Jack White runs an active record label, has a solo music career, upholsters furniture and has probably 9,000 other time-consuming endeavors the public doesn’t know about, so he might not always have time for his other band, The Dead Weather. They haven’t performed live in five years, but they have an album, Dodge & Burn, coming out on Sept. 25, so they guested on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show and played together for the first time in a long time.
Watch the group rip through a rousing performance of “I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)” above.
Rarely do late night TV programs allow for creative artistic direction in live music performances — there is usually little more than a few swooping camera angles. But as The Dead Weather charged through the song, the visuals became noticeably white-washed, save for the backgrounds, which were oversaturated with hues of purple, all making the group resemble their appearance on the Dodge & Burn album cover. The effect was satisfying and it showed that Colbert isn’t afraid to shake up the late night landscape, even in subtle ways that are surprisingly impactful.
The sad news is that, aside from the inevitable promotional appearances, it’s not likely The Dead Weather will do much performing together. The press release announcing the album stated, “Alison Mosshart, Jack White, Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence spent their rare and sporadic free moments over the past year recording together in Nashville. With the members of the band heavily involved in other projects, The Dead Weather will not be touring in support of the new album. Thankfully the thick and heavy Dodge & Burn will satisfy your urges for the dark magic that is The Dead Weather for a very long time.”
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