The power of Auerbach's guitar work is probably the reason that everybody loves the Black Keys so much. When Auerbach plays, it's like lightning...or laser beams should be shooting out of the strings. "Little Black Submarines," from 2011's El Camino, was a highlight. Auerbach kicked it off playing some classical guitar. Everybody knows that a broken heart is blind, he sang. After a few minutes, the stage went dark and silent, and the crowd got rowdy jonesin' for the beat to drop. Then the lights went up, and Auerbach had plugged back into his electric guitar, and they blew out the rest of the song. AH! It was so flippin' good. Beginning the set with, "Howlin' For You," and closing with one of my favorites, "Everlasting Light."
They jammed for about an hour and a half, incorporating a lot of their old blues sounds with their more current rock/bad-assery. Personally, I would have loved a little more rapport between the crowd and TBK, but what they lacked in engagement they made up for in a modest, yet ferocious, performance. Patrick's gangly and almost awkward to watch, but the passion he possesses while wailing the drums is a force that's hard to put in words. During the middle of the show they broke free from their back up support and jammed as a duo. Their powerful set list was consistent and sounded WAY better live than the album versions.
To boot, The UK band, The Joy Formidable opened for TBK and warmed the crowd up real nice with their head nodding, kick ass beats. Ritzy's energy was unreal and despite their punky undertones this band's new album Wolf's Law, is super catchy and fun to rock out to this summer.
Lastly, this was all a surprise planned for me by one of the most generous people I've come to know. My new man-friend really knew the way to my heart with this one and pulled through after overhearing what I asked Santa for this past Christmas. We drove out to CT after work, had a nice picnic in what seemed to be a random parking lot and finally after catching view of the swag table inside The Comcast Theater I nearly peed my pants in excitement. I was supposed to meet up with him at Dave Matthews this past Memorial Day but I bailed because of the weather, I'm happy I did because this was our first concert together and I'll remember it forever. Thankful. #majorpoints #hesakeeper
