The Black Keys kicked off their trans-Canadian summer tour with a sold-out show at Deer Lake Park near Vancouver on Monday, followed by another sold-out set last night at the Stampede Corral in Calgary. There are several more sold-out Canadian dates to follow in the coming weeks, including tonight's at Rexall Place in Edmonton, plus a few select shows in the US.

Band mates Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney were "in top shape" at Monday's tour launch, says the Vancouver Sun's François Marchand. "The Black Keys are a better band than they've ever been, and at Deer Lake Park on Monday, Auerbach and Carney just nailed it." Read the concert review at vancouversun.com.

Vancouver's Straight calls it "a blistering, glorious motherf*cker of a set" at the end of which "we just didn’t want it to end, ever."

Reviewer Adrian Mack reports: "The biggest roar of the night happened when Carney powered up the Glitter Band toms for 'Howlin’ for You,' which greased the skids for a version of 'Tighten Up' that turned Deer Lake Park into a single, heaving organism. But the most sublime moment came early when some quick and dirty, old-school visuals burst to life behind the band during the speedway bump ‘n’ grind of 'Chop and Change.'"

Read more at straight.com.

CTV says the band's set featured songs that represent "the stripped-down sound that's taken them on a ten-year journey from Midwest obscurity to Grammy Awards. It's vintage blues from the Mississippi Delta made palatable for today's indie-rock brigade with modern amplification and frenetically impressive drumming."

CTV's Robert Collins explains: "The more minimal The Black Keys play it, the better they are. ‘I Got Mine' and ‘Sinister Kid' highlight Auerbach's talent for prying multiple riffs and tones from his guitar while Carney crashes around him. Its simplicity is its strength; its heaviness coming as much from the blues at its source as the distortion pedals' settings."

Read the review at ctvbc.ctv.ca.

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The Black Keys' set at Calgary's Stampede Corral successfully conquered the venue's often challenging sound space, says the Calgary Herald's Mike Bell, so that "rather than get swallowed and lost inside, somehow they and their righteous set Tuesday night in the hallowed old barn were spat out the other side, still whole and still just as loud and melodic as ever." Read that review at calgaryherald.com.

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For more on the band's upcoming live shows, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour. To pick up a copy of the band's latest Nonesuch release, the 2010 Grammy-winning album Brothers, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout.