The Black Keys

Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto ON July 7

Reviews Concert Jul 08 2011

By Anupa MistryNearly a year ago, Akron, OH duo the Black Keys played back-to-back nights at Toronto's hangar-like Kool Haus. Now, they've made a significant step up by playing their first arena show at the Molson Amphitheatre. Shout out to the thousands of people who duly bypassed Honda Indy-related road closures to make it to the waterfront venue -- despite the changes attributed to their exponential growth, the Black Keys are a band worth a trek.

Opening with dense, riff-heavy "Thickfreakness," from 2003's album of the same name, the Keys brought a gut punch of adrenaline that kicked off the show. Guitarist Dan Auerbach, who stomped and lurched around stage all night, teased out the end of "Girl Is on My Mind," before the band moved into "The Breaks." Another older song, "Stackshot Billy," provided the night's first real eye-opening moment: filling a stadium with raw, pacing garage rock was always the band's intention. The later Keys records prove it, but this is where you could hear the inception.

"Busted Play" gave Patrick Carney a chance to work it out with a drum solo that got the audience completely riled up. As the lights came up during "Everlasting Light" to reveal a giant, winding disco ball and ~~three~~ two backing band members, the show hit its stride. Here, in the middle, is where the Keys revealed the pop sensibility and full-bodied sound that's brought them recent success. Still formally a duo, the Black Keys' use of a band is a big upgrade, but it helped flesh out the musicality in songs like, "Next Girl," Twilight-tune "Chop and Change," "Howlin' for You," mega single "Tighten Up" and "She's Long Gone."

Minus the backing band, the final, intimate numbers began with gruff, trembling "I'll Be Your Man." Deliberately aggressive, it's interesting to note just how much better and experiential the Keys' sound is when it's just Carney and Auerbach onstage. The twisted tempo on Attack & Release's "Strange Times" and climbing stomp of "I Got Mine" closed the set, before an encore that included "Your Touch."

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5Comments

Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-08 13:57:24There were actually two (2) additional musicians, not three: bassist and keyboardist who rocked a wicked Farfisa organ. Check your facts Exclaim.

Posted by Anupa On 2011-07-08 14:26:14Thanks Nameless Poseur. I blame a shitty line of sight and poor note-taking while having too much fun.

Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-12 09:43:06But if your JOB is to review this concert, shouldn't you be taking better notes? It's a music magazine, after all. And I'm sure you could 'have fun' while still paying attention to what's going on onstage.

Posted by NPlz On 2011-07-12 15:35:55re: Nameless Poseur

Stop tripping on your indie rock prick over a simple error. I'd rather a description of how well the songs were performed than an anal listing of logistics. The reviewer even corrected the oversight.

Hope you're creaming yourself on being the most authentic fan of musical performance in the history of vibrating air particles.

Posted by TheChief On 2011-07-12 16:30:53This issue speaks to the core of Exclaim! actually. As one of the primary recruiters of new writers, I get a lot of pitches from "journalists" and journalism students eager to take assignments. They're often fine writers and competent journalists. But I'm not all that interested in competent writers who will approach music as an "assignment" - I'm much more interested in serious, dedicated, lifelong music fans who can write beautifully, like Anupa.

I will take 100 little factual errors from someone who's super excited to see a show over a "journalist" who takes an assignment but has to look at wikipedia to even figure out who they're seeing.

As an team, Exclaim! can help anyone become a better writer than they are. It's one of our mission statements and one of the proudest legacies we have at the magazine.

But what I can't do is make someone more enthusiastic about music - that's a passion that has to come from them.