Check out the Black Keys photo gallery to see what went down.

First cab off the rank tonight, The Blackwater Fever did their best to convince us that they were not simply The Black Keys version 2.0, and it worked. Despite the fact that they resemble the headliners in both instrumentation (drummer Andrew Walter and guitarist/vocalist Shane Hicks) and dark bluesy-vibe, as their name suggests, there is a more tormented, often feverish element that sets the pair apart, providing early punters with a tight set of gritty blues-rock.

Punky post-modern grungesters Violent Soho took to the stage with a screaming wail of feedback, flailing hair, and angsty gusto. One would wager that if you were to flick through the music collection of these guys, you’d discover a fair proportion of The Pixies, Sonic Youth and Nirvana. Although perhaps a little on the aggressive side for a Tuesday evening, nevertheless the band made it very clear that they know how to punch above their weight, their set living up to the violence inherent in both their name and nature.

The waiting time between bands is always tedious, sometimes even intolerable, with up to 45 minutes of downtime before headline acts finally appear (last year Guns n Roses took two hours to take to the stage at the Entertainment Centre). So it was nice to have pre-headline entertainment (although probably unintentional) in the form of watching the stage crew try to erect a 20 foot inflatable rubber tyre, which kept falling over despite their best attempts to stabilise it. Finally, after deflating and tying it to a lighting bar, the success was greeted by a resounding cheer from the audience. The symbolism of the tyre was not lost on us, with The Black Keys hailing from Akron, Ohio – commonly known as – œThe Rubber Capital of the World’, as well as being home to Goodyear, the largest tyre manufacturer in the world. It would be interesting to know if it was simply paying homage to their hometown, or if there was a deeper reference being made.

From the opening notes of long-haired and bushy-bearded Dan Auerbach’s guitar, it was obvious that we were in for a treat tonight. Joined by recently-shorn Patrick Carney on the drum kit, Auerbach quickly launched into a delicious entree of dirty blues-inspired rock from their huge 2004 release, Rubber Factory. For the next hour or so, the duo treated us to a smorgasbord of swampy delights from their more expansive and experimental recent LP, Attack and Release, as well as more matured morsels from previous releases Magic Potion, Thickfreakness, The Big Come Up, and Rubber Factory.

There is something about finger-picking, old-fashioned stomping guitar that gets into your head and makes you want to start slapping your hands together in time, which is exactly what tonight’s audience did. Never has there been a more impressively in-time set of spontaneous clap-a-longs than there was tonight. Deservedly so, because Auerbach is a genius finger-picking stomping guitarist. His vocal cadence, rasping and gravel-laden at times, while tender and warm at others, matched the mood of each song perfectly. As did the video projections from old – œ60s and – œ70s film, including footage of 1969’s Woodstock Festival, surfing at Hawaii, and what seemed to be topless women wrestling at a party. Carney created a hypnotherapeutic tub-thumping accompaniment on the drums with his whirling dervish hands, despite an obviously annoying hi-hat clutch issue and several destroyed sticks over the course of the set.

If the response of the punters to tracks from the new record, Attack and Release, is anything to go by, then there is a lot of love left to share with the Akron duo. Despite coming from a town synonymous with inventing Alcoholics Anonymous and breakfast cereal, it will be no surprise to find many of tonight’s punters nursing their bruised heads at the kitchen table tomorrow morning.