The White Stripes bring the blues back to rock

Their first UK tour found the White Stripes reluctant subjects of media hype at odds with their grass-roots operation, but their sold-out, 10-date blitz was bookended by two key shows: their sublime first Peel Session, and a secret show at London garage-rock club Dirty Water, with their hero Billy Childish playing support. The tabloid paps present ignored the band and snapped audience member Kate Moss instead, but the Stripes' performance – a searing take on Son House's Death Letter in particular – proved they deserved the hyperbole, revitalising the blues for a new generation. Initially they were lumped in with a garage-rock revival, observers perhaps misled by Jack White's Dogme-style primitivism. However, as their ambitions grew and grew, it rapidly became clear that the White Stripes were rather more than just revivalists.