THE BLACK KEYS at the Molson Amphitheatre, Thursday, July 7. Rating: NNNN
The days of seeing the Black Keys at small club-like venues may be over.
Though their aesthetic feels better suited to the Horseshoe, the Akron, Ohio duo have blown up to Amphitheatre status and, to their credit, made it feel like a natural upgrade.
The Black Keys have never been a band for big arena rock spectacle, and they weren’t ready to compromise that in their bigger setting. Aside from a modest light show, most of the pyrotechnics came solely from their instruments.
Set up side by side and on the same level, the drummer Patrick Carney and guitarist Dan Auerbach took turns impressing the crowd with their no-frills blues-rock chops. Running through an early set of older tunes, Auerbach showed he can still pump out filthy garage-blues solos like few others out there.
But the band owes much of its newfound popularity to the breakout success of 2010’s Brothers (plus a few choice licensing deals), and it was the mid-set excursion into that more recent material that really seemed to connect with the fans.
The smoother, funkier sound of that album requires two extra members – a bassist and a keyboardist – to pull off, an inflation that proved to be a bit of a momentum killer in last summer’s two-night stand at the Kool Haus. The same limitations exist now – the more rigid arrangements tend to quell improv – but they’ve found new ways to overcome them.
In particular, Auerbach’s rich soul croon, already a powerful weapon in the band’s arsenal, has gotten even stronger. His impressive falsetto shone on Everlasting Light, especially paired with a light-splintering disco ball. Elsewhere, growing noise crescendos and crowd singalongs kept the material sounding fresh, even as they continue to coast on it over the one year mark.
They can only hope their in-progress follow-up will strike the same chord. And if you’re hoping to catch them at a smaller venue, sorry but you’re probably out of luck.
