Concert Review: The Black Keys

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney make up Akron's The Black Keys

I recently had the pleasure of seeing The Black Keys at Atlanta, GA’s The Tabernacle. I’d seen them before, so I was initially hesitant about going, but for $30 I couldn’t turn down blues-rock of this caliber. I may or may not have had a little to drink before, but I didn’t feel out of place in the younger, mostly college age crowd that seems to make up the majority of the fan base.

The venue was remarkable, and absolutely was one of the better venues to see a concert in the city. I’ve been to a few others, but this one was small, about comparable with the Riviera (in Chicago) in terms of size. It was full to the rafters, but I had no trouble seeing over the people in front of me.

The opener was nothing to speak of, and frankly, it didn’t seem like the crowd thought she was any good. However, when the Black Keys came on at about 9:45, the place exploded. Fans of the Black Keys are a lot more fervant about the band than I thought they would be, and the band did not disappoint. The highlight of the show for me was “10 A.M. Automatic,” which is a piece of blues perfection. The Keys were loud, they were on point, but they maintained a loose, rough feel that is true to their recorded sound. While this concert wasn’t as good as the Lollapalooza show I saw, that can be attributed to the sheer number of people at Lolla. All in all, a great show, and definitely worth seeing on their current tour.

Below is the music video for 10 A.M. Automatic. It’s a little weird at the beginning, but the song starts about 25 seconds in.