In a show Monday evening that marked his first trip to Alaska and was billed as the enigmatic musician's first-ever totally acoustic performance, Jack White captivated concertgoers, many of whom waited for hours outside the Wendy Williamson Auditorium in a sopping snowfall earlier that day for a chance at a precious ticket.
Last week, White announced he would play acoustic shows in each of the five states where he had yet to perform live. On Monday, the artist disclosed on his website that Alaska would host the first of those pop-up gigs, with White playing the concert that same evening.
That triggered a rush by fans to Anchorage's Wendy Williamson, where tickets, in the form of a nontransferable bracelet, went on sale at noon for $3 a seat with a limit of one per customer.
The show sold out in just over 90 minutes, giving about 900 fans a chance to witness the eight-time Grammy award winner in action, but leaving hundreds more on the outside, enviously looking in.
White kicked off the show with a rollicking rendition of "Just One Drink," and it immediately seemed that he was enjoying interactions with both the crowd and his three-piece backing group. He followed up with a second offering from his recently-released solo album "Lazaretto," the song "Temporary Ground."
White's group -- composed of players who had recorded and toured with him in support of the album -- provided musicianship equal to that of their frontman, considered one of rock's best living guitarists.
Multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin was the highlight of the opener with some hot licks on the dobro. Fiddler Lillie Mae Rische not only played energetically and expressively, but was a perfect vocal foil to White's trademark taut delivery. Bassist Dominic Davis capably drove the beat all night long, providing ebb and flow to the songs.
White, dressed nattily in a dark suit with a slicked-back mini pompadour and glittering shoes, was engaged with the audience throughout, talking for sustained stretches between nearly every one of the 14 songs he played.
After the opening number, White declared, "I brought the snow up with me," saying it reminded him of his hometown, Detroit.
White, best known as one half of the garage-punk rockers The White Stripes, gave the audience a few selections from that band, including "Offend in Every Way" and "The Same Boy You've Always Known," both off the 2001 album "White Blood Cells." Later in the 75-minute set, he included White Stripes favorite "We're Going to be Friends," from the same album.
He recounted the story of his flight to Alaska, saying he shared it with 100 high school musicians who brought home a pair of awards from a competition in the Lower 48.
In recent years, White has been immersed in music preservation and history through the work he's done at his Third Man Records label.
Just last week, White reissued Elvis Presley's first recording in conjunction with Record Store Day, digitally transferring the two-sided 78 onto new vinyl, without any purifications.
That sense of nostalgia was evident Monday, as White and the band performed using four bidirectional ribbon microphones. His guitar, too, was a vintage smaller-body acoustic. The mic setup allowed White and his fellow musicians to shift the dynamics of the songs by stepping toward or away from the mics, a technique they pulled off flawlessly throughout the night.
The crowd seemed enthralled as White told the story behind "You Know That I Know." The song was one of dozens of incomplete Hank Williams lyric sheets that contemporary musicians were tasked with completing. After reading through the lyric sheets, White chose to work on "You Know That I Know," and performed a playful version of the song with Rische on backing vocals.
Included in the group of lyrics, White said, was a song titled "Then Came That Fateful Day," found in the back of the car in which Williams was found dead in 1953.
"Who's going to finish this one?" White asked. "Maybe God did it for him."
White is expected to play four more acoustic shows -- believed to be in Wyoming, Idaho and the Dakotas -- before taking an extended break from touring.
But he hinted at a return trip to Alaska, saying he might "be coming back pretty soon," after asking what percentage of the crowd were first-generation Alaskans in an attempt to figure out the ratio of "new blood to old blood."
He also theorized that his suit, which glowed burgundy under the stage lights, might keep him in the state longer. He said he had been arrested the first time he wore the suit and takes it with him everywhere on the road.
"If I do get arrested with it here, at least I get to stay in Alaska a little bit longer," he joked to the delight of the crowd.
White returned for an encore, performing The White Stripes classic "You've Got Her in Your Pocket," as an evocative solo number before bringing the band back for the final two songs.
White closed the show with "Goodnight Irene," a folk standard recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Tom Waits.
During the last verse, he walked past the microphones to the front-center of the stage, imploring the crowd to join him in a sing-a-long for the final few bars.
"Sing it with me," he said.
Set list - Jack White acoustic show
Monday, April 20, Wendy Williamson Auditorium
Just One Drink
Temporary Ground
Love Interruption
Machine Gun Silhouette
Offend in Every Way
The Same Boy You've Always Known
Alone In My Home
You Know That I Know (Lyrics by Hank Williams)
We're Going To Be Friends
Entitlement
Carolina Drama
(Encore)
You've Got Her in Your Pocket
A Martyr For My Love For You
Goodnight Irene