News > Music > The White Stripes Give 'Icky' Unique Release; Open Their Own Record Store

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FRIDAY JUNE 15 2007 1:30 AM

The White Stripes Give 'Icky' Unique Release; Open Their Own Record Store

Though The White Stripes seem generally leery of technology, recording their guitar/drum stompers on analog equipment and favoring vinyl releases, the band are releasing their new album, Icky Thump, in the high tech USB flash drive format. The format is a fairly new idea for the commercial market, though several artists including M.I.A. and Keane have experimented releasing singles this way.

Fans will be able to choose between USB sticks decorated as Jack or Meg in the "Pearly King and Queen" outfits they don on the album's artwork, or buy them as a set at a discounted price. The Icky sticks (eww! -ed.), however, don't come cheap. Buying a stand-alone "Pearly Jack" will set fans back $57.50 in US Dollars, the set carries the hefty price tag of $99.

The Flash Drive release is available to U.S. residents only via the duo's website, and is limited to 3333 copies per "Jack" and "Meg".

In related news, The Whites gave listeners across the pond their first Icky taste with a free etched vinyl seven inch of Thump track "Rag and Bone", given away with last week's NME. Stateside promotional blitz for the album begins on the 19th with the band playing a 'secret' show at New York's former Irving Plaza, now Fillmore East. The Stripes will then jet to Los Angeles to christen Hollywood's 'specially constructed Icky Thump Records', at the former home of the Sunset Strip's Tower Records.

The White Stripes will be performing a very special show in West Hollywood, CA on June 20th. The band will play a live show for fans at a specially constructed Icky Thump Records store on Sunset Boulevard. The location of Icky Thump Records is the site of the former Tower Records flagship store at 8801 W. Sunset Blvd. Tickets for this unique performance will be made available to the first 200 fans who purchase the album at this store, which opens at midnight on Monday, June 18th. Tickets are limited and will be given on a first come, first served basis. A handful of tickets will also be available to listeners of KROQ radio from Friday, June 15 Sunday, June 17th. The Icky Thump Records performance will be the bands first Los Angeles show since December 2005.

The 'Icky Thump Records' in-store performance will be streamed live on the web via AT&T's Blue Room website.

Following these special appearances The White Stripes will embark on a massive North American tour. Icky Thump drops on June 19th.

White Stripes Tour Dates:

Jun 24 - Deer Lake Park ++ Burnaby, BC Canada
Jun 25 - Yukon Arts Center Whitehorse, YT Canada
Jun 26 - Shorty Brown Multiplex Arena Yellowknife, NT Canada
Jun 27 - Arctic Winter Games Arena w/Lucie Idlout Iqaluit, NU Canada
Jun 29 - The Pengrowth Saddledome ++ Calgary, AB Canada
Jun 30 - Shaw Conference Center ++ Edmonton, AB Canada
Jul 1 - TCU Place ++ Saskatoon, SK Canada
Jul 2 - MTS Centre ++ Winnipeg, MB Canada
Jul 3 - Thunder Bay Community Auditorium ++ Thunder Bay, ON Canada
Jul 5 - Molson Amphitheatre ++ Toronto, ON Canada
Jul 6 - Bell Centre ++ Montreal, QC Canada
Jul 7 - John Labatt Centre ++ London, ON Canada
Jul 8 - Ottawa Bluesfest w/2007 Cisco Systems Ottawa, ON Canada
Jul 10 - Moncton Coliseum Arena ++ Moncton, NB Canada
Jul 11 - Charlottetown Civic Centre ++ Charlottetown, PE Canada
Jul 13 - Cunard Center ++ Halifax, NS Canada
Jul 14 - Savoy Theatre ++, Ashley MacIssac Glace Bay, NS Canada
Jul 16 - Mile One Center ++ St. John's, NF Canada
Jul 22 - Cumberland Civic Center w/Dan Satain Portland, Maine
Jul 23 - Agganis Arena ++ Boston, Massachusetts
Jul 24 - Madison Square Garden w/Grinderman and Porter Wagoner New York City, New York
Jul 25 - Chevrolet Theater ++ Wallingford, Connecticut
Jul 27 - Grand Opera House ++ Wilmington, Delaware
Jul 28 - Patriot Center ++ Fairfax, Virginia
Jul 29 - House of Blues ++ North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Jul 30 - Sloss Furnaces ++ Birmingham, Alabama
Jul 31 - Snowden Grove Park Amphitheater ++ Southaven, Mississippi
Sep 13 - Kiva Auditorium (to be rescheduled) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sep 15 - Austin City Limits Festival Austin, Texas
Sep 16 - Austin City Limits Festival Austin, Texas
Sep 18 - Bayside Concerts @ The Embarcadero * San Diego, California
Sep 19 - The Forum * Inglewood, California
Sep 21 - Greek Theatre * Berkeley, California
Sep 24 - William A. Egan Civic Center * Anchorage, Alaska
Sep 26 - Paramount Ballroom * Seattle, Washington
Sep 27 - Paramount Ballroom * Seattle, Washington
Sep 28 - Idaho Center Theater * Boise, Idaho
Sep 29 - The "E" Center * Salt Lake City, Utah
Sep 30 - Snowking Center * Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Oct 2 - Rushmore Plaza Civic Center * Rapid City, South Dakota
Oct 3 - Fargo Civic Auditorium * Fargo, North Dakota
Oct 4 - Pershing Center Auditorium * Lincoln, Nebraska
Oct 6 - Aragon Ballroom * Chicago, Illinois
Oct 7 - Aragon Ballroom * Chicago, Illinois

* w/ Cold War Kids
++ w/Dan Sartain

Recommended Viewing:
The White Stripes performing "Effect and Cause" from Icky Thump on Later with Jools Holland.

"Icky Thump" video

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Comments

_Tab

USA

September 2004

JUN 15, 2007 01:43 AM

*excited*

sonic_tooth

Kansas City, MO

April 2007

JUN 15, 2007 03:03 AM

Cool. Can't wait to get the new album.

...I won't be purchasing the USB drives, however.

him666

New Zealand

December 2006

JUN 15, 2007 04:21 AM

heard the new album was quite dissapointed,first the new tomahawk album then the turbonegro album then this,will probably grow on me like the other two.hopefully satan

pmonkeyEsquire

I'm lost

May 2004

JUN 15, 2007 05:59 AM

hmmph. guess with some bands it's all about promotion and gimickery. sad, really.

nobodaddy

Burlington, VT

August 2003

JUN 15, 2007 06:04 AM

They're so cool.

VioletRed

Ferndale, MI

October 2004

JUN 15, 2007 06:29 AM

no detroit dates!?! wtf?

shapeshifter23

San Francisco, CA

September 2005

JUN 15, 2007 06:57 AM

I am so bloody sick of *marketing*. It's all about 'promotion and gimmicks' as someone above noted, making a big multimedia event out of a rock 'n roll record, diversifying the commodity production to maximize 'units' sold and profits. Et cetera.

Everytime the White Stripes put out a new record and I see the full-page color newspaper ads with them all dressed up like Ken and Barbie in whatever red/white/black thematic costume their LAME record label marketing experts have cooked up I can't help but roll my eyes and say "Jeez." These two have so utterly allowed themselves to become the pawns/playthings of the music industry it's sickening,,,

fictionalsounds

Alva, OK

April 2004

JUN 15, 2007 07:53 AM

and yet jack and meg have total control of their music and i'm pretty sure that they've a hand in their little image thing since they've been pushing the same ideas since their indie days. they did try to sell the "brother and sister" act on us long before the big record label contract, didn't they? yeah, being a pawn/plaything of the music industry must be a bitch.

if you don't like the music, that's fine, but if you're looking to make an example of the white stripes being everything that's wrong w/music and the industry...look somewhere else.

jimbotentoe

Columbia, SC

June 2007

JUN 15, 2007 08:35 AM

I am all for the new music but man that is tough on the price on the usb drive!

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH

April 2004

JUN 15, 2007 08:48 AM

shapeshifter23 said:
I am so bloody sick of *marketing*. It's all about 'promotion and gimmicks' as someone above noted, making a big multimedia event out of a rock 'n roll record, diversifying the commodity production to maximize 'units' sold and profits. Et cetera.

Everytime the White Stripes put out a new record and I see the full-page color newspaper ads with them all dressed up like Ken and Barbie in whatever red/white/black thematic costume their LAME record label marketing experts have cooked up I can't help but roll my eyes and say "Jeez." These two have so utterly allowed themselves to become the pawns/playthings of the music industry it's sickening,,,

OMG musicians and labels are trying to sell records! Stop the presses!!!

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

JUN 15, 2007 08:58 AM

Cigarette said:

OMG musicians and labels are trying to sell records! Stop the presses!!!

I know, combine that with streaming their concert for free, the free 7 inch, and the massive amounts of people who will be illegally downloading the album for nothing, how dare they come up with another way of selling some albums? And, as for the record company coming up with the red/white theme--this guy is clearly talking out of his ass. It might be "lame" but it's all theirs.

Oh well, The Beatles didn't need any gimmicks or marketing, right? Oh....

RileyStClair

Los Angeles, CA

September 2006

JUN 15, 2007 09:36 AM

someone buy me the flash drive set, please?

i like that they're doing something with the old tower store. i'd try to go get tickets if i didn't, you know, have a life that prevents me from waiting outside the store for 3 days to be one of the first 200.