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Who needs to go out when there’s great stuff to watch on your hi-def widescreen idiot box?
Apart from Tom Waits’ cameo on Sunday night’s episode of The Simpsons, the most enticing music item on television this weekend comes from Jack White, as the 38th season of venerable live-music showcase Austin City Limits resumes Saturday with a ripping hour-long set from the multiple Grammy nominee.
As he indulged when playing double dates in big cities last year, White appears bathed in Blunderbuss blue alongside his all-female backing band the Peacocks and their all-male counterparts the Buzzards. He performs six-to-seven songs with each group, including a few White Stripes gems (“Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” “We Are Going to Be Friends”), and in both instances he’s flying by the seat of his pants.
“The beauty of the show,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona, “is its raw spontaneity. Nobody – from the director to the drummer – has a clue what Jack is going to do next. … Sometimes he shifts gears in the middle of a song. It’s one of the most unique episodes we’ve ever done.” (Watch teaser clips above and below.)
Up next for the series is acoustic duo Rodrigo y Gabriela on Jan. 12, followed by Norah Jones and Kat Edmonson on Jan. 19, Bob Mould and Delta Spirit on Jan. 26, Tim McGraw on Feb. 2, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros with tUnE-yArDs on Feb. 9, Gary Clark Jr. and Alabama Shakes on Feb. 16 and Esperanza Spalding on Feb. 23. Airs at midnight on KOCE as well as PBS 389 on DirecTV at 6 p.m.
In other Jack White news: The next package of goodies available exclusively to members of the Third Man Records Vault offers more rarities, starting with a live vinyl disc from the short-lived outfit Jack White and the Bricks, a group also featuring future Raconteurs co-frontman Brendan Benson. The performance, from White’s 24th birthday (July 9, 1999), sports two Dylan covers (“Isis” and “I Threw It All Away”) as well as a reportedly roaring remake of ? and the Mysterians’ “Ain’t It a Shame.”
Also included in this Vault raiding: White Heat, an eight-cut live DVD split evenly between White Stripes and Whirlwind Heat tunes captured in 2002.
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Must-see: Jack White on ‘Austin City Limits’ is a post from: Soundcheck