The Black Keys take their North American arena tour to the West Coast, starting with two shows in California this weekend, in Oakland and Sacramento, followed by shows in Portland and Seattle, following recent successes in the Rockies and in Tulsa. The band "surpassed the lofty heights they had achieved on their most recent album, El Camino, by unleashing a beat-heavy, surprisingly groovy set that resonated in the concrete under your feet," says the Salt Lake Tribune. Their Denver show proved "a voluminous triumph," Reverb raves. "A Black Keys concert radiates with what every rock show should," says Tulsa World: "very nearly blasphemous, raw, unbridled energy." The Black Keys will appear on an upcoming episode of Comedy Central's Workaholics.
The Black Keys take the latest leg of their North American arena tour to the West Coast for the week ahead, starting with two shows in California this weekend—at the Oracle in Oakland tonight and the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento on Saturday, Cinco de Mayo—followed by shows in Portland, Seattle, before heading north to Canada. The Arctic Monkeys continue to support along the way. (The limited-edition poster for tonight's show, pictured at left, is by Chuck Sperry of The Firehouse, created while listening to "Gold on the Ceiling," off the band's latest album, El Camino.) The shows follow recent successes in Tulsa, Denver, and Salt Lake City and come just as it was announced that band mates Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney will appear on an upcoming episode of the Comedy Central show Workaholics (air date TBD), as reported in Entertainment Weekly.
"When you have a drummer like Patrick Carney who can bash away with precision and animation, it makes sense not to hide him away near the back of the stage," begins Salt Lake Tribune's David Burger in his review of Wednesday night's show at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City. "Carney and Auerbach surpassed the lofty heights they had achieved on their most recent album, El Camino, by unleashing a beat-heavy, surprisingly groovy set that resonated in the concrete under your feet."
And those feet kept moving throughout the set. Says Burger: "It was the most engaged audience I have seen in a while, with the first 40 rows of the general admission section fist-pumping in unison." Read the concert review at sltrib.com.
The Daily Herald out of Provo concurs that "the riffs were loud, the energy high, and the crowd exuberant." Reviewer Jason Russell says Auerbach's "gestures and showmanship make clear his abundant joy for performing live, and he clearly feeds off a pumped crowd. For his part, Carney works himself into a good sweat with his inimitable pounding style on the drums." Read the review at heraldextra.com.
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Monday's show at Denver's 1stBank Center, the first of two consecutive nights at the venue, proved "a voluminous triumph," raves the Denver Post's Reverb.
The Black Keys make "sweat-breaking, rump-shaking, throat-burning arena rock that nods, not winks, at old-era greats," says Denver Westword's Kelsey Whipple, reviewing the same show. "The band corners its dynamic neo-soul influence on lusty lyrics and an infallibly smooth progression of guitar and drums that, when expertly combined, could make babies ... Even at their most basic level, just two dudes and two instruments, the guys overwhelmed the arena with their ruckus, mixing the magnetic mojo of jukebox country with the oversized energy of a show so popular an extra date was added." Read more at westword.com.
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"A ride with the Black Keys delivers blow-your-hair-back, thoroughly electrifying riff rock. Saturday's concert was one of the best yet at the BOK Center," says Tulsa World writer Jennifer Chancellor. "A Black Keys concert radiates with what every rock show should: very nearly blasphemous, raw, unbridled energy ... Scorching and mesmerizing all at once, Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums) lured fans into the night, each song a torch of fire." Read that review at tulsaworld.com.
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The Black Keys have added two New Zealand shows to follow their recently announced Australian tour. For more information on these and other upcoming shows, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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