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Nick's Picks: Vance Joy and Jack White

Eight million dollars were spent over the past two years to renovate the Rochester Dome Arena. New lights, a new roof, a new green room, and countless amenities were added to this 25,000 square foot space so it could attract touring artists and serve as a beacon for music lovers in Rochester. After spending the past eight months slowly gaining momentum by booking increasingly bigger acts, this week’s shows from indie folk star Vance Joy and rock legend Jack White solidify the Dome Arena’s status as a legitimate destination in the Rochester entertainment scene.

Tonight the Dome hosts Joy, a thirty-year-old singer and songwriter most known for his 2013 feel-good hit “Riptide,” which highlighted his debut EP, God Loves When You’re Dancing. Riding the success of “Riptide,” which eventually reached number one on Billboard’s Alternative Airway chart, Joy released his first studio album, Dream Your Life Away in 2014 to an overwhelming positive reception. Joy spent roughly the next three yours touring across the United States, Europe, and Australia with stops at major festivals like Austin City Limits, Boston Calling, and Panorama. Rochester catches Joy just months after the release of his second studio album, Nation of Two, a project that employs light, catchy melodies and focuses thematically on the intricacies of relationships.  

While Joy is a relative newcomer to international music fame, White, who plays the Dome on Thursday, June 6, has been a bona fide rockstar for nearly two decades. Born in Detroit as Jack Anthony Gallis, White founded the White Stripes in 1997 with fellow Detroit native Meg White. Together the pair found themselves at the forefront of the early 2000’s rock resurgence scene with the their breakthrough garage rock album, White Blood Cells, which featured the hit single “Fell in Love with a Girl.” This album set the stage for a decade full of success for the White Stripes which saw sold out arenas all over the world, countless chart-topping songs, and several Grammy wins. White continued his critical and popular success throughout the 2010s as a solo artist. His current tour comes on the heels of his third solo album, Boarding House Reach, which was released in March of this year. Concertgoers at the Dome can look forward to a mix of White’s early fast-paced, grunge rock and the slower, bluesier, experimental songs from Boarding House Reach.

Follow Nick’s Picks on Twitter at @NickAbreu585.

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