates opening at Deer Lake Park, the venue was canopied in darkness as the rain clouds rolled in rather quickly, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Would the show be cancelled? Was B.C. going to put a hex on the rest of the tour?

Doors were indeed delayed as a torrential downpour fell upon the venue for a solid 20 minutes. Antsy ticket holders held the faith, though, and a mixed bag lineup of poncho-wearing hipsters, hippies, leather-pant wearing rockers (awesome) and, best of all, White Stripe families (with some units decked out in the WS colours and babies sporting red- and white-striped jumpers!) eagerly formed in anticipation of being let in.

And that did finally happen, of course. As any B.C.er will be quick to point out, it can rain one minute in this province and then be sunny the next. Diehard White Stripes fans hungry to hear the less-than-a-week-old Icky Thump played live and loud were ready.

The stage set-up for the Stripes was unsurprisingly a sea of red — red drum kit, red and white mic stands, red organ. Their amps had little red and white Canadian maple leaves on them. The stage helpers were perhaps going for the title of best dressed roadies ever, doing their best Rat Pack-meets-Seven Nation Army impersonation by wearing matching black suits, red ties and fedoras with little red tags on them. Frank and Dean would be proud.

Jack White sauntered onstage wearing a simple outfit of red pants and black T-shirt. Meg, in a white long-sleeved shirt and black pants, did him one better with an ultra-cute beret that Jack apparently bought her in downtown Vancouver earlier in the day. He remarked that he was happy to contribute to the local economy, which naturally brought a healthy response from the crowd.

Opener "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" got things off the ground with a jolt, and new single "Icky Thump" received a hearty welcome. The set consisted of a pleasing 60/40 mix of new and old tracks. The biggest crowd response came for Meg's "Cold Cold Night."

It was a one-hour main set followed by an encore that included "Seven Nation Army" and a sweet, slowed-down version of "Fell In Love With A Girl" that left the audience blissfully sated. After closing out their show, Jack and Meg came out with a B.C. provincial flag and paraded it around the stage, much to everyone's delight. No doubt this will happen in every province.

Hopefully the rest of the country will show Jack and Meg some nicer weather. We can only hope at least that they left B.C. with some of the province's finest, ahem, local agricultural product.