This is cool. My buddy Dave went to see them in the Yukon in a park. But that was sort of dullsville on this trip:
Any rock star who won’t get out of bed for less than 10,000 people should ponder the counter-example of the White Stripes. The duo from Detroit has played free shows for small groups of hastily assembled fans at nearly every stop on their “ocean to permafrost” tour of Canada. They’ve played youth centres in Burnaby and Edmonton, a park in Whitehorse and even a city bus in Winnipeg. In each case, the gig was arranged only hours in advance, with strict instructions from the band’s management not to tell the media. Ed Whitehead, who co-owns two bowling alleys in Saskatoon, returned a call on Saturday from the Stripes’ road manager, who wanted to know if it would be okay for Jack and Meg White to play a short set at the Eastview Lanes.
The trouble with the YouTube I-am-a-rock-star with 500 fans model is that no one cares. And no one cares because there is no performance. Sure there is a bar and a crowd and CDs being sold at the back and to hell with management and record companies and the whole Lavern and Shirley making it my way thing but at the end of the day Elvis and Johnny Rotten and Mick Jagger (when he was a decent age to actual mean anything) performed and made this civilization of ours take notice.