Kevin Bronson on August 13th, 2012

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Photos and review by Lina Lecaro

It may not have been intentional, but somewhere between the White Stripes’ demise, his visceral yet extremely varied side projects and his emotive solo release “Blunderbuss,” Jack White became a heartthrob. When White and wife Karen Elson announced they were divorcing (and having a party to boot) this year, social media feeds were filled with rejoicing females. White’s dark dress, quirky intensity and gift for groovy, gritty melodies is virtually a formula for indie-groupie lust, after all.

This was more than evident at the singer/guitarist’s returning L.A. gig at the Shrine Auditorium on Friday night (the first of two shows there), wherein, the pit below him saw males and females alike wide-eyed and utterly entranced from the second he took the stage until the bitter, blue-lit end. There was no crowd chatting, even between songs, or that much dancing really, and even ubiquitous iPhone videography was pretty minimal for a concert these days. White gives the kind of performance you really don’t want to miss a milli-second of, and all eyes and bodies were transfixed to his as he warbled, stomped and strummed on stage, serving up a set that was almost half White Stripes gems.

So what sets a heartthrob apart from your basic rock star? A certain combination of swagger and vulnerability, of course, and while White has never tried to be sexual or cock-rocky on stage, there’s a certain tension he creates when he’s crooning at the mic and fondling his frets that just ”¦ is. Meg fed off it best, and the Dead Weather’s Allison Mosshart does too. His all-girl band the Peacocks also create this alchemy, though as a backing band, to a lesser extent. Friday, it was his male band the Buzzards that backed him.

Failed relationships with his former bandmate (and pretend sister), a big-time actress and supermodel wife have contributed to his romantic mystique, albeit not in a grating, John Mayer way. A Mayer comparison is not entirely out of line, though. Both attack their guitars with a sensual gusto that despite what you may think about ’em as guys, and they come off completely genuine and engaged to the point of self-indulgence. White’s playing has more balls, of course, and in general, his fan base is more of an even split male to female. But his lyrics can be just as sappy, if more sardonic. “Love Interruption,” the soulful debut single off Blunderpuss, for example, is a song about heartbreak if there ever was one, and though it’s clearly about putting walls up, the record as a whole proves that the artist is and will continue to let love “corrupt” his life and inspire his music.

It’s doubtful White would be half as compelling if he didn’t. He didn’t do the song Friday (a bummer in an otherwise mesmerizing show), but other tracks, such as opening number “Sixteen Saltines,” (done pretty much in the dark) “Hypocritical Kiss,” and “I’m Slowly Turning Into You,” conveyed his passionate side just as well.

We interviewed White a few years ago when the guitar documentary “It Might Get Loud” came out. When we asked him and Jimmy Page about women, White was noticeably uncomfortable with the topic. Page was far more forthcoming. White did say that he didn’t get into playing guitar to get girls.

Believable, but he’s never left his image up to chance, either. From the Stripes’ matching candy cane garb to his spiffy Steampunkish suits to his current more traditional rock dude look as seen in the video for “Freedom at 21” and onstage Friday, he’s always been a peacock (making his female backing band’s name somewhat ironic). Yeah, we may be another beguiled female fan at this point, but with sold-out show after sold-out show here in L.A. and across the country, we’re obviously not the only one getting turned on watching White spread his wings.

Set list:
Sixteen Saltines
Black Math by The White Stripes
Missing Pieces
Hypocritical Kiss
Blunderbuss
Hotel Yorba by The White Stripes
Top Yourself by The Raconteurs
The Same Boy You’ve Always Known by The White Stripes
I Guess I Should Go To Sleep
I’m Slowly Turning Into You by The White Stripes
We Are Going To Be Friends by The White Stripes
You Know That I Know
Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground by The White Stripes
The Hardest Button to Button by The White Stripes
Encore:
Freedom at 21
Cut Like A Buffalo by The Dead Weather
Steady As She Goes by The Raconteurs
Goodnight Irene by Lead Belly cover

Freelance journalist Lina Lecaro’s blog Hollywood Style Scene is in all the right places at all the right times wearing all the right things.