Jack White – Hammersmith Apollo.

I’m sat on the Hammersmith & City line. I’m as far west as it is possible to go, I have lost most of my weight in sweat and have just witnessed one of the best gigs of my life.

It took me back to the first time I ever heard Hotel Yorba, it wasn’t like anything I had ever experienced. I knew it was new but it wasn’t the new metal or pop punk plaguing MTV2 and Kerrang, it sounded like an anthem I had heard before, it was so simple and yet so brilliant. Tonight I heard it live alongside tracks from White’s solo album Blunderbuss and hits from his previous incarnations The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. It felt like a gift to my former self to hear those songs live, something that pained me when The White Stripes split because I never got the chance to see them.

The most noticeable thing on display tonight was White’s leadership, he knows exactly how to play to a crowd, how to draw people in and it isn’t by introducing every song with a corny story or by drawing the whole thing out, he just lets his brilliant songwriting abilities and his expert guitar playing do everything that needed to be done. His supporting band did not drop a beat, they were gathered around him, and watching like hyenas, ready for anything.

It was a joy to be a part of, and White does things with a guitar that keep most musicians up at night.