The Black Keys drummer Dan Auerbach performs to a sold-out audience at The Anthem, Oct. 12, 2019. (Photo by Ari Strauss)
Grammy Award-winning rock duo The Black Keys performed to a sold-out audience at DC’s premier live music venue The Anthem recently. The Oct. 12 performance was part of the band’s Let’s Rock North American tour. When tickets for this concert went on sale, they sold out so fast, The Anthem, which holds in excess of 6,000 people, quickly added a second date on Oct. 16.
The Black Keys are Patrick Carney on drums and Dan Auerbach on vocals and guitar. The duo from Akron, Ohio, released their ninth studio album, Let’s Rock, on June 28, 2019 via Easy Eye Sound/Nonesuch Records. The highly anticipated album debuted at No. 1 on the US Top Current Album Chart.
Listen to Let’s Rock by The Black Keys on Spotifiy:
The Black Keys released eight studio albums and toured almost continuously between their founding in 2001 and the release of Turn Blue in 2014. In the five years since then, they’ve been on an extended break, working on solo projects and catching up on lost time with their families. With such a long hiatus, many fans worried the duo had a falling out. However, during an interview with NPR’s Weekend Edition over the summer, the band assured us there was no falling out — it was just about time. “We just needed a little bit of normalcy,” according to Dan.
Let’s Rock is a peeled-down, back to basics album, something Patrick and Dan thought was necessary after such a long break between projects. “We got together in the studio and it was like it was already agreed upon, but we hadn’t even spoken about it: It was just going to be a guitar and drums record,” Dan said during the NPR Weekend Edition interview. “There’s no keyboards, no other musicians, no outside producers, just the two of us. After so many years apart, that was the way that it had to be.”
Patrick and Dan are joined on the Let’s Rock Tour by Andrew Gabbard and Delicate Steve on guitar, and Zachary Gabbard on bass. As the group prepared for the Let’s Rock Tour, they released a live video version of “Go” from their pre-tour rehearsal session via a post on Rolling Stone. You can view the video on YouTube.
Watch “Go” by The Black Keys on YouTube:
Setlist:
I Got Mine
Eagle Birds
Tell Me Lies
Gold on the Ceiling
Fever
Next Girl
Fire Walk With Me
Walk Across the Water
Everlasting Light
Howlin’ for You
10 A.M. Automatic
Your Touch
Strange Times
Tighten Up
Thick Freakness
Ten Cent Pistol
Little Black Submarines
Lonely Boy
Encore:
Lo/Hi
Go
She’s Long Gone
The 33-stop Let’s Rock tour began Sept. 21 in Las Vegas and will conclude Nov. 24 in Vancouver, British Columbia. You can view more information on remaining tour dates on the band’s website here.
Tickets still remain for The Black Keys show at The Anthem on Oct. 16! Dont’ miss it!
Buy your tickets online now for The Black Keys at The Anthem on Oct. 16.
Check out some additional photos from The Black Keys performance at The Anthem on Oct. 12, 2019. All images copyright and courtesy of Ari Strauss.
