The Black Keys - ANU, 10/05/07

Sat 12th May, 2007 in Gig Reviews

The Kill Devil Hills opened the night with blues and sultry rock, mixed with a country flavour. Husky vocals from Brendon Humphries almost made their music sexy, until you glanced up onstage to see six shaggy-bearded guys who looked like they’d just dismounted off their horses in the country! All in all, a really well-meshed band from Fremantle, W.A., with guitars, drums, mandolin, banjo plus truly amazing violin from Alex Archer. His catchy and well-placed hooks really brought the songs together and particularly shined on their song Nasty Business .

If you had been living under a rock at the ANU and were walking past the Refectory where The Black Keys were performing, you might have mistaken their live performance for a CD played loudly over the PA. But this was the real thing – their live performance was as good as a studio recording, even better! They had developed, even Dan’s beard had grown in length over time.

Just like on their albums, The Black Keys used only a simple electric guitar, a drum-kit and vocals sound, proving that it doesn’t take an orchestra or fancy gimmicks to make amazing music – simplicity and quality will always be a successful formula. They got on stage and straight down to business. No bullshit or chitchat – just plain and simple classic blues-rock. There were only two bluesy dudes on stage, Dan Auerback and Patrick Carney from Akron, Ohio, but they could have easily put any four, five, or even a nine-piece rock band to shame. Their performance was pure talent and gusto, with solid song writing, solos and excellent vocal work.

The Canberra audience was excited and swinging, an amazingly nice and mixed crowd of different kinds of people split up in congregations next to each other. Along the middle of the crowd was a whole series of extremely tall guys. Do The Black Keys perhaps stimulate growth? Down the front, quite predictable, were the young enthusiasts who were determined to be deaf by the end of the night, jumping and thrusting their bodies to every thump and beat. Down the back were the dads who were a little silver on top, tapping their toes and reliving their more youthful years when bands like The Black Keys were more common. Couples, seeking to embrace each other with a bit more space, joined the dads along the back. But what they all had in common was smiles all around – and if they weren’t smiling, it was because they had their jaw dropped in awe, wiggling their fingers in air guitar motion, trying to figure out how Dan Auerbach was doing that amazing solo.