Watch: The White Stripes wish Conan goodbye
For a number of different reasons, last night’s episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien was must see T.V. For one, it marked Conan’s final night as the Late Night host; come June 1, 2009 he will replace Jay Leno - kind of - on The Tonight Show. But once past the sentimental side, the surprises, both expected and unexpected, that were sure to fill the final episode, made skipping a night out a no-brainer.
Was worth it? Well, if you fancy greatest hit clips of Triumph The Insult Comic Dog and appearances from Andy Richter and Will Farrell, then hell yeah it was. Notice, I didn’t include the musical guest in that grouping…
Yes, ironically, perhaps the most anticipated of the “known” surprises, the reunion of Jack and Meg White to serve as the final musical guest, proved to be, well, the most underwhelming. Sure, any performance from The White Stripes is better than 98.9% of the stuff currently out there and you got to give them props for the song selection - albeit more than appropriate, how many of us were expecting to hear “We’re Going To Be Friends”? But once the actual performance got going, let’s just say Stereogum put it kindly when describing it as “under-rehearsed.” I’ll call it a train wreck.
The Raconteurs would probably have been a better pick here…
That was far from terrible, that just wasn’t what anyone excpected. That ability to reinvent his own and other artist’s music is why we love Jack, so much. I myself do not know what this performance means to the The White Stripes and their future, but if they play any where near me I will be there.
Meg White is preggers. That’s why she wasn’t on the drums.
i hope everyone knows, that was a HUGE step for meg. she has terrible stage fright, and she just sang on national tv, give them a break.
The beginning was rough, especially for meg. At first as it began, i thought to myself “wtf is going on here” you could barely tell she was playing and she seemed off beat and anxious. As the song progressed though, both of them got comfortable with it and jack certainly ended it with a great amount of emotion and thought. It truly felt like the end and you could tell both(and everyone in the audience for that matter) of them felt likewise.
i loved this version of the song. the raconteurs are the white stripes minus creativity.
I also agree with Michael.
I loved the stripped down aspect of it, even more so than the original.
Perfect way to end the show.
I completely agree with Michael.
While it wasn’t the most endearing performance, it certainly was not “a train wreak.”
Meg White just sang on national television. If anything I think that makes a White Stripes comeback more likely than not.
White Stripes >>> The Raconteurs
that was pretty brutal. That makes the last Raconteurs album sound listenable.
definetly not what i had expected, at the start of the song i felt bad (for Meg), but by the end of it i was settled and content and thought the performance was sweet for her.
Come on people!!! This was Conan’s last show…The Stripes are his favorite band! That is his favorite song and the White Stripes tried something different with it. Personally I thought it was great. It wasn’t what I expected, but that’s what made it special. No one expected Meg on guitar.
so instead of Meg pretending to play the drums, she’s pretending to play the guitar now?
other than that i actually liked this version of the song, just not the performance.
why does everyone thing this was a train wreck, because meg had a guitar in her hands and only played a few chords or because they sang a different tempo? i thought it was just changed for the show to be endearing. everyone can have their own opinion but it’s not like they never played songs differently live before. i for one enjoyed this. did anyone really to get up there and play something like girl you have no faith in medicine or that they would have rehearsed a lot lately they haven’t played in almost 2 years.
I think everyone’s looking at it the wrong way. It was a stripped down performance of a band that’s typically stripped down. They went against the odds, redid a song, and surprised us. It might not have sounded as punchy and fun as the original, but it was good.
Breaking up? Hardly. If anything, the band will probably record soon. Jack has stated several times that he needs Meg around in his life to write music. The White Stripes will always be his hunting grounds and his place to return.
The Raconteurs just sounds better to everyone else now because they’ve been touring and the added help make the songs sound more realized and focused. Yet when you look at it, they’re hardly a better band, at least lyrically.
Stripes will continue and they’ll tour eventually again. Now, I just miss Conan.
jack white just seems to be so much more comfortable with the Raconteurs…he should stick to being a bad ass with his boys I think
thats hard to watch. Doesn’t even sound like the actual song
uh… this really sucked. anyone who isn’t deaf and has heard the white stripes would know that.
conan should feel ripped off
You make a good point. This def. could prove to be a goodbye for The White Stripes as well.
I don’t think it was a train wreck. It was just a White stripes picking up a guitar and singing. After seeing it you actually think it’s not just a Goodbye for Conan, But for the white stripes as well.
Feb 23rd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
[...] all the talk shows blew their aural wads on last week’s impressive lineup. (And now that Conan’s signed off, we’ve got reruns to fill in until he takes the throne from [...]