The Black Keys take their North American arena tour to Chicago for a performance at the United Center tonight. At Friday's show at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, "11,000 attendees rallied around Auerbach's flawless and precise solos and Carney's caveman beats," says the Indianapolis Star. Auerbach tells the Chicago Tribune: "There’s something about those old arenas, where it feels larger than life. It’s like walking into a (big-league) baseball or basketball game, it’s on a different level, and I love that.” At the same time, he tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "We don't change anything, whether we're playing on a small stage or a big stage."
The Black Keys take their North American arena tour to Chicago for a performance at the United Center tonight, featuring music from their latest Nonesuch release, El Camino, plus favorites from throughout their career. (The poster for tonight's show, pictured at left, is an eight-color silkscreen print designed by Daniel MacAdam and handcrafted at the Crosshair HQ, just blocks from the United Center.) The concert comes after last weekend's shows in Indianapolis and Grand Rapids and will be followed by the band's return to their home state of Ohio for a performance at the Quicken Loans Arena (aka The Q) in Cleveland tomorrow night. On Thursday, The Black Keys heads back to New York City for an encore performance at Madison Square Garden, where they made their headlining debut last week. Arctic Monkeys open as special guests along the way.
"As a success story of a blues-rock duo that's made an unlikely ascent to playing NBA arenas, The Black Keys climbed the mountain their way," says the Indianapolis Star's David Lindquist, reviewing Friday's show in Indianapolis. "Vocalist-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney performed Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where 11,000 attendees rallied around Auerbach's flawless and precise solos and Carney's caveman beats."
Lindquist goes on to explain: "The Black Keys make more interesting records today than they did when emerging as a minimalist novelty in 2002, but it's a case of artistic growth—not compromise." This was evident in their set Friday night, where " intriguing selections from El Camino carried through what made 2010 album Brothers a step forward for the Black Keys: affection for and experimentation with yesteryear's melodic pop."
Read the complete concert review at indystar.com.
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In advance of tonight's show at the United Center in Chicago, Dan Auerbach spoke to the Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot about the band's recent success, their early years, working with producer Brian Burton (a.k.a. Danger Mouse), and the benefits of performing in such large changes that come from performing in such large venues.
“You get to bring your own sound system when you play an arena, all the lights and visual stuff, which I think is really cool,” Auerbach tells Kot. “There’s something about those old arenas, where it feels larger than life. It’s like walking into a (big-league) baseball or basketball game, it’s on a different level, and I love that.”
There's much more in the article at chicagotribune.com.
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In the lead-up to tomorrow's triumphant return to northern Ohio to play The Q, not far from their hometown of Akron, both Auerbach and band mate Patrick Carney spoke with the Cleveland Plain Dealer's John Soeder. "We don't change anything, whether we're playing on a small stage or a big stage," Auerbach tells Soeder. Carney concurs, adding: "We play the same way we've always played." Read the article at cleveland.com.
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To pick up El Camino and Brothers, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout. For more tour information, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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