Happy Birthday Jack White: Performing Live At 2012 Voodoo Experience

Today marks Jack White’s 46th birthday. The renowned singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer was born on July 9, 1975 in Detroit. Jack found fame and acclaim with The White Stripes around the turn of the century and the highly influential duo, featuring Meg White on drums, ushered in an era of blues-leaning, garage rock duos like The Black Keys, The Kills and more who came to prominence in the 2000s.

The aughts also saw Jack exploring other groups with a number of the artists he influenced. In 2005, he formed The Raconteurs with fellow Detroit rocker Brendan Benson and in 2009 White teamed up with Alison Mosshart of the aforementioned The Kills for The Dead Weather. The White Stripes released their final album, Icky Thump, in 2007, and officially announced their departure in 2011. While Jack White was firmly established as a towering figure in 21st-century rock, 2012 was nonetheless a pivotal year in his career.

Jack released his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, on April 23, 2012 and six months later on October 28 would close out the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans’ City Park. The famed and historic music town was a perfect setting for White. Always keenly aware of visual aesthetics, White and his backing band the Buzzards dressed like hardworking musicians of a bygone century. White would also pull from his own history for the 21-song set with songs from the Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather and his new solo catalog.

Jack got things going with two tunes off Blunderbuss in “Sixteen Saltines” and “Missing Pieces.” The set also contained White Stripes classics like “Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground,” “Fell In Love With A Girl” and “I’m Slowly Turning Into You.” Additionally, White delivered The Raconteurs’ “Top Yourself” and “Steady As She Goes” along with The Dead Weather’s “Cut Like A Buffalo.”

Ever the blues lover and champion, White dedicated the piano-driven “Trash Tongue Talker,” which appears on Blunderbuss, to New Orleans blues great James Booker. “I want to do one, now, by one of your own,” White said before correcting himself. “No, I want to do one for one of your own. This is for James Booker.” The rollicking White Stripes blues number “Ball and Biscuit” would bring the set to a close ahead of a four-song encore heavy on Stripes material and closing with the anthem “Seven Nation Army.”

To celebrate Jack White’ birthday, watch his performance from NOLA’s Voodoo Fest in October 2012 below via the Jambase Live Video Archive: