The White Stripes Across Canada: London

ChartAttack will have reviews, photos and news from most of The White Stripes' cross-Canada tour. Check back to this space for updates on the duo's whereabouts and goings-on as they tour the Great White North.

Jack White doesn't bite. "I'm a nice guy if you take the time to get to know me, people just don't take the time," White lamented to the crowd before sheepishly noticing his drummer's response. "I can see Meg smiling over there."

The White Stripes have been taking the time to get to know Canada a little better with their impromptu concerts and manic scheduling. The sold-out Saturday night show at the John Labbatt Centre was preceded by a 30-minute guerilla set just north of London at the Arva Flour Mills to a crowd of 300 bread enthusiasts. Regardless of what Meg might think of her "little brother," Canada is seriously eating this shit right up.

Opener Dan Sartain was doubtlessly selected for his own take on the dirty Delta-blues, but it's doubtful Jack will have another Greenhornes-cum-Raconteurs project on his hands after the tour. Give Sartain a chance, though. "Gun Vs. Knife" is a genuinely fun song and dual guitar solos always get bonus points.

The Stripes tore into their set with "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground," followed by Jack tearing off his belt and flinging it into the audience. "Icky Thump" and "Slowly Turning Into You" saw the uncertain London crowd warm up to the Detroit duo while Jack gently coaxed the lot of us to eat right out of his hand.

He made grand use of the sparse stage, taking to the elevated platform for what my sister called his "Billie Jean strut" — a stuttering waltz with his guitar. Meg almost brought the house down when she came out from behind her kit for "In The Cold, Cold Night." Jack sat with his back to the crowd, giving Meg the full spotlight while she sang more like a sultry vamp than one would've thought possible.

Following a pause to kindly facilitate a marriage proposal in the crowd, "Apple Blossom" led into the unbelievably cool Citizen Kane-inspired "The Union Forever." After about an hour of playing, the duo quickly left the stage hand in hand before returning for act two.

After five minutes of thunderous applause, the Stripes came back to play a stellar variation of "Blue Orchid," but it wasn't until "Hardest Button To Button" that Jack finally loosened up. After the anthemic "Seven Nation Army," he reassured us that we wouldn't be uncool for singing along to the finale, Leadbelly's "Boll Weevil." And with that, he brandished a giant Ontario flag and waved it over the audience.

The White Stripes can seriously do no wrong right now. It's hard to come up with a negative comment for a band playing free shows for kids at a YMCA while simultaneously setting a new bar for arena rock across the country, but I'll try: I was really looking forward to hearing the Dolly Parton cover "Jolene" and they didn't play it. Bastards.