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Music

You Can Now Stream the White Stripes' Little-Heard Debut Show

Recorded live at Detroit's Gold Dollar on Bastille Day 1997.

It turns out that even greats start out at open mics, grabbing whatever opportunities they can to even perform a few minutes of their music for anyone who'll listen. The White Stripes' two-person format probably made that a little bit easier back in the day compared to other bands. As part of Third Man Records' celebration of the band's 20th anniversary, the Jack White-helmed label has released the first streaming audio of the Stripes' first-ever show in Detroit, exactly 20 years to the day.

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It's an incredibly brief three-song set but it's pretty cool to hear how the band's minimalist blues pounding was more or less fully-formed from the jump. For a live recording, the sound quality's not so bad, either. Basement bands, take note: don't give up hope, as the Stripes played the same venue two years later and tore shit up. You can listen to Bastille Day below.

Phil is actually kind of emotional right now. He's on Twitter.