The Raconteurs Reunite Onstage for First Time in Seven Years

The Raconteurs performed together for the first time in seven years on Saturday, reuniting during the encore of Jack White's solo concert at The Truth, his new Nashville venue.

The four-piece — White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler — played a five-song set that included "Steady, as She Goes" and three more tracks from the band's 2006 debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers. The performance was the group's first since December 2019.

How did fans know a reunion was coming?

White had hinted at the surprise hours earlier. "Inside info for any Raconteurs fans in the Nashville area…you might want to buy a ticket for Jack White's show at The Truth tonight…there just might be a little surprise…" he wrote on social media before the concert.

The hint was not subtle, but it worked: the encore delivered the full band back together on a Nashville stage for the first time since the group's last run of activity six years ago.

What is behind the reunion?

The performance coincided with a recent announcement from White's Third Man Records. The label's Vault subscription series will next release a 20th anniversary edition of Broken Boy Soldiers. The package includes:

• a recording of the Raconteurs' first-ever concert, played on March 20, 2006
• nine demos from the album's era

The timing links Saturday's reunion to two milestones at once: the anniversary reissue and the opening of The Truth, the new Nashville venue that hosted the show.

Is more Raconteurs activity coming?

That remains unclear. The band's most recent album, Help Me Stranger, appeared in 2019 — 11 years after its predecessor, 2008's Consolers of the Lonely. Neither White nor Third Man Records has said whether Saturday's set was a one-off tied to the reissue and the venue launch, or a signal of larger plans.

For now, the reunion stands as a single five-song set. Whether it becomes the first step toward new Raconteurs material, or simply a commemoration of Broken Boy Soldiers two decades on, will determine how this Nashville night is remembered.