Best. Black Keys show. Ever. Seriously. As someone who's been cheering on Akron's finest since "Thickfreakness," I had a lot of pride and even greater awe watching the duo take it to another level at First Avenue last night, the first of two sold-out shows. Singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach told me in our preview interview that he and drummer Patrick Carney had "grown up," and I totally get what he meant now. Their muscular 95-minute performance was just plain masterful, the way they cherrypicked between their now-sizable catalog and kept building up and tearing down the tempo. It was a show that could have resonated just as strongly in an arena or giant fest stage as in the First Ave main room.
The high points just seemed to keep coming. I had circled about five songs in my notepad by mid-show, starting with the molasses-thick "Girl Is On My Mind" and including the sly howler "Stack Shot Billy." The extra two touring bandmates (bassist and keyboardist) came out mid-show for the songs from "Brothers." Honestly, the new guys' presence really wasn't all that noticeable. That said, though, the new stuff came off perfectly, with a little more Zeppelin-style heaviness and horniness in "Next Girl" and a rousing fist-pumping reception to "Howlin' for You," a song that I truly believe should become the new anthem for either the Minnesota Wild or Timberwolves. Just when the new stuff reached its climax, the two extras left it up to Carney and Auerbach again to end the regular set on the raw energy they rode in on. They did exactly that with extra-scorching versions of "Your Touch" and "I Got Mine." Here's the whole set list: Thickfreakness / Girl Is on My Mind / 10 A.M. Automatic / The Breaks / Stack Shot Billy / ?? / Everywhere I Go / Strange Times / (Start of set as quartet) Same Old Thing / Tighten Up / Next Girl / Too Afraid to Love You / Howlin' for You / Sinister Kid / She's Long Gone / Ten Cent Pistol (end of quartet set) / Your Touch / I'll Be Your Man / No Trust / I Got Mine ENCORE: Everlasting Light / Till I Get My Way Photos by Leslie Plesser for Vita.mn, full gallery here
