DETROIT — "I gotta be careful now," Jack White told the crowd at the Masonic Temple on Saturday night, the first night of the hometown rocker's two-night stand at the historic Detroit venue. "Last time I was at this spot and I played this next one, I got married by the end of the song."

He was referring to his 2022 show at the Masonic, in which he capped an epic day — it was Opening Day for the Tigers, White played the Star Spangled Banner prior to the game, and it was the day his fourth solo album, "Fear of the Dawn," was released — by proposing to and then immediately marrying his girlfriend, fellow Detroit rocker Olivia Jean, on stage in front of a crowd full of unsuspecting wedding guests after playing the White Stripes' classic "Hotel Yorba."

Alas, there were no major life events at Saturday's concert. There were just two hours of straight ahead rock and roll, delivered by a master craftsman in fierce, fine form.

In addition to White's solo catalog, the show featured songs from the White Stripes, White's other-other band the Raconteurs, and the Stooges, as White tore into a pounding version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" from the iconic Detroit rockers.

The concert was White's first Detroit show since a flurry of activity in 2024, which saw him performing as part of an all-star lineup at the Michigan Central Station reopening concert in June, playing a show at Saint Andrew's Hall in August and jumping on stage with his old bandmates the Hentchmen at the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival in September.

Those were tough tickets or quickdraw affairs announced with little advance notice, while Saturday's concert was a more traditional affair, announced with several months of lead time. Both Masonic concerts — White plays again Sunday night — are part of a run of dates tied to White's stripped down 2024 album "No Name," a ripsaw, back-to-basics affair that has him sounding like a trapped wolverine being freed from his cage.

Saturday's concert kicked off with the "No Name" track "Old Scratch Blues," and it saw White — who was dressed all in black — encouraging the crowd to chant "hey! Hey! Hey!" along with him. It didn't take much to get them going.

That led straight into a rousing "That's How I'm Feeling," which fed into "Black Math," the first of eight White Stripes covers in the show.

White, backed by a three-piece ensemble consisting of keyboardist Bobby Emmett, bassist Dominic John Davis and drummer Patrick Keeler, was sharp and energetic throughout, frequently jumping up on Keeler's drum riser and pumping up both the band and the crowd.

His moves were deliberate and he was playing with purpose. He dipped all the way back to the White Stripes' debut album (for "I Fought Piranhas" and "Cannon") while also tearing through a healthy sampling of "No Name" material ("Bombing Out," "What's the Rumpus," "Archbishop Harold Holmes") and plenty in between.

There was a mention of Elon Musk and "taking away people's Social Security" during "The Union Forever" — White has been a frequent critic of both Musk and Donald Trump — which received a rousing reaction from the crowd.

And White made several local references, calling out East Grand Blvd. where "Broken Boy Soldier" was recorded during that song's intro, and referring to Detroit as "every place in a 50 mile radius" during "That's How I'm Feeling."

That's how he was feeling. White, who is three months shy of his 50th birthday, closed out his seven song encore with "Seven Nation Army," the worldwide stadium anthem which left people chanting.

"You've been incredible," White told the crowd as he took a bow with his bandmates, "and I've been Jack White." And even without a wedding to tie it together, thus ended another chapter in White's storied love affair with Detroit.

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