Concert Review: The White Stripes @ Panama City
Mark Ramrod invited me to Denver to watch his girl Dawn spank his pale ass. As tasty as that invitation sounded, I had to weigh it versus watching Jack White spank his guitar in Panama City, Panama. While I prefer the Denver weather this time of year, laying down thirty-five skins to see the Stripes wow a Latino crowd would make for an unforgetable experience. Especially since in my nine months of Panama living, the tastiest band to roll through town was Julieta Venegas.
The White Stripes played Las Islas de Atlapa, a section of a convention center divided into a VIP section, front and center and general admittance behind that. About 1000 Panamanians attended. They opened with “Dirty Leaves and the Fallen Ground” and closed with “Seven Nation Army.” It took me three-four songs to figure out if they were having a good time or if this tour stop was just an opportunity to hone their material before they moved south to Columbia, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, then continue their world tour. [I have a question: Who is the adventurous booking agent that has the duo playing Bogota and Manuas’ Opera House? Since when do bands tour Columbia? The center of the Amazon?]
But no, by the time Jack had switched guitar three times and they played “Hotel Yorba,” had the crowd singing along, it was obvious Meg and Jack were doing what they do best: Mainlining the audience with a hotshot of Detroit rock.
Somewhere during the set, they debuted new material. A song in which Meg stands, plays the timpani and sings. Another where Jack plays the piano and keyboard. Those songs were great because they gave the audience pause and only confirmed what needs no confirmation – The White Stripes rock. Hard.
The only disappointment: Not seeing Jack or Meg play the Marimba that was behind them on stage in front of the gigantic poster of the Eve’s apple.
Fifty minutes later, they had gone through several of their hits and left for a brief pause, the crowd cheering for more. When they came back, they played a new song and ended with “Seven Nation Army,” changing the lyrics to “I’m going to Wichita / Far from this opera for evermore / I’m going to Panama / Make the sweat drip out of every pore.” The crowd went wild. By then, we were all sweating out of every pore rocking with the White Stripes in Panama City.
Karl Schmieder is the author of “Fifteen Minute Confession” (Ilato). His latest screenplay, “The Birthday Spanking” was just optioned by 57 Productions. He splits his time between Brooklyn and Panama City.
**Special thanks to Dealante.com for use of the photos. View more of their shots from the show here.