Concert Review: The Black Keys - January 1, 2010 - The Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL

This just in. There are only two guys in The Black Keys. I know it is terribly hard to believe, but I swear it’s true.

The Black Keys strolled into The Rivera Theatre for their second and final Chicago show and managed to make the sub-zero, frigid weather feel like a blistering heat wave. Lead singer Dan Auerbach’s energy on the mic and guitar coupled with Patrick Carney’s vicious drum shots led to an entire evening of head bobbing, beat jumping, and bewilderment from the appreciative Chicago crowd.

The Keys opened their set with the classic Thickfreakness , a definite sign of things to come in regards to the rest of the set. The band beautifully hammered through some of their more popular songs including 10AM Automatic from the album Rubber Factory, Your Touch from Magic Potion , and Strange Times from the bands most recent record, Attack And Release. While Attack And Release was the bands newest album, the night only had room for 4 tracks seeing as Auerbach and Carney decided to treat the audience to a trip down memory lane, playing more songs from their older, grittier albums. Songs like The Breaks and Busted from the bands first record, The Big Come Up, or, No Trust and Everywhere I Go from Thickfreakness highlighted the perfectly constructed set.

The song of the night however, was a newbie, in I Got Mine. This one closed the set with the band leaving it all onstage in a truly, rocking, thrashy, and inspiring performance.

Throughout the evening I found myself asking two questions. The first, how does an 110 pound man like Carney hit his drums with the force of a thousand men? And second, how can Auerbach play all those ear piercing guitar riffs, keep the bass beat, and sing all at the same time. The night did not provide any straight answers, but luckily I didn’t need any. Seeing Carney destroy drumstick after drumstick and the roadies running frantically around fixing his beat down set explained enough. Seeing Auerbach sickly wale on the guitar and passionately sing was plenty. It gave me the only answer I could have wanted which was that rock and roll was still very much alive and well in Chicago.

The two guys from Akron, Ohio helped kick off 2010 with a bang. What a bang it was. My ears still hurt, and I couldn’t be happier about it.