The Jarvis Lounge

Last Sunday, I drove down to San Diego, to catch one of my favorite live acts, The Black Keys. I first caught them last year, up in Napa at the Bottlerock festival. They won me there, and I couldn’t wait to see them again. I was a little skeptical, since their new album, “Turn Blue,” took on a slightly new musical direction. But all doubts quickly faded as they opened with “Dead and Gone,” and the audience could barely keep up. I went to this show exhausted and a little hungover from the previous night. The Black Keys set me straight, right at the start. Why do I love this band so much live? Three reasons 1) They have amazing energy and keep the pace up. Dan Auerbach can be heard saying “Let’s keep this going…” after a song. No speeches here. 2) They have the setlist. Even though most people know their music from 2010 on, they’ve been together since 2001. Even their lesser known songs sounds great live. 3) Patrick Carney’s drumming sounds so much better live, and he spares nothing, coming down hard. The applause for their encore was probably the loudest I’ve heard. EVER. Amazing crowd, amazing band, amazing venue. Two days later, they were in DC, playing at the HBO broadcast Concert For Valor. They are the real deal. Just promise me you’ll catch them live sometime in this lifetime. (I took the pics below with my iPhone 5, since I couldn’t bring a camera.)