ALL KILLER, NO FILLER! Jerry Lee Lewis, STILL ALIVE!

(Photo by the ultra rad Steve Cross for Nashville Scene)

So this show was supposed to celebrate Record Store Day, be in the very small and intimate Third Man venue in Nashville and only have I think 300 people. I was fortunate enough that someone I know got tickets and magically wanted me by their side. YAY!

Then, as they tend to, things changed. The venue was changed to the parking lot in front of Third Man (WTF?) and they released another couple hundred batch of tickets. So less intimate, outside and lots more people. BOO! Then due to the fact that it was FREEZING on Record Store Day, they moved the show to the next day. Good, because for a second, I was convinced that Jack White was trying to kill the KILLER.

So the show went down on Sunday at 1pm, perfect weather in Nashville. Those Third Man employees all decked out in their terribly fitted yellow and black suits and dresses. Jack Lawrence (of course, he's everywhere) was there, as he was playing bass for Mr. Lewis. Jack White was there too, taller than I expected and making faces at small children. Old softy.

Now for the music. I wasn't exactly expecting the Killer of old, jumping around playing the piano full of fire. More like a feeble elderly man, half-assly belting out a few singles. Where as he did mostly stick to his most famous songs, and there was no piano pumping, there was also nothing lackluster about it. No opener, tight band, it was kinda short but oh so sweet. He even adorable made a request for some Sprite "The only thing I drink these days" in that lovely Louisiana drawl that somehow made me smile from ear to ear. Some highlights for me were "Sweet Little Sixteen" and a great, though tamer version of "Whole Lotta Shakin" (Yeah there wasn't that much shaking actually going on, but this was an annoyingly hipster crowd of course). I had no doubt that he would play "Great Balls of Fire", though I did have doubts he could pull it off in the way a classic like that deserves. But I was so wrong! When Third Man releases the vinyl of this live performance in the next few weeks, listen to that track and tell me that it doesn't sound like it could have been recorded at the height of his career.

Stoked.