The Raconteurs @ The Corn Exchange, 26 Aug

Given the group’s star power – fronted by Jack White and Brendan Benson – the Raconteurs could easily phone one in and still walk off to a warm reception. However, these two songwriters – rounded out by the rhythm section of The Greenhornes – bumrush the Corn Exchange with both guns blazing tonight. After trotting out a few jams from this year’s Consolers of the Lonely, the quartet rev up the crowd with the bluesier Level from their debut, only to throw an immediate curveball as White takes to the keys for the heartfelt You Don’t Understand Me. They take a while to get going full-steam again, but they make it seem easy by ripping through a cover of the blues classic Baby, Please Don’t Go. Well informed by arena rock standards, the band returns for a five-song encore, and though Steady, as She Goes ebbs toward self-indulgence, the unrestrained Salute Your Solution and Carolina Drama have the boys closing the show like old pros. [Jason Morton]