Jack White is arguably the most prolific musician around today and easily the greatest guitar player of his generation. In his third incarnation as The Dead Weather he has brought together Alison Mosshart of the Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and (Little) Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs. If that combination wasn't strange enough, White himself plays the drums.


Although the Raconteurs were the furthest he has ever strayed from his hard rock and blues roots, his gut wrenching vocals and demonic guitar playing made some of their more pop tunes easier to swallow.

The Dead Weather however are harder and more Stripes-esque, sometimes crossing into metal. And they're loud. White plays drums like he's never even seen a guitar; Mosshart adds fittingly dramatic vocals; Fertita makes mince meat of the guitar while Little Jack takes care of bass.

But even with White adding vocals from the back it was only when he stood up, grabbed the guitar and took front stage that the music came alive, rushed forward and grabbed you by the throat. The energy instantly charged up and even the mostly-student-packed crowd quietened down.

Horehound is a strong album and with a couple of new tracks thrown in, it was still head and shoulders above any live performance you would have seen this year.

In the absence of the White Stripes we'll take whatever we can get and although The Dead Weather are musically more satisfying than the Raconteurs, their live performance left me feeling as if something was missing and that with each new band Jack White seems to be slowly diluting himself. (Niki Khoroushi)