Echoes and dust

May 29 2008 @ The Astoria, London.

"We're the Black Keys from Akron, Ohio. That's in America" says Dan Auerbach "And we're gonna play a bunch of songs for you tonight".

For an introduction it's not exactly 'Hello LA. We're gonna RAWK you TONIEEEAAAAIIIGHT' but it says a lot about two of the qualities that instantly ingratiate you with the band - their warmth and seeming innocence (despite the beard and 70's rockstar look). Throughout the set Auerbach's nods to the crowd ("no better place to spend the last night of the tour than London", "we can see you at the top", "hope you get home safely", etc) and a couple of nods to Patrick "On drums", make you want them to succeed. They seem like the kind of boys your mum would refer to as 'Nice boys". However, this image evaporates as soon as Auerbach's whiskey soaked voice and Hendrix playing locks in with the thunderstorm that is Patrick Carney's drumming. At which point the whole audience reacts like it's been grabbed by the genitalia - they're good, they're very, very good.

Gone is the Auerbach's tendency to jump on the drum riser and hump the hi-hat, instead he's making love to the crowd. And the girls AND boys in the front row have that post coital look on their faces. On 'Girl Is On My Mind', he almost looks like he's summoning the God of hellfire from his guitar as he crouches at the foot of the stage, only to be followed by some vicious pogoing from the affable front man. This is a trait that happens often throughout the set: a slow build up growing like some kind of parasite from the crowd's energy until it erupts into a TNT explosion of noise. No more is this exemplified than on 'No Trust', which I expect made the neck hairs stand up on indigenous tribes in Papua New Guinea, it seemed that loud.

Auerbach's improvisation is also a key feature in explaining why they are such a must see live band. Even when he's just tuning he seems to pull off a hundred mind blowing licks. Also, in '10 AM Automatic' he adds a bit of riffage which gives the track a Nashville leaning that is absent on the album version.  The only thing missing for me (and in contradiction to Mr Kerry's review of the album) is some of the flourishes that DangerMouse added on the recent 'Attack & Release'. This is most apparent on 'Strange Times' which suffers from the lack of spectral atmospherics that inhabit the album version. A minor quibble I admit.

For 90% of the audience The Black Keys leave us asking "How do 2 men make so much noise and make it sound so clean?" On 'Stack Shot Billy' Auerbach thumps his foot down on a pedal and it's as if I've suddenly found my way into the jet stream of a harrier jump jet. 'I Got Mine' (last song and utter highlight) sees Auerbach jumping around more than the most fervent fan, and Patrick Carney thumping his skins so hard you wonder how they survive a set. Then it's off, leaving the crowd hollering and stamping, salivating for more - an almighty call for an encore. So mighty in fact, it seems to pass through generations until they waltz back on and knock out 'Psychotic Girl' and 'Til I Get My Way' with a look of sincere passion and enjoyment that makes the evening that bit more special.

Another great performance from a band that after 4 times of seeing them, still sound as exhilarating and fresh as the first time.