Third Man Records is excited to announce the 58th installment of their Vault series with The White Stripes - Live in Las Vegas. The 3xLP set captures a blistering 2003 Las Vegas set at The Joint (at the Hard Rock Casino), all freshly remastered and pressed to red, white, and black vinyl. The set also includes a bonus 7” featuring Bob Dylan’s 2004 performance of perennial White Stripes favorite “Ball and Biscuit” featuring Jack White, and on the flip side, the first-ever performance of the track. All of this is accompanied by a patch, a bumper sticker, and art prints by The White Stripes’ frequent collaborator Rob Jones. Sign up is open now through October 31 at midnight CST.
SIGN UP FOR THE THIRD MAN VAULT PROGRAM
September 2003 was a moment of transition. Not two months prior, the entire existence of the White Stripes was nervously put on hold as Jack White recovered (quickly) from a car crash broken finger, the effects of which had the potential to be catastrophic. Ultimately it only briefly inhibited him from playing the D minor chord on guitar. Once back into the swing of things, with the profile of the band continuing to rise in the wake of Elephant’s release, the shows started to take on a life of their own. Whereas the performances had always been compelling and engaging, this return to stage found the band measurably more ferocious. The unplanned respite, however fleeting, was just the right timing to give Jack and Meg perspective, catch their breaths, and hit back like a fucking rocket. In the midst of the run of shows in September 2003, a promotional idea was cooked up by the team at V2 Records – 40 or so fans would be flown out to the White Stripes show at the Joint (at the Hard Rock Casino) in Las Vegas, get a meet-and-greet with the band, and then some time afterward be presented with a vinyl pressing of that evening’s show. The original pressing is sparse to say the least. With no printed artwork, tracklisting or even credits “The White Stripes Live In Las Vegas” rubber-stamped on the labels is the only true identifier on this record. A dip through the original paperwork shows only 100 copies were ever pressed, all at United Record Pressing in Nashville. In celebration of twenty years since the performance, the 58th Vault package from Third Man Records is the first-ever commercially available pressing of the White Stripes triple LP Live In Las Vegas. Consider this snapshot of the night… Josh Hartnett, Steve Mcdonald, Darryl Hannah, Scott Caan and Josh Klinghoffer were all there, not necessarily together or gambling. Soledad Brothers and Whirlwind Heat tore it up as the opening bands, and the Stripes’ set itself was spectacular. The unpredictable moments electrify…an off-the-cuff take of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” to a mid-set abandonment of “Offend In Every Way” because of its reliance upon the D minor chord and an opportune tease of “Mary Had A Little Lamb” imbue the evening with spontaneous joy. Songs from Elephant had taken shape as muscled, taut beasts of energy as the blasting jolt of pure rock and roll lava via “The Hardest Button To Button” testifies. All these factors make this night stick out as measurably better than the rest. We’ve gone back to the original multitracks for a complete remixing and remastering done by the trusted and exacting Bill Skibbe at Third Man Mastering in Nashville. These discs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man Pressing in Detroit, in the unmistakable red, white and black colorways we know and love from the Stripes. All of this is appropriately housed in the unmistakably captivating artwork by Grammy Award-winning designer, Rob Jones. For more than two decades, Rob’s artwork has been synonymous with The White Stripes, starting with concert posters progressing on to merchandise and eventually, album art. As a celebration of 20-plus years of working together, this package brings together elements from ALL those fields, with his stunning album cover pairing exquisitely with his reimagined silk-screened prints and the eye-catching bumper sticker and patch. While that is all more than enough to justify a purchase, in the spirit of overdoing things, we’ve cooked up a complimentary over-the-top 7-inch single included here. On March 17th, 2004, with nary a warning, Bob Dylan brought out Jack White for a live rendition of “Ball And Biscuit” at the State Theater in Detroit, to date one of maybe two songs Dylan has covered from this century. The special moment has long been available via audience-sourced bootleg audio, but Third Man, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, went back to the original multitrack recording and put together an impressive fresh mix of the audio, again done by Bill Skibbe. The flipside to the single is the first-ever live performance of “Ball And Biscuit”, by the White Stripes, from May 2nd, 2002 at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London. Recorded in the middle of the two week stint the band was tracking Elephant just down the road at Toe Rag Studio in Hackney, this embryonic outing serves as a poignant reminder of just how far the band and the song had traveled, literally and metaphorically, in just twenty-two months. Pressed on glittery red vinyl with artwork by the estimable Chris Everhart, the whole shebang is pretty to hold and pleasing to hear. What more could you ask for? Order by midnight central time October 31st at www.thirdmanrecords.com to secure your copy of this impressive and important addition to the White Stripes story. | 
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