White Stripes explore 'exotic lands' with northern gigs

The "exotic lands" of Canada's North have captivated the White Stripes as much as the American rock duo has captivated thousands of fans this week with sold-out shows in Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit.

"We've always wanted to come. We've always heard about these exotic lands and how beautiful they are," lead singer and guitarist Jack White said late Tuesday, in an exclusive television interview with CBC-TV before playing to about 2,200 fans in Yellowknife.

"We've never done a full tour of Canada before, and we thought if we're going to do one after all these years, we should really do it. Let's do it all the way," White said. "We don't like to do things halfway in this band."

White, along with drummer Meg White, will play at Iqaluit's Arctic Winter Games Arena on Wednesday night. On Monday, they performed two shows in Whitehorse: the sold-out scheduled show at the Yukon Arts Centre, in which only 400 seats were available, as well as an impromptu performance in a downtown park earlier that day for 500 fans.

"Tickets sold so fast, it was a great surprise to us," White said of the Whitehorse show. "So it was one thing we thought of to try and help alleviate that."

'What's the biggest struggle?'

The White Stripes' northern dates are part of an ambitious Canadian tour that began June 24 in Burnaby, B.C., and ends July 16 in St. John's, N.L. The Detroit-based band, which is promoting its sixth album, Icky Thump, is playing in every province and territory.

The band will return to southern Canada on Thursday with a show in Calgary, followed by shows in every province before playing in the United States on July 22.

Jack Whitesaid part of the appeal in playing north of 60 a region thathe and Meghave described as "absolutely beautiful" and "breathtaking," respectively is the challenge of coming north to begin with.

"It's obviously not easy for people to come up here. If it was, more acts would come up,"he said.

"It's a shame, and you kind of start with 'what's the biggest struggle?' ... Start with that, and if you can conquer that, then it's easy to play Toronto, you know?"