i'm beginning to think the Black Keys are incapable of putting on a bad show. i've seen Dan Auerbach tear it up solo apparently while suffering from the flu, and while last night may not have been my favorite time seeing them, to claim the boys were in less than their usual rarefied air would simply be untrue.It might have had something to do with the fact that my ass hat of a brother who i also bought tickets for showed up almost half an hour late, or it may have just been the fact that i'm not a huge fan of DAR, but i couldn't quite get into the swing of things last night.
It certainly wasn't openers The Morning Benders. While my knowledge of them is largely limited to that cover CD they put out a couple of years ago, they certainly performed admirably. While they seemed somewhat mismatched with the harder sounding Keys at first, by the time they closed with "Excuses," damn near the entire house at that point (let's say just over half full) gave them a standing ovation, myself included.
Maybe i was thrown by the fact that Patrick Carney didn't wear glasses for the entire set, a first for me, and i've seen them at least a half dozen or so times already. i'm not sure how this is possible, but the heir apparent to John Bonham's frenzied style of playing appeared somehow even angrier than usual, beating the skins with a renewed passion one does not typically see outside of long-term, abusive relationships of the type found on "Cops" reruns. His drumming, however, remained flawless. The same should be said of Auerbach's guitar work, if anything better than the last couple of times i've seen him play solo. The song selection wasn't bad, either. Once they got "Stack Shot Billy" and "10 a.m. Automatic" out of the way, they pretty much covered my bases. More than half the show was dedicated to their earlier CDs, though they did bring out a bassists and keyboardist (another first for me seeing them), which wasn't a half bad affair at all, to help with their newer material. i'm not sure they added a whole hell of a lot, but they certainly didn't detract in the least. From the new CD, they played my faves again, ("Everlasting Light," "Next Girl," "Tighten Up," "Howlin' for You"), so it couldn't have been that, either. They did play their Twilight track, and while a kick-ass tune, teenage vampires do piss me off something fierce.
i dunno. Maybe my shoes were too tight, because upon further review, they obviously rocked last night.
Never mind. These are not the droids you're looking for. Move along; move along.
mp3: Ohio (The Black Keys from previous 7", now available at the website for the price of your email addy)
1 comment:
I'm with you on the Teenage Vampires. Just getting into Black Keys so I didn't know they had such a song. Still, they are on the top of my list to see live. I hope they play some Chulahoma when I see them, love that album.
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