Want to have the most fun at a rock show? Start searching for your nearest Raconteurs gig.

The ripping and rejuvenated Nashville outfit returned Thursday to the Ryman Auditorium — where the band last performed in 2011 before an eight-year musical exile —for a no-nonsense night of guitar-carrying audacity.

Led by a ferocious Jack White, a rock 'n' roll takeover of the Mother Church of Country Music reverberated intensely for the band's 100-minute set.

"Do you wanna be awake right now?" White proclaimed early in the night, fist pumping as he enticed the audience covered in lights of burnt orange and green.

The Raconteurs play Nashville (a phone-free show) in the weeks following a return to turntables and Spotify playlists with the 12-track melodic rock special, "Help Us Stranger." The band's first studio effort in 11 years, it debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and earned critical acclaim for its riffy and reliable storytelling.

"Help Us Stranger" features a healthy back-and-forth from the musical eccentricity of White and bandmate Brendan Benson's melodic earnestness. The former embraces pure showmanship — dedicating himself to the point of creating a screen-free zone that asks onlookers to escape into the music with him — while the latter doubles down on enduring melody.

And it works.

The band opened Thursday's show with a trio of back catalog favorites before kicking into new material with the eerie, Benson-led "Only Child." Benson's storytelling captivated as White conducted the band through extended bridges, extracurricular riffs and swaying singalong.

There's the meat-and-potatoes grizz of crowd favorite "Sunday Driver" and southern-tinged heaviness of "Somedays (I Don't Feel Like Trying)," but the new material shined most with pseudo-title track "Help Me Stranger."

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A jangly taste of heartland rock, Benson introduced the song by sharing "(People ask us) Livin' in Nashville, how's that influence your music? This song kinda says it."

Still, it's the road-worn material that brings this Raconteurs outing to a cathartic close, starting with 2006's "Together" before the blistering "Broken Boy Solider" and blues powerhouse "Blue Veins."

"Alright, Nashville," White, pausing before "Together," called to the audience. "Are you with us or against us? That's what I wanna know right now."

White found his answer during "Blue Veins," shrieking the song's close as onlookers greeted him with a thunderous pounding on the pews.

Playing its role in the unspoken promise of any memorable rock show, the Raconteurs returned for a four-song encore. The bonus set included an all-out jam of Donovan's "Hey Gyp" and an expanded "Steady, As She Goes" — a timeless song transformed into a fitting close for a wildly fun night.

The Raconteurs return Friday and Saturday to the Ryman. Can't make the show? Stream each performance live on nugs.tv.

Raconteurs in Nashville setlist