Jack White Delivers a High-Voltage Guitar Set at Eventim Apollo

Jack White's Eventim Apollo show presented an almost exclusively musical argument for his place among modern guitarists. Dressed in black and backed by a three-piece band, White opened with an instrumental jam that set a high-energy tone and kept the focus on playing rather than patter.

White sequenced the show with an eye for dynamics. He began loud and immediate, moved through anthems and rarities, and left the crowd with a more sophisticated number before the encore. The band returned to a classic White Stripes blast for the encore and finished with "Seven Nation Army," closing with the song most associated with White's public profile.

Covers were an important part of the night and carried emotional weight. White performed Rosetta Howard & The Harlem Hamfats' "Delta Bound" and Hank Williams' "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It," both arranged to fit the band's heavier, guitar-forward approach.

A notable moment came with White's performance of Dolly Parton's "Jolene." The rendition was framed as a tribute: it's a song that hadn't been played by White in many years, and the performance followed news of Parton's recent passing. The choice added a quieter, more emotional counterpoint to the louder rock set.

White reached back to early White Stripes material with "Cannon" and "I Fought Piranhas," and brought in Raconteurs highlights such as "Steady, As She Goes" and "Broken Boy Soldier." The crowd reaction to the Raconteurs songs demonstrated that those tracks still resonate strongly in a live context.

The stage included a distinctive statue with a blue skull head and white loincloth, a visual curiosity that sat behind the music rather than overshadowing it. Organ textures appeared on songs such as "Derecho Demónico," where White added sophistication that altered the feel compared with earlier blues-based numbers like "Ball And Biscuit."

Across the night, White prioritized concentrated musicianship over banter. The show avoided long spoken interludes and instead relied on a combination of recent solo material, career-spanning favourites and thoughtful covers to sustain energy. The final sequence — an encore featuring "Icky Thump" followed by the inevitable close with "Seven Nation Army" — delivered the kind of finale fans expect and left little doubt that the evening's central claim was White's guitar work and showcraft.