California quartet the Morning Benders were supposed to open for the Black Keys but were replaced with Kurt Vile due to illness. This burgeoning Philly-based solo artist, formerly of the War On Drugs, came to the rescue promoting his Square Shells EP (Matador). Vile, backed by guitar and harp, describes his sound on his website as “when u wake from a long and glorious slumber, then u realize u don’t have to go to work, then u fall back into long and glorious slumber,” which seems lovely. Live, however, it sort of put the crowd to sleep. Perhaps it was because many fans were expecting to hear the Morning Benders. Or perhaps it was the dreamy, echoey tunes Vile crafts laid over the lapping river down at Penn’s Landing that lulled the audience into a haze. After Vile’s set, the Black Keys certainly had their work cut out for them.
As the lights came up onstage, a buzz began trickling through the crowd until everyone was on their feet, frenzied to see the Akron, Ohio, duo and their powerful blues-influenced rock. Patrick Carney (drums) and Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) are promoting the recent Brothers (Nonesuch), a 15-track album with Auerbach’s soulful vocals, stark lyrics and classic blues imagery.
The duo began with an ultra-high-energy “Thickfreakness,” followed by a heart-heavy “Girl Is On My Mind.” By this second song, a dripping, red-faced Carney ditched his signature black, thick-rimmed glasses, then ripped into “10 A.M. Automatic” as if possessed. TBK truly showed the power of two with clap-a-long blowout “Strange Times.” Just as I began to wonder how the two would complete the set without running out of steam, Auerbach and Carney were joined by a backing band (bass, keyboards).
“Everlasting Light” showcased Auerbach’s pleading falsetto, a surprising foil for his usual, deep-rooted growl. Even without the cute back-up “ooo-waah”s provided by Nicole Wray on the album, it retained the same raw emotion live, complete with Auerbach’s shredding outro. Then was bitter-boy anthem “Next Girl,” which had every baseball-capped man-boy in the audience united with one fist in the air, promising, “My next girl will be nothing like my ex-girl.” The call-and-response riffs bounced from guitar to bass, and the live rendition was more energized rock than the thick, heavy sound on the album. Auerbach, one of those performers who seems to thrust all of his energy into the tips of his fingers, the rest of his body moving on its own accord, swayed to the front of the stage during a solo. A fan lamely tossed a single plastic-wrapped rose toward Auerbach’s feet as he retreated. “Aww,” he smiled, “I feel like Pavarotti!”
The ominous, organ-sounding keys floated over Auerbach’s simultaneous maraca and guitar playing on “Chop And Change,” which rolled into the buzzy “Howlin’ For You.” The crowd-pleasing “Tighten Up” shined with a longer, bluesy bridge that brought the whole song to a fever pitch. Next up was the image-evoking “She’s Long Gone,” whose lyrics shine through Auerbach’s throaty vocals, “Her eyes are rubies and pearls/And she’s not made like those other girls/Her lashes flap and they smack men back/Like springs they bounce off of her curls.”
“10 Cent Pistol,” a tale of a jealousy-induced double murder really shined; Carney held back as Auerbach crooned, “The couple screamed/But far too late/A jealous heart did retaliate,” drawing out the last word as the lights went to black. The audience attempted to clap just as the lights came back up in sync with Carney’s pick-up to finish the last driving chorus.
After a passionate “I Got Mine,” Auerbach thanked the Philly audience graciously, and the two left the stage as the crowd demanded more, the front rows pounding on the lip of the stage like thunder. They returned for an encore, playing the regal “Too Afraid To Love You” and gospel tune “Sinister Kid.” To close, a fervent, rebellious “‘Till I Get My Way.” It’s the kind of song that sums up the work of the Black Keys, with its simple lyrics, percussion and Southern bluesy guitar all together with that demanding, soulful voice Auerbach provides. Amen, brother.
—Cristina Perachio; photo by Kelly McManus
3 replies on “Live Review: The Black Keys, Philadelphia, PA, July 30, 2010”
Having Kurt Vile instead of Morning Benders was a tragedy…The Black Keys killed it though
Yes, Kurt Vile was, well, vile….the harpist seemed to be having some love/hate affair with the harp, and it was hard to figure out which direction the music was taking – lapping river waves on not…..
But, hey, the fireworks under The Ben Franklin Bridge at the end of TBK’s last song were incredible! What a fine ending!
yea kurt vile and his acquaintances seemed to have thrown up the word distortion then stomped all over it. however the black keys cracked the liberty bell again that night