There’s something about a beautiful, cool late-summer night at Merriweather that just feels tailor-made for rock and roll. The Black Keys rolled into Columbia, in support of their new album, No Rain, No Flowers like they owned the place, and by the end of the night, you could argue they did.
The band wasted no time — jumping straight into a gritty trio: “Thickfreakness,” “The Breaks,” and “I’ll Be Your Man.” It was like they dropped a time capsule from the early 2000s right onto the stage. Raw, sweaty garage blues. Dan Auerbach’s guitar tone had that unpolished bite, the kind that makes you grit your teeth in the best way, and Patrick Carney was pounding away like he was trying to break through the kit. People near me were instantly yelling, “Hell yes!” as if those first notes validated why they’d braved traffic on a Thursday night in Maryland.
By the time “Your Touch” and “Gold on the Ceiling” rolled out, the energy shifted from head-nodding appreciation to full-on singalong chaos. That’s the thing about the Keys — they balance grit and gloss so well. “Gold on the Ceiling” might’ve been the biggest chant of the night up to that point, everyone shouting that chorus back at the stage with Merriweather’s roof almost vibrating in response. Auerbach grinned between lines like he knew he had us wrapped around his finger.
Watch the official music video for “Gold on the Ceiling” by The Black Keys on YouTube:
And then came “Wild Child.” It’s a newer one, but it landed just as heavy as the classics. There was this moment during the chorus where Auerbach leaned back, guitar pointed skyward, and it felt like a pure rock cliché — and yet, standing there with the lights sweeping over the crowd, it didn’t feel cliché at all, it felt necessary.
The middle stretch of the set was where things got delightfully strange. “Everlasting Light” brought that falsetto glide, and Merriweather turned into something that almost resembled a disco ball atmosphere under the stage lights. “Lo/Hi” slammed us right back down into fuzzed-out riffs, and then “Weight of Love” slowed time to a crawl. That song live is its own beast.
Auerbach stretched the intro into this cosmic blues meditation. It was one of those rare quiet moments at a rock show where nobody’s checking their phone — they’re just… in it. And then they got weird, dropping “Psychotic Girl” with a swamp groove, unsettling in just the right way, a pleasant surprise that this band, famous for keeping it simple, can still throw curveballs when they want to.
The stretch that followed showcased the Keys’ ability to toy with dynamics. “Next Girl” hit with swagger, “Tighten Up” had everyone moving (that whistling riff still somehow feels fresh after all these years), and “Man on a Mission” was downright nasty. Then came the curveball of “Too Afraid to Love You,” which slowed the pulse of the night into something hushed and vulnerable. You don’t often get quiet at Merriweather, but for those few minutes, you could.
The Willie Nelson nod with “On The Road Again” had a scrappy charm, like two guys who started in Akron basements still don’t take themselves too seriously. Then came the reflective “No Rain, No Flowers,” the bittersweet title track from their latest album, that felt like an emotional palate cleanser before the storm resumed.
Watch The Black Keys perform “No Rain, No Flowers” live for CBS Saturday Morning on YouTube:
The last run before the encore was a freight train. “Down to Nothing” into “Fever,” then “Heavy Soul,” “Howlin’ for You,” and “She’s Long Gone.” That’s five in a row, each one heavier than the last. “Fever” brought that hypnotic synth pulse, which felt massive in a live setting. “Howlin’ for You” had the pavilion in unison — it’s impossible not to stomp along when Carney hits that beat and “She’s Long Gone” was a snarling closer, with Auerbach bending notes until they squealed.
Nobody really thought they’d leave without playing “Little Black Submarines,” and sure enough, the encore started there. The crowd reaction was almost reverent — the hush during the opening acoustic verses, then the explosion when the full band kicked in. Goosebumps territory. And then, as if to underline their place in the modern rock canon, they dropped “Lonely Boy” as the final exclamation point. Every single person in the pavilion, from the pit to the furthest patch of grass on the hill, was shouting those lines back at the stage. Pure catharsis.
Walking out of Merriweather, you could hear people buzzing, strangers turning to each other just to say, “That was a show.” That’s always the sign of a good night — when the music doesn’t just stay onstage but bleeds into the parking lot chatter, the Uber rides home, the texts sent to friends who couldn’t make it. The Black Keys aren’t reinventing themselves anymore, but they don’t need to. They’ve built a catalog that stretches from swampy blues grime to arena-ready anthems, and when they stack it into a setlist like this, it works like a living mixtape of the past two decades of rock.
It was loud, sweaty, and exactly what you want late August rock and roll to be. Somewhere between the swamp and the stadium, the Black Keys found their balance — and Columbia got lucky enough to catch it.
Setlist
1. Thickfreakness/The Breaks/I’ll Be Your Man
2. Your Touch
3. Gold on the Ceiling
4. Wild Child
5. I Got Mine
6. Everlasting Light
7. Lo/Hi
8. Weight of Love
9. Psychotic Girl
10. A Little Too High
11. Next Girl
12. Tighten Up
13. Man on a Mission
14. Too Afraid to Love You
15. On The Road Again
16. No Rain, No Flowers
17. Down to Nothing
18. Fever
19. Heavy Soul
20. Howlin’ for You
21. She’s Long Gone
Encore
22. Little Black Submarines
23. Lonely Boy
Here are some photos of The Black Keys performing live at Merriweather Post Pavilion on August 28, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Michael Sprouse/ Odd Rocker Photography.
