The Strokes’ Nick Valensi Joins Jack White In LA

Once upon a time, the Strokes and the White Stripes were the two biggest dogs in the early-'00s rock-revival moment. The White Stripes no longer exist, but Jack White continues to soldier on as a solo act. The Strokes are still around, too, but they're down one member right now. Back in May, the Strokes announced that longtime rhythm guitarist Nick Valensi would take a "temporary break" from the band. (His most recent show with them was at Coachella.) Last night, the city of Los Angeles got an unexpected White Stripes/Strokes crossover when Valensi joined Jack White for two songs at his Hollywood Palladium show.Jack White and Nick Valensi have known each other for a long, long time. Back in 2002, the Strokes and the White Stripes played a pair of home-and-away co-headlining shows in New York and Detroit. White joined the Strokes on "New York City Cops" at Radio City, then rejoined them at the Reading Festival later that year. When White and the Strokes both played Coachella earlier this year, White shouted the band out from the stage and posed for a pic with them backstage. On Monday night, Jack White played the first of two planned shows at the Hollywood Palladium. White had previously extended an invite to Satanic oldies-pastiche duo Twin Temple back in July, leading to a goofy little mini-feud between White and outlaw country revivalist Charly Crockett. After some issues with radius clauses regarding their dates opening for Danzig, Twin Temple did end up opening the show. During White's headlining set, surprise guest Nick Valensi joined him for a version of "Broken Boy Soldiers," a 2006 song from White's band the Raconteurs. Then Valensi stuck around for the live debut of "Bless Yourself," a song from White's recent album Frozen Charlotte. On both songs, the two guitarists did some simultaneous shredding, and they looked and sounded extremely cool.Reviewing Jack White's set at a Richmond festival last week, I noted that White's keyboard player Bobby Emmett looks and dresses, at least from a distance, a lot like Julian Casablancas. I thought that was pretty funny. But last night, White had an actual Stroke up there with him — one who apparently doesn't speak with Casablancas these days. Watch some videos below.