The White Stripes w/ the Greenhornes @ Creepy Crawl 9/8/01

Detroit is, and always will be, the best rock and roll city in the world. Hundreds of the best bands come from the motor city, like the MC5, Ted Nugent, the Stooges and Kiss. The legendary Kim Fowley is from Detroit, and so are Outrageous Cherry and Bob Seger.

Amazingly, the huge list has been growing at an exponential rate, due to a recent slew of exciting acts. Last year’s compilation, Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit, will fill you in on the bands you have been missing, like the Detroit Cobras, Bantam Rooster and the Von Bondies.

You’ll hear great songs like “Black Girl” by the Paybacks and “Whiskey `n’ Women” by the Clone Defects. There may be one band on the compilation that you’ve actually heard of. They’re called the White Stripes, and they are fantastic.

The White Stripes are the band of the moment in the U.S. You can’t turn a page without seeing a glowing review, and you can’t go into a record store without hearing a wannabe hipster mention them. With so much lopsided praise, your natural reaction is to be a bit skeptical. Don’t be.

In the midst of one of the most hotly tipped tours of the fall, the duo of Jack and Meg White dropped by the Creepy Crawl on Saturday, although they could have played somewhere bigger.

The show easily sold out, with an ace garage rock outfit called the Greenhornes supporting.

Jack White plays guitar and sings, and Meg White commands the drum kit. While Jack’s frantic bouncing requires two microphones to handle his singing, Meg calmly bangs out her simple rhythms with a look of indifference.

Both of them dress in red and white, like the peppermint candy that symbolizes their band.

The White Stripes are a rock band, but don’t limit your expectations. They are great because of their versatility as straight-up rock and roll is complemented by blues, folk, pop, punk, country, and Memphis soul.

The White Stripes can play modern blues like the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, before switching gears with a cabaret-style tune that Cole Porter would kill for.

Their songs are smart, childish, flawed and charming.

They opened with “Death Letter,” a track from their second record, De Stijl. Jack White’s acoustic slide guitar sounded like it was nicked from the latest North Mississippi All Stars album, as he bounced all over the stage.

They flawlessly slowed the tempo before speeding it up again. After that, they showcased a handful of songs from their new album, White Blood Cells, like “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and the country “Hotel Yorba.”

The best song the White Stripes have ever written is called “You’re Pretty Good Looking,” and it was played in the middle of the set.

The optimistic rocker saw Jack White shouting, “You’re pretty good looking for a girl/My future’s wide open/And this feelings still gonna be around.”

The song sums up the spirit of the band, as the lyrics are simple and elementary and the music is quick and dirty.

On a dime, the band stops to play the back-to-school folk ditty, “We’re Gonna Be Friends.” Meg takes a break while Jack handles the bittersweet song about walking to school with a new friend.

He sang, “We sit side by side in every class/teacher thinks that I sound funny/But she likes the way you sing.”

The most exhilarating moment came when the White Stripes played “Screwdriver” from their self-titled debut. Jack White is a great guitar player and showed off by improvising around a catchy blues riff. The song is an abrupt rocker, stopping and starting at a frenzied pace. Finally, the band found a groove and gradually built to a climax, with Jack singing, “We’ve got a little feeling going now.”

The Greenhornes from Cincinnati opened the evening with “Can’t Stand It” from their self-titled release on Telstar. Stripped to a four piece tonight, due to the absence of organ player Jared McKinney, the band played their `60s-influenced rock and roll. They wouldn’t sound out of place on the fantastic Nuggets’ box set, as they emphasize loud guitars with a grinding R&B crunch.

Like the White Stripes, the band is incredibly young and was able to showcase impressively mature songwriting capabilities with songs like “Shadow of Grief” and “Shame and Misery.”

The White Stripes more than confirmed suspicion that they are one of America’s best young rock `n’ roll bands.

They are the new indie favorites, and they live up to all of the hype, making Detroit Rock City proud.

If everyone could get excited about bands like the White Stripes and the Greenhornes, it’s going to make the Limp Bizkits and Creeds go away that much faster. The future is wide open.