Dead Weather Make Live Debut in New York City

Posted on Apr 15th 2009 12:00PM by Mike Ayers
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It was a fitting birth: New York's Lower East Side was pelted with cold wind and rain, an ominous start for a band called the Dead Weather. The new Jack White project delivered a 12-song set at the Bowery Ballroom Tuesday night, and for those wondering whether or not White could sustain a drum kit and the Kills' Alison Mosshart could bring it home as a convincing frontwoman had their questions answered immediately during the Led Zeppelin-esque opener, '60 Feet Tall.' Playing the part of a younger, vibrate Patti Smith, Mosshart thrashed, jerked and tore through songs including 'So Far From Your Weapon' and the first single, 'Hang You From the Heavens.'

She even managed to get in a few cigarettes while White was taking lead vocal duties during 'I Cut Like a Buffalo' and the Animals-sounding Gary Numan cover, 'Are Friends Electric?' Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita split his duties up between bluesy guitar riffs and proggy sounding keyboards, the latter giving off a funky feel on 'Treat Me Like Your Mother.'

But, naturally, the climax came at the end when White emerged from the kit to take over guitar duties during 'Will There Be Enough Water?' dueting with Mosshart on the same mic for the duration of the tune. And for that brief four minutes or so, as he slayed quick, mesmerizing chord changes, fear that he'd abandoned his first love was forgotten.