Boston was blessed with the presence of Jack White on Easter Sunday when he made a stop at Agganis Arena on his Supply Chain Issues tour. Upon entering the arena, each person was given a locking pouch to seal their phones in, a custom at Jack White shows. With our phones safely secured away, we entered the bubble of a stadium to enjoy a fully immersive musical experience. 

Once the show started, it was clear the audience had entered some sort of new world governed by Jack White. He guided the crowd through cascading waterfalls of intricate guitar work and tech wizardry while commanding with impassioned vocals. 

White opened with the first two songs off his new album Fear Of The Dawn, “Taking Me Back” and the album’s titular track, fit with the seamless transition between the two songs heard on the album. The tracks absolutely screamed the way only a Jack White song can, and with added intricacies of being live in concert, they dazzled.

Once the show began, there was no sign of slowing down. White showed an immense amount of musical grace and stamina, grinding through tracks from all over his vast discography. The mix included plenty from his band, The White Stripes, and his work as a solo artist while sprinkling in a couple from another one of his bands, The Raconteurs.

White cycled between roughly six different guitars to match his broad stylistic range. Each was handpicked to tailor to the sound needed for the song at hand. 

As if the musicianship wasn’t impressive enough, the tech design was utterly astounding. The wall behind the stage was a giant screen, projected with pre-designed footage, including what looked like a warehouse extending far beyond the back of the stage. The screen also showed larger-than-life live footage from a camera positioned to show White’s fingers dancing along the strings and frets of his guitars. For viewers further back in the audience, this was ideal.

While the lighting scheme was notoriously contrived to only include blue and white tones, there was no disappointment in that department. The stage was transformed into new shapes with each song, as shifting lights morphed the viewer’s perception. Lasers and specially positioned white lights shot through the stage setup and around the stadium added to the trippy shape-shifting nature of the set.

White closed with the only song he could, “Seven Nation Army.” While I personally find he has much better work in his discography, it brought the crowd to a tipping point of excitement. The full circle moment was a reminder of just how prolific Jack White is in the music industry and the grip he has had for decades now. 

White truly orchestrated a whole new reality inside of the arena that transcended music that was already seemingly exemplary. The show was a masterpiece from start to finish, which is nothing less than should be expected of Jack White.