The Raconteurs @ Cannery Ballroom, 4/15/08

When considering whether or not I wanted to buy tickets for last night's Raconteurs show, there were many factors that I took into consideration:

1. Tickets are $20. In grown up world, this is an extremely fair price. But in college student world, that's twenty whole dollars that I could spend on something like gas or food or a haircut at Fantastic Sam's.

2. I've seen them before. I saw their show at City Hall during their first tour. It was pretty great, but do I really need to see them again?

3. I never really have fun at shows held in Mercy Lounge (the show was later moved to the Cannery, but still...).

4. Even getting tickets is going to be a fiasco. Ew. I don't want to deal with that.

5. Going to shows on weeknights is the pits.

But then I remembered that one Mr. Jack White is quite possibly the most perfect specimen of maleness to exist on this planet. Next thing I know I'm entering my Visa number on the Raconteur's website.

The Magic Wands opened. Despite the mysterious disappearance of all things Slack-related on the internet, Nashvillians will recognize that the two aforementioned bands' frontmen are one in the same. The Magic Wand's set was very short, which was probably a smart move on their part. It was a lot of "teenage"-this and "sex me up"-that. But using stuffed tigers and projection screens as props didn't hide the fact that they played the same song 4 times in a row. Another Magic Wands show? This girls says "no thanks."

The Raconteurs portion of the evening was pretty kickass. I'm going to have a hard time giving you specifics on their set because being in the presence of Jack White reduces my maturity level to that of a tweenie princess. But, by golly, I will try my darnedest. My feelings on the Raconteurs are this: They are a good rock band. They play pretty good rock songs and they play them really well. Honestly, if Jack White weren't in the band then I probably wouldn't have given them the time of day. But I'm glad that I did. "Broken Boy Soldiers" had a handful of really good songs on it. And "Consolers of the Lonely" shows growth.

Any problem that I have with the band, and the show for that matter, stems from the fact that Brendan Benson is a complete booger. Seriously. Any song that I dislike is sure to be a Benson-heavy one. Regardless, the show was still great. Jack was in top form. He warbled in screeched his way into my heart as if he had no clue that he already had a place there. I'm fairly certain that his soulful performance of "Blue Veins" made the loins of everyone (that's right, everyone) in the room quiver with desire. The highlight of the night for me, however, was "Carolina Drama," which is totally the "Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" for hipsters. It brought the house down. I had to resist the temptation to "raise the roof." All in all, I'd say their mediocre-good songs on CD translated to an outstanding live show. It was the best non-Fantastic Sam's $20 that I've spent in a long time.