The Austin City Limits Festival is upon us again which means that several of the artists will tape episodes while they are here. Raconteurs had a performance last Thursday on the eve of their set on Friday. They released a new album this past June called Help Us Stranger. They opened with “Bored and Razed” , which is also the opening track on the album. They followed it up with the fourth track from the album “Don’t Bother Me” and straight into an acoustic track, “Only Child”.

Jack White moved to the piano for “You Don’t Understand Me” from their second album, Consolers of the Lonely and stayed there for “Shine the Light on Me”. The set amped back up with “Now That You’re Gone” and “Sunday Driver”. The energy relaxed for a bit on “Help Me Stranger”. I lost track of some of the songs after that one, but I did enjoy one that I hadn’t heard before, “Somedays (I Don’t Feel Like Trying)”. At the end, they opted to play “Steady as She Goes” and left “Level” off the set list, much to my son’s dismay.

I had the opportunity to see Jack White when he taped an episode in 2012. Perhaps it’s me, but Jack seems happy to not be the center of attention when playing with Raconteurs. He can focus on solos and on playing without having to be the person in charge / leading the show.

In the end, it seemed like a short set, less than an hour and half. They definitely left the crowd wanting more. There’s a recap available on the Austin City Limits site. The episode will air early next year in Season 45 on KLRU locally.