The Black Keys' North American arena tour brought the band to NYC last night for a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, the band's first-ever headlining show at the venue. They head next to Canada for shows in Montreal tonight and Toronto tomorrow. "The Black Keys are rock stars, and their traditional rock sound electrified Madison Square Garden on Monday night," exclaims the AP, which calls the show "exhilarating, bluesy and loud." Rolling Stone says: "[T]he songs from El Camino cast a spell over the packed arena as Auerbach wound their hooks into broad, euphoric payoffs."
The Black Keys' North American arena tour brought the band to New York City last night for a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, the band's first-ever headlining show at the venue. The set featured songs from The Black Keys' latest Nonesuch release, El Camino, as well as favorites from throughout their career. The band heads next to Canada for shows at the Bell Centre in Montreal tonight and Air Canada Centre in Toronto tomorrow night. Fans at tonight's Montreal show can pick up the poster designed by David Welker (pictured at left), a three-color screen print with all metallic UV inks.
"The Black Keys are rock stars, and their traditional rock sound electrified Madison Square Garden on Monday night," exclaims Associated Press writer Mesfin Fekadu in his review of last night's show. "The duo performed more than 20 songs in a 90-minute show that was exhilarating, bluesy and loud."
Fekadu goes on to say of the duo's performance: "Singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach was top-notch throughout ... a monster on the guitar, playing it like a mad man on 'Little Black Submarines' and 'Lonely Boy,' which got the crowd dancing, swaying and jumping around like mad men (and women, too.) Drummer Patrick Carney was just as good ..."
Read the complete AP concert review via the Wall Street Journal at wsj.com.
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When it was just Auerbach and Carney on stage, the duo "showed unequivocally that they could command the arena alone," reports Rolling Stone's Stacey Anderson. "For their first of two sold-out nights at MSG, the Keys remained faithful to their retro-rock ethos of late ... More than any of the band's preceding material, the songs from El Camino cast a spell over the packed arena as Auerbach wound their hooks into broad, euphoric payoffs."
Following their main set, the band for an encore of the song "Everlasting Light," off the band's Grammy Award-winning album Brothers. "The track wound down the evening as a succinct, poignant statement," Anderson concludes, "a moment in which Auerbach and Carney seemed to assert that they always knew where they were going: straight to the biggest stages in the world."
Read the review at rollingstone.com.
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In advance of next Monday's tour stop 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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To see where The Black Keys are playing near you, including details of the newly announced sets at the Leeds and Reading festivals this summer, head to nonesuch.com/on-tour. To pick up a copy of El Camino and Brothers, head to the Nonesuch Store now.
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