When faced with the conundrum of deciding between two shows by The Black Keys over consecutive nights at Washington, DC's 9:30 Club, DCist's Valerie Paschall looked to Dan Auerbach's promise in Monday's first-night set: "We'll play better tonight and we'll play more songs tomorrow night."
When faced with the conundrum of deciding between two shows by The Black Keys over consecutive nights at Washington, DC's 9:30 Club, DCist's Valerie Paschall looked to Dan Auerbach's promise in Monday's first-night set: "We'll play better tonight and we'll play more songs tomorrow night."
Whether or not they held to that, the duo, whose "multi-faceted sound has aspects that can appeal to fans of multiple genres," reports DCist, "had complete command of the sold-out crowd" Monday night. Writes Paschall:
Carney pounds the drums with such strength and precision that the tips of his drumsticks had completely broken off. ... [B]oth men are masters of their craft and Auerbach in particular can make his guitar wail like it's just been left on the side of a cold rainy highway. There's even a slight psychedelia to his guitar solos which were perfectly accented by the roving light show.
To read the Monday concert review, visit dcist.com.
As for Tuesday's show, you can judge for yourself whether more is also better: NPR.org broadcast the show live and has added the recording to the All Songs Considered Live in Concert site, along with a pre-show interview with host Bob Boilen. NPR calls their latest album, Attack & Release, an "arresting mix of crunchy guitars and thundering rhythms" that also shows "a more thoughtful side" and says the Tuesday set was "an unabashed, hard-driving rock show." Listen now at npr.org.
The band arrived in New York yesterday for an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (you can see video footage at brooklynvegan.com) and to play a sold-out show tonight at Terminal 5. They've got another sold-out show at Philadelphia's Electric Factory tomorrow night, then head up to Boston for a show at the Orpheum Theatre Saturday night, their last gig on this leg of the US tour before hitting Europe, Australia, and New Zealand next. Leading up to the Orpheum show, Patrick and Dan spoke with the Boston Herald about their varied musical influences, the new record, and what the audience can expect at the live show. To read the article, visit bostonherald.com.
New York Press has an interview with Patrick about the new record, yes, but also about sports at home in Ohio. After talking with Press's LaRue Cook about the ups and downs of Cleveland fandom, Pat reveals some of the details of the band's working relationship with Attack & Release producer Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton:
Dan [Auerbach] and I pay attention to the overall sound and sonic side of the music. Brian pays attention to shit we normally don’t, things like tempo. He basically had us deconstruct the demos we already had and start from scratch. Like "Psychotic Girl," for instance, started out as a fast-paced garage rock track, and Brian said we should try it much slower, then he built a drum loop out of white noise to keep tempo. It was the most fun I'd ever had recording an album.
To read the full interview, visit nypress.com.
