Live: The Black Keys @ Apollo

The Black Keys
Apollo
6th February
5 stars

The unlikely figures of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney make up the blues-cum-garage band duo The Black Keys. Hailing from the improbable town of Akron, OH, these two play like they are straight out of the Deep South. They formed around the turn of the millennium creating an admittedly uneasy-listening-style of garage blues and it took the commercial success of Brothers in 2010, to propel the Keys to stardom around the globe. El Camino, the new album from this Ohio duo, has seen the band playing arenas worldwide, a headline slot at Coachella Festival and founded claims of them being the biggest rock band in the world at the moment.

Now, I’m not entirely sure who books support acts for the Black Keys, but that individual got it spot on tonight in the form of Band of Skulls. The trio shot through a powerful blues guitar-driven set that included tracks from their first album. After blasting through latest single ‘The Devil Takes Care of His Own’ to rapturous applaud, the band ended on first album favourite, ‘Light of The Morning’. The South Coast outfit combine fantastic melodies with heavy over-driven guitar riffs to create wonderful three-minute masterpieces.

The stage was set and the mob of leather jacket-wearing rockers erupted into applause when the gangly silhouettes of The Black Keys took to the stage. Storming through openers and Brothers classics ‘Howlin’ for You’ and ‘Next Girl’, this outfit looked like a band in their prime. New tracks ‘Gold on the Ceiling’ and ‘Money Maker’ were fantastically combined with the older, rawer Keys tracks ‘Thickfreakness’ and ‘Girl Is On My Mind’, reminding us of Dan Auerbach’s ability to thrash out Hendrix-style riffs mixed with the wails of Junior Kimborogh. The Black Keys have recently been lauded as one of the biggest rock outfits in the world at the moment; this was demonstrated with a smouldering set and magnificent performance of ‘Lonely Boy’ to round off this unforgettable set.

The Black Keys – Gold on the Ceiling