Jack White’s Asylum: Insane And Disease-Ridden Secret Gig

Jack White outdid all his other impromptu gigs the past few years with his latest secret show in London held on July 2. The show, which had a medical theme, was done in conjunction with the Punchdrunk theater company.

Fans who were lucky to witness the secret event had to follow online clues. White posted a link to a warning that announced a reported “outbreak of a rare and unidentified contagious disease.” Those who would like to partake in the event had to register on the Vescovo & Co. website where they can be tested for contagious and infectious disease free of charge.

Vescovo & Co.’s About Us page states that the company was founded in 1926 and it is an international health protection agency funded by the Knights of Malta. The company is an elaborate front for Jack White’s secret gig.

After registering, lucky fans received a phone call from Vescovo & Co. inviting them to a late-night appointment at the clinic. They received a text message afterwards revealing the location of the clinic, which is near the Strand in central London.

The 100 fans chosen knew that they were attending a Jack White event, but nobody had an idea what would happen. They gathered outside the address given to them and officials asked for their names and gave them numbered wristbands. All of the attendees also had to change into surgical gowns before they were ushered into a dark corridor.

Rolling Stone reports that one of the patients was found to be infected and all the rest had to go through decontamination.

That’s when Jack White and his band appeared and play their short set. The performance was complete with smoke from dry ice and the band members were also clad in scrubs. Their set list included “Lazaretto,” “High Ball Stepper,” “Sixteen Saltines,” “St. James Infirmary Blues,” and two White Stripes’ songs “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” and “Icky Thump.”

After the performance, Jack White went into a seizure and collapsed on the ground. He was brought out on a stretcher, as the confused audience shuffled back on the street still wearing their hospital gowns. Officials handed out certificates to the patients, which read, “Prescriptions from Jack” signed by Doctor John A. White III of Vescovo & Co. Each certificate had a medical advice. The Guardian reports that one read, “Pet a horse” and another read, “Be sure to eat your Ovaltine.”

As a finale, Jack White was carried from the building and into an ambulance that drove away into the night.

[Images via Jack White III]