Rare NZ White Stripes footage to screen

Meg White performs with The White Stripes at The St James in Auckland in 2003. Photo / Richard Robinson

Rare footage of The White Stripes performing at an Auckland primary school will screen for fans for free next week.

The footage features Jack and Meg White performing seven songs in the Freeman's Bay Primary School auditorium during a lunch break in 2003.

The show was a quickfire decision by the duo, who were in town for shows in Auckland and Wellington on the back of their fourth album Elephant. They made no announcements and refused to let media attend.

It was filmed on VHS by Henrietta Harris who had been invited by a local promoter and only had time to grab a camera from her grandfather.

"I filmed it and probably did a really crappy job - I didn't know what I was doing," Harris wrote in Volume magazine.

"I remember Brad Holland, the drummer from Whirlwind Heat, saw the camera and he was like, 'Whoa - analogue!' I didn't really know the difference between digital and film then."

Harris, a big fan of the band, said the show was "fun" but many of the children didn't know who The White Stripes were.

"It was a bit more special because I was helping out. Lots of the kids didn't really know what was happening - they were almost indifferent. Some of them were dancing along, but lots of the children seemed to just be sitting there.

"The teachers were really excited, I remember that, getting things signed and the like."

The show has never been released on DVD until now, when White announced it would be given to record club fans as part of Third Man Records' Vault series.

But fans can see the performance in a one-off, free screening at Real Groovy Records on Queen Street on June 28 at 7pm.

The White Stripes broke up last year after recording six albums together. It was rumoured drummer Meg White no longer wanted to tour.

- Herald online