Hey, wait: Jack White covered Nirvana‘s “Heart Shaped Box” during a recent show in Malaysia. The concert at Zepp Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday served as the culmination of a five-night run of The Supply Chain Issues Tour dates in Asia.
Though White has been on tour since April, he still managed to keep things fresh in Malaysia from the very beginning. As YouTube user Daryl Ng’s Live Gigs & Holidays Recordings (who captured audio of the performance) points out, White normally walks out to MC5‘s “Kick Out The Jams” but on Wednesday audibled to The Beatles‘ “Helter Skelter”. In addition to his debut of “Heart Shaped Box”, White also dished out The White Stripes‘ “Icky Thump” for the first time this tour.
As for the Nirvana cover, White’s lively rendition tapped into the same angst that made Nirvana and frontman Kurt Cobain global superstars in the 1990s. He was sure to give it some of his own flavor too, delivering a vocal performance that was undoubtedly tinged with some of his rockabilly influences.
White also made headlines over the weekend by joining the growing number of musicians leaving Twitter after new owner Elon Musk‘s controversial decision to reinstate former President Donald Trump‘s suspended account. In a lengthy statement posted to Instagram, White compared Musk to Joe Rogan (“who gives platforms to liars like alex jones etc.”), accused the Tesla owner of siding with conservatives simply for tax breaks, and more prior to deactivating the Twitter account for his label, Third Man Records.
“Its a shame that our label’s artists will lose a social media outlet to promote their art, and i apologize to our artists for having to do this, but we are not going to even tangentially support you or this platform that will help conspiracy spreading liars and out of touch narci-capitalists tear this country apart, all for trump’s ego and your tax break agenda,” he wrote in part.
Check out video and audio of Jack White covering “Heart Shaped Box” in Malaysia as well as his full statement regarding his departure from Twitter.
Jack White – “Heart Shaped Box” (Nirvana) – 11/16/22 – Audio
“So you gave trump his twitter platform back. Absolutely disgusting, Elon. That is officially an asshole move.
Why dont you be truthful? Tell it like it is; people like you and Joe Rogan (who gives platforms to liars like alex jones etc.); you come into a ton of money, see the tax bill, despise paying your fair share, and then think moving to Texas and supporting whatever republican you can is going to help you keep more of your money. (How else could trump possibly interest you?) You intend to give platforms to known liars and wash your hands like pontius pilate and claim no responsibility? trump was removed from twitter because he incited violence multiple times, people died and were injured as a result of his lies and his ego, (let alone what his coup did to attempt to destroy democracy and our Capitol). And how about the division and the families broken apart from his rhetoric and what it did to this country?
That’s not “free speech” or “what the poll decided” or whatever nonsense you’re claiming it to be;
this is straight up you trying to help a fascist have a platform so you can eventually get your tax breaks.
I mean, how many more billions do you need that you have to risk democracy itself to obtain it?
You did a lot of amazing things with Tesla, Elon, and you deserve a lot of compliments in that department (i personally supported the hell out of that venture), but you’ve gone too far and are now using your power to promote horrible, violence inducing liars, who are taking the country and the world backwards and endangering the democracy that made you rich and successful in the first place. I am a believer in free speech, but for example i’m not about to let the KKK hold a rally at our record label’s performance stage. That’s one of the platforms we control and have a say in, it’s not town square operated by the government. And if i owned a gas station,i wouldn’t be selling the KKK gasoline to burn crosses either and then wash my hands as if i didn’t help facilitate hatred.
You took on a big responsibility with your purchase, and “free speech” isn’t some umbrella that protects you from that/ Shame on you for giving trump and other professional liars the platform you are now in control of, and shame on anyone who does. And shame on you if you think it’s no big deal. It is.
I’ve never had a personal twitter account thankfully (it’s mostly a sea of negativity if you ask me),
but i will now be deactivating my record label Third Man Records account from Twitter.
Its a shame that our label’s artists will lose a social media outlet to promote their art, and i apologize to our artists for having to do this, but we are not going to even tangentially support you or this platform that will help conspiracy spreading liars and out of touch narci-capitalists tear this country apart, all for trump’s ego and your tax break agenda.
(We’ll also be taking a look at other platforms as well and decide about them accordingly, but this first. it’s not easy when wanting the best for other artists.)
And it doesnt matter if trump and/or his lying ilk actually use the platform again or not, your message and motives are clear, and showing his past tweets/lies is proof that you want that misinformation out there. For what positive reason could you possibly want that?
You should return to using your money and influence in ways that help the world like the electric car did, not in ways that bring negativity and division to the populace. And no, this isn’t “funny” either Elon, it’s dangerous.
Enjoy your new found power as a “freedom of speech” purveyor but remember that the violence and division that occurs based on those tweeting lies is directly related to you giving them a platform.”
