Generally speaking, when a musician starts calling their fans ‘entitled’ on social media, it’s usually something of a red flag; a sign that they’re throwing their toys out of the pram over something as egregious as being expected to turn up to their own gigs on time or actually play their most popular songs.
In the case of a recent post from Jack White, however, the former White Stripe and Third Man Records boss is actually making a fairly nuanced point.
"Been hearing a lot of chatter throughout the year of this glorious electric touring [sic] about how long our sets are ‘supposed to be’ on stage,” White posted to his official Instagram over the weekend. “As if the length of a show determines how ‘good’ it is.”
White’s point, put simply, is that the spiralling cost of ticket prices and general changes to the touring landscape have meant that there’s a growing expectation that an artist should play long, career-spanning sets, leaving no room for more low key gigs that clock in around the 30-40 minute mark.
“The Beatles and Ramones played 30 minute (ish) sets,” White continues, “and if I could, I would do the same at this moment in my performing life. That's actually the kind of show I'd like to put on right now.
“But there becomes this chatter that the cost of a ticket ‘entitles’ people to some kind of extra long show...uh...ok (hahaha) so I'm bridging the gap. I'm not sure y'all are knowing (or maybe remembering?) what a real rock or punk show is like though if you're thinking that way, I think you're talking about an arena laser light show with pyro, huge screens with premade videos, singers flying over the crowd, t shirt cannons, etc, that's not the kind of shows we're performing.”
There’s an interesting point to be made here about the trickle down effect that massive shows have on the rest of the live music landscape. Although White doesn’t mention any artists by name, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is the obvious extreme of this, where fans shell out ticket and travel costs that equate to the price of a small holiday, and get a spectacular three hour set in return.
For Jack White – who it should be noted is in the midst of a very well-received solo tour – the frustration also likely comes down to his fairly unique position in the musical landscape. With the White Stripes he achieved a level of record sales and fame that has put him in rock music’s upper tiers and means he can sell out larger capacity venues. His music, particularly when it comes to his solo work, is probably more naturally suited to rougher, smaller capacity shows though.
It certainly wouldn’t be true to say that shorter, cheaper gigs aren’t a thing anymore. In the past year we’ve seen numerous excellent shows from acts spanning rock, electronic and experimental genres, with ticket prices below the £20/$30 mark and sets that last less than an hour.
“Love to all of our fans, I see your faces every night and you can be assured I've never phoned it in in my life,” White goes on to explain. “Whether its [sic] 20 minutes or 2 hours, I'm giving the room what the room is prompting me to do and share and that doesn't mean if people cheer louder its [sic] going to be longer either! haha. There's no setlist, and it's not a marvel movie, or a Vegas residency, it's rock and roll and it's a living breathing organism.”
Of course, there’s also an inversion to this point, in that the economics of touring in 2025 mean that, at a certain level, travel, venue and administrative costs mean that ticket prices have to rise in order to make touring financially viable.
To take White’s own tour as an example, tickets for his upcoming shows at London’s (approx) 3,000 capacity Troxy start at £55 before fees are added. Prices like that mean that the gig is no longer an everyday event for most music fans, and more of a rare treat. Although it’s certainly legitimate to argue that a great gig doesn’t need to be a specific length and include a set number of pyrotechnics, at that price we’d certainly feel short changed with a 30 minute setlist.
It’s worth noting that Jack White has form when it comes to playing extremely short sets too. Back when they were touring Canada in 2007, the White Stripes performed a legendary ‘secret’ set that lasted the duration of a single note. Fortunately no ticket money had changed hands in that case.
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