Jack White played a surprise set on a London rooftop this evening (September 25) to celebrate the grand opening of his new Third Man Records store. Check out photos and footage below.
The shop is the record label’s third physical outlet, with the London space – Third Man’s first outside the US – joining existing buildings in Nashville, Tennessee and Detroit, Michigan.
Located on 1 Marshall Street in Soho, London (W1F 9BA), the new store officially opened to the public earlier this afternoon (September 25), with hundreds of people queuing around the block to get in.
Prior to his rooftop performance, White performed in the blue basement of the store where he rolled through The White Stripes’ ‘Hello Operator’, ‘Why Can’t You Be Nicer To Me’ and ‘Icky Thump’ as well as solo favourites ‘Sixteen Saltines’, ‘What’s Done Is Done’ and ‘Love Interruption’.
Speaking before White took to the rooftop, fans Victoria (31) and Hywel (37) told NME’s Andrew Trendell how they’d drove four hours from Merthyr Tydfil in Wales to be there for the opening.
“I’m a subscriber to Third Man’s vaults so I had a limited pass come through the post,” said Hywel. “We thought it was too good to miss, really. We queued for four and a half hours to get in and get the limited edition vinyl we wanted. This is Beatles-esque.”
Victoria continued: “We were told to come back at 6.15pm and look up at Beak Street. Looking up, we can see some speakers to hopefully something will happen. I’m absolutely a Jack White super-fan. He’s amazing. I was absolutely in awe back when we saw him at the Islington Garage. Tonight could be iconic. Fuck yeah, Jack White!”
Asked if they were fans of White’s new blue hair, Hywel replied, “I’m not going to lie, I think it’s a faux pas on his part – but I’m not going to bring it up if I meet him this evening”, while Victoria admitted that she “loved the blue hair – it’s a statement”.
White, who was in town and on hand to oversee proceedings, then took to a neighbouring rooftop – owned by artist Damien Hirst – on Beak Street to deliver a performance on a balcony above a huge Third Man Records banner.
He opened with The White Stripes‘ ‘Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground’, after which he said to the crowd: “Good evening, London.” White then launched into ‘Lazarretto’, followed by The Raconteurs track ‘Steady As She Goes’, before which he asked those in attendance: “London, let me ask you a favour again, can you clap along with the snare drum?”
Fully aware of the fact that there are people who live in the surrounding buildings who might have found his impromptu gig an inconvenience, White said: “I wanna play a song to all the neighbours we’re upsetting now, to the neighbours we’re about to be friends with now, and to Damien Hirst who let us use his balcony.” He then performed White Stripes track ‘We Are Gonna Be Friends’.
“Thank you, London,” White said, before ending his performance with the classic White Stripes anthem ‘Seven Nation Army’.
You can see footage and photos from White’s performance below:
Jack White is playing live on the roof pic.twitter.com/YFzs4MDIJS
— J III (@arminspeas) September 25, 2021
Soho is buzzing jack white playing opposite my roof 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/55SJMepfKy
— H. (@Hughallenmarkey) September 25, 2021
Amazing set . Luckily it’s opposite my roof. Soho was buzzing 😊 pic.twitter.com/QMvohxNnNz
— H. (@Hughallenmarkey) September 25, 2021
Jack White rocks out London. pic.twitter.com/RPSOPHUdGG
— Paul Waldie (@pwaldieGLOBE) September 25, 2021
Jack White banging out tunes in #Soho @thirdmanrecords pic.twitter.com/xtcWtivKST
— Johnfromsoho (@johnfromsoho) September 25, 2021
Tbf it’s not every day you see Jack White play a Soho rooftop gig. Well played @thirdmanrecords 👌 pic.twitter.com/nl9wg2fQVh
— Debbie Ball (@CreateSpark) September 25, 2021
Soho is loving jack white tonight 😊 pic.twitter.com/IAVHFDaBs5
— H. (@Hughallenmarkey) September 25, 2021
Had a great time at the @thirdmanrecords London opening and so awesome to see Jack White play live!! pic.twitter.com/XCdR4OPuSL
— Nomi ☄ Night (@nomderland) September 25, 2021
Just spotted Jack White launching @thirdmanrecords with a gig in Soho 🤘 pic.twitter.com/G6IIOWWTe6
— Tommy Gun Lynam (@TommyGunLynam) September 25, 2021
London’s Third Man Records Store triples up as a two-level retail space, an intimate live music venue named “The Blue Basement” and Third Man Records’ European HQ.
In celebration of the store’s opening, Third Man Records have released a host of new or previously unreleased records by the likes of Paul Weller, David Ruffin, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cornershop, Gina Birch of The Raincoats and the ‘lost’ Manchester group The Magic Roundabout.
Back in July, Jack White launched Jack White Arts & Design to showcase his non-musical creative work.