The White Stripes Across Canada: Edmonton

The last day of June saw the sun wedge its way between the clouds, allowing heat-thirsty Edmontonians to emerge from hibernation with short shorts and designer sunglasses. However, while many may credit Saturday's busy streets with the welcoming weather, everyone knows that a rumoured free White Stripes show was what really woke up the city.

The downtown public library was the speculative location. Eager Stripes sleuths wandered around the Works Festival (which is taking place in Churchill Square, where the library is located), hoping to catch wind of the duo's appearance. But alas, The White Stripes had something better in mind for Edmonton. They ended up scheduling a last-minute free show at the north end's R. W. Tegler Youth Sports Centre.

The show was the talk of the town that afternoon, and the 100-or-so lucky attendees didn't hold back their excitement. Even in the kilometre-long lineup that stretched down the street from the sold-out Shaw Conference Centre that night, individual accounts of the band's performance were told to somewhat disappointed faces.

But the disappointment didn't last long.

As soon as Meg and Jack White took the Shaw stage, fans whooped and called from beneath the sea of red light. Jack was dressed completely in red. Meg was clad in red and white. "Icky Thump" was second on the set list, sending the crowd over the edge, and as soon as Jack screamed the lines, "Well, Americans: What, nothin' better to do? Why don't you kick yourself out? You're an immigrant too," cheers extended from the audience.

Some might say the Stripes' show was merely an Edmontonian warmup for Canada Day. Beer flowed, a disco ball shot white specks into the red atmosphere and drunk heads rocked side to side. The energy and spirit were reminiscent of 2001's Canada Day riots, you know, minus the rioting.

"I'm Slowly Turning Into You" turned into an audience singalong, calming everyone into a state of musical bliss. You could barely see Meg's face from beneath her veil of hair and sweat. Ditto for Jack. But just as the duo finally brought things down a notch, Jack casually walked over to a white amp proudly displaying a red maple leaf and pointed a single finger at the symbol.

There was definitely some Canadian love in the atmosphere from there on. Jack whipped out a red and white guitar, onlookers slipped into their red White Stripes T-shirts and the performance of "You Don't Know What Love Is" gave fans something to think about. Meg and Jack may have been two lonely figures on stage, but it didn't take much for them to command crowd. The Stripes' presence was enough to get people scrambling onto bleachers and elevated platforms.

After the set was finished, fans screamed for an encore, but everyone knew there was no questioning the Stripes' reappearance. "Jolene" and "Seven Nation Army" were the most memorable songs played in the second set, and the latter had Jack playing his red and white guitar between his legs and behind his head, only so he could end his stint with a humble shrug of the shoulders.

In keeping with this tour's tradition, Meg and Jack capped off the evening by saluting roaring fans with an Alberta flag while thanking everyone for being "friends." There's no doubt that Edmonton fans sure saw a lot of the White that day, but thanks to the Stripes, there was an equal amount of red in there, too.