There was a slightly awkward, nearly 10-minute lull between the end of The Black Keys’ set and their encore on Tuesday night, and while lighters burned and phone flashlights illuminated the stage, a good portion of the healthy crowd began to stream out of the Amalie Arena. Pity on those who actually made it out the doors, though, because as some of those phone batteries gave out and smokers’ thumbs began heating up, Keys primaries Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney led the rest of the band back onstage and rattled off the best 15 minutes of their nearly two-hour set. [Words by Ray, photos by Tracy.]
With a cotton candy swirl twirling behind the stage, Auerbach, 35, unleashed a slow burning, sizzling lead on “Weight Of Love,” the future-western album opener from brand-new effort Turn Blue. On record, the seven-minute tune carries a few timid moments for Auerbach, but the cut is a monster live, finding him ferociously wailing away on his guitar while putting together an honest fusion of the blues he obviously loves so much and the accessible rock 'n' roll appeal his band has been exploring for the last few years.
The Keys have mined Hendrix-loving, dirt-caked, dusty warehouse licks since their 2002 debut, The Big Come Up, and while you could argue that they haven’t been able to keep up with the authenticity and balls-out attitude of a contemporary like Jack White, it would be hard to make a case that Auerbach doesn’t have the riffs, licks, and downtrodden melodies and lyrics of the most desolate Delta blues running through his veins.
Yes, their cover of Edwyn Collins'“Girl Like You” was painted with that Keys signature sound, but sometimes that sound grows tiring and feels phoned in. Even these seasoned, seven-time Grammy-winning boys can reach too far, and a searing slide solo couldn’t keep the kitschy vibe off set low point “Gotta Get Away,” when it felt like a GMC truck commercial was being filmed in the arena. Still, Auerbach & Co. always bounced back as evidenced on “She’s Long Gone” from 2010’s Brothers, the set’s rhythmic peak where Carney led the band in getting locked into what they do best: playing like they’re just boys in the basement channeling all of the music they fell in love with when their influences led them to the moldy old tapes and records of their heroes.
The guys are old souls, and their music would do well in Any Club, U.S.A., and while their transition into arenas is still evolving, the stage was a welcome accessory. Similar and less artsy-fartsy than the ones Radiohead brought to Amalie (then the Tampa Bay Times Forum) two years ago, the large moving monitors followed the action (with slight delay) and washed them in colorful filters that worked with the lights to create different aesthetics. Some songs felt like big Springsteen-esque manifestos complete with strobes and floodlights, others like sweaty packed-in club shows. There were even moments when all the metallic greens, reds and crushed velvet made it feel like the inside of an abalone shell.
It was a nice, err, touch to work “Your Touch” from 2006’s overlooked Magic Potion in between crowd favorites “Fever” and “Lonely Boy,” and if fans were disappointed to not hear anything from Auerbach’s stellar 2009 solo LP, they got a small taste when he donned an acoustic guitar for the quiet moments of Zeppelin and Petty-loving rager, “Little Black Submarines.” The track off the band’s 2011 breakout album could be considered a discography highlight, the perfect mish-mash of The Black Keys' big radio ambitions and their psychedelic, we-don’t-want-to-have-to-give-a-fuck roots that received the biggest hoots and loudest sing-along of the show. And on a night when St. Vincent’s Annie Clark fearlessly turned up and made weird, angular, and abrasive music simultaneously fun and demented for her 10-song opening set, it was clear: Bowie-loving, oddly beautiful and boundary-pushing avant-pop can almost steal the show, but it can’t make a room dance the way the blues have, and always will.
Black Keys Setlist
Dead and Gone
Next Girl
Run Right Back
Same Old Thing
Gold On The Ceiling
Strange Times
Nova Baby
Leavin’ Trunk
Too Afraid to Love You
Howlin’ For You
A Girl Like You (Edwyn Collins)
Money Maker
Gotta Get Away
She’s Long Gone
Fever
Tighten Up
Your Touch
Lonely Boy
——
Encore
Weight Of Love
Turn Blue
Little Black Submarines
St. Vincent Setlist
Rattlesnake
Cruel
Marrow
Cheerleader
Prince Johnny
Digital Witness
Regret
Birth In Reverse
Huey Newton
Bring Me Your Loves