The White Stripes Across Canada: St. John's, NL, End Of The Road!

You can forgive Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for being skeptical. After all, it's a pretty common occurrence for us to hear about a "coast-to-coast" tour that only stops in Halifax to represent its eastern commitments. When The White Stripes promised a tour that included St. John's, many of us were unsure whether or not this would actually happen. Well, it did, and the band took to the city as only a duo as unique as them could.

The night at Mile One Centre in downtown St. John's capped off a day that included tales of Jack White serenading the ladies at the local bingo hall, packs of wet fans running loose through the city and a surprise set that could easily go down in the record books as the shortest concert ever performed.

The 4,000-plus-seat arena was surprisingly close to half-full before 8 p.m., somewhat of an oddity in a city known for its late nights on George Street. Local boys The Novaks took to the stage with an up-tempo set of bluesy rock that kept up the energy for those in the audience still reeling from the excitement of the adventures several hours before.

Soon after, with close to a full house in place, Jack and Meg White hammered into their set with "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" and "I Think I Smell A Rat." Jack seemed content to let his guitar do his talking for him, stopping briefly to ask the audience how they felt and responding to the cheers with, "So that's how you are?" before tearing into "Icky Thump."

The set continued to highlight the guitar-heavy side of the duet, with Jack animatedly and effortlessly riffing through "Black Math," "Ball And Biscuit" and "Hello Operator," but slowing it down briefly to give the spotlight to Meg for "In The Cold Cold Night." There was no shortage of crowd pleasers, with "Hotel Yorba" and "We're Going To Be Friends" eliciting mass singalongs, and "Seven Nation Army" serving its purpose to get those still sitting on their feet.

With the final notes of "Boll Weevil" hanging in the air, Jack and Meg left with one final touch of genius, first bringing out the official Newfoundland flag, but soon trading it for the traditional pink, white and green flag. The flag, a recent source of provincial pride, drove the audience into a final frenzy as Jack exclaimed that they "were glad they could finish the tour in St. John's."

As the crowd spilled out into the humid night, they left satisfied with a promise from Jack: "We can't wait to come back. And we'll definitely be back."