The Raconteurs are soundchecking on the main stage in the Guerilla venue. We had a sneak preview of their set and then snuck into their dressing room afterwards.


Jack White has abandoned his normal candy-striped uniform for flared jeans. Brendon Benson, dressed in a pale top hat and green frock coat, is a cool Mad Hatter, slinking straight out of a rock 'n' roll Wonderland. Jack Lawrence is thrift-store pretty and Patrick Keeler's wavy hair is only just visible behind the cymbals. And the show hasn't even started yet...

"I had the weirdest dream last night," says Jack White, currently the most famous of the foursome as half of The White Stripes. "I was in a room with every single member of the Wu Tang Clan and each one of them was holding a crying infant. They were all walking around singing lullabies. Ghostface Killah, ODB, all of them."

The Raconteurs claim their name is ironic and they can't tell stories. "We are fresh out of anecdotes right now," says Brendon, who describes himself as the band's token blonde. "We get them delivered in batches on Tuesdays and Saturdays." In fact, The Raconteurs started life as a story; in bars and after gigs, they talked about what would happen if they started playing together as a band.

"We met them in Detriot in the late '90's," says Jack Lawrence, the seemingly shy bass player, a member of the Greenhornes with Patrick. "We came up from Cincinnati, Detriot seemed to have a scene. It’s a very straight road from Cincinnati, there's only one place you can end up," adds Brendon. "Jack was actually running a charity at the time," chimes in Patrick.

What was it called? "My house," say Jack White, laughing and playing with an amber-tipped walking cane. "I was running a charity for impoverished musicians...well, it sure felt like it."

Having just eaten lunch, The Raconteurs shoot off a tangent about snacks, sodas and Scottish slang. "We’re really excited to be playing tonight, though," says Patrick. "You don't really know how lucky you are in Britain to have shows where bands can actually play live."

"We have nothing like that," adds Jack White, twirling his cane. "No more American Bandstand. Playing live should be a different experience to the album, for the musician and the audience. Anyone can sit at home and listen to the album. When you play live, even on TV, you can see something totally different."

The Raconteurs official site