If you take Jack White and Brendan Benson’s collaborative Raconteurs at face value – as a rock band with an arsenal of trad riffs and mean poses – they’re actually good fun. Certainly, their flame burnt briefly, with White going on to form The Dead Weather and forge a career as a label guru/solo artist (Benson has also had another pop at solo work of late), but there’s an enduring, almost humourous charm to the unfettered 70s posturing (and haircuts) that the four-piece show off to the audience at Montreux.
White’s panache on the guitar is unquestionable, free of the glare of the spotlight (which he clearly still loves), his role as a sideman to Benson’s more Beatle-esque harmonies is compelling. Cohorts Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler (of The Greenhornes) back up the duo admirably, but this is ultimately a two-man show.
Recorded after the release of their second album, the setlist naturally plumbs this heavily, but there are covers (Terry Reid, Charley Jordan), while Steady, As She Goes and Broken Boy Soldier, both singles from 2005’s debut, still sound fresh despite being buried mid-set. All in all, an engrossing, muscled vest top of Claudia Brucken a performance.
