Expecting about 20 people to even know who the hell The Dead Weather are, it was a nice surprise to see the Depot filled on a Tuesday night for Jack White's electro-blues supergroup. --- Just imagine the turnout if our local "alternative rock" radio stations actually played 'em instead of 16-year-old Nirvana tunes.

White (White Stripes, Raconteurs), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs) resembled an undead Ramones when they took the stage, all black hair and blacker threads. But when they kicked into "60 Feet Tall," the first track from the Dead Weather's Horehound album, it was clear they meant rock & roll business; Mosshart drove home the "tall" point by standing atop the stage monitors for most of the song.

It was a quick ride after that--since the band only has one record and a handful of obscure covers to pull from, they were barely onstage for an hour. White only stepped from behind the drum kit and strapped on a guitar briefly, but kept a thunderously solid (and waaay up in the mix) beat for the rest of the set, and Mosshart was pure rock swagger--for anyone who's never seen her with The Kills (which is pretty much everyone), she should now be their favorite frontperson and/or potential dominatrix.

The Dead Weather: If White doesn't get bored and they still exist next year, don't miss 'em.