Red-hot White Stripes turn up the heat

Either they turned off the air conditioning at the Agganis Arena last night or the White Stripes were just that hot.

Whatever the source of the humidity, Detroit rock royalty Jack and Meg White used it to their advantage to replace the impersonal hockey rink vibe with a boisterious, close-quarters club feel. (The general admission floor, where people were very well behaved, helped, too.)

Celebrating 10 years as a band, the White "siblings" roamed across their catalog, playing everything from early tracks like the sprightly "Screwdriver" to the glorious hitch-and-stomp riff rock of the new "300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues," from the recent "Icky Thump."

Both Whites seemed in good spirits, with Jack scooting around with headbanging glee as he howled and shredded and wailed against the meaty beat of "Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground," the singsong swing of "Hotel Yorba," and the dark and dirty "Hello Operator."

While a number of microphones enabled Jack to sing wherever he happened to have scooted, that spot was most often at the mic directly facing Meg, where he would lock eyes and stomp out the time to "Seven Nation Army" or "My Doorbell," while letting loose ferocious howls and speaking with the honeyed, playful tones of a southern black grandma calling out to the neighborhood kids from her porch.

Introducing closer "Boll Weevil," he cajoled the sold-out crowd into singing along by promising that he and Meg "would come and clean out your garage." There are going to be some clean car parks in greater Boston tomorrow.

For all the sometimes justifiable hand wringing over Meg's drumming, especially relative to Jack's virtuosity, the pair have an undeniable connection, and it was strong last night. Meg may be limited, but Jack arranges within those limits like a champ, and considering how often he flies by the seat of his pants it was obvious that Meg can read every twitch of those tight red trousers. She bounced and smashed with a primal vibe that suits their soul-deep hybrid of blues-metal-punk and pop. She also came out front for her customary solo on the sulry "In the Cold, Cold Night."

Alabama punk-a-billy cult fave Dan Sartain helped heat the room for the headliners.