On Saturday evening, rocker Jack White brought his new-look touring band to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for a musical guest spot on NBC‘s long-running late-night sketch comedy program, Saturday Night Live. The host for the evening’s show was comedian John Mulaney, who got his start as part of the SNL writing staff for six seasons.
The SNL gig came as part of a live performance push behind White’s newly-released album, Boarding House Reach, which marks his third solo album and his first formal LP since 2014’s Lazaretto. After remaining musically silent for a number of years, the thirteen-track album sees White expanding his musical palate with perhaps his most ambitious work thus far, a collection of songs that are “simultaneously timeless and modern”. White and his band–featuring Neal Evans (Lettuce/Soulive) and Quincy McCrary (Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Pitbull) on keys, Carla Azar (Autolux, Depeche Mode, Doyle Bramhall II) on drums, and Dominic Davis on bass guitar–was also joined by a four-piece chorus of backup singers, adding sonic texture and call-and-response revelry to the performances.
Their first song, “Over and Over and Over”, is an unhinged rocker that showcases the best of White’s unique beauty-in-cacophony aesthetic. Neal Evans’ stellar organ work lends the song a subtle dusting of the funk, making it sound something like a Talking Heads cyborg engineered in an industrial machine plant. Jack White and company’s second tune (and Boarding House Reach‘s opening track) “Connected By Love” changed the pace considerably, as the slow-burning vamp built into a gospel-inflected hair metal peak before oozing back into its final refrain. White also appeared in a sketch during the show as a wedding band guitarist. Although the sketch was cut from the broadcast due to time constraints, the video is available online. You can listen to both of Jack White’s amazing Saturday Night Live performances and watch the sketch below:
Jack White – “Over and Over and Over” – Saturday Night Live
[Video: Saturday Night Live]
Jack White – “Connected By Love” – Saturday Night Live
[Video: Saturday Night Live]
SNL – “Wedding Toast” ft. Jack White
[Video: Saturday Night Live]
For a full list of upcoming Jack White tour dates, head to his website.