Concert review: The Black Keys? It was more like the Low Keys at Grandstand opener

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press
·3 min read
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Do the Black Keys still want to be the Black Keys?

That was one takeaway from the Ohio blues rock duo’s opening night performance Thursday at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in front of a crowd of 6,621. Much like their previous two local shows, Target Center gigs in 2014 and 2019, guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney turned in a solid, but utterly unspectacular, performance that sped by in a mere 80 minutes. Auerbach produced monster riff after monster riff, while Carney pounded the drums with impressive force and skill. Problem is, they did so with little excitement, let alone any real soul.

The pair spent their first 15 years together knocking out records, touring heavily and eventually catching the ear of rock radio, which turned the likes of “Tighten Up,” “Lonely Boy” and “Gold on the Ceiling” into big hits. And, yup, all three made Thursday’s set list. They took a much-needed hiatus in 2015, but felt tired when they returned to action in 2019.

The pandemic imposed another break on the pair, or at least kept them off the road. They did release a pair of new albums, 2021’s “Delta Kream,” a collection of blues covers they recorded in two afternoons at Auerbach’s Nashville studio. Nearly half the tracks — including “Crawling King Snake,” the sixth song of their set — tackle the work of blues icon Junior Kimbrough, a clear favorite of the pair. They followed it two years later with the self-produced “Dropout Boogie.” Neither made much of an impact beyond the devoted.

It’s frustrating to see a band that, in large part, built their reputation on their live shows phone it in like they did Thursday.

Two highlights of a show not exactly bursting with them came after the midway point. Both took full advantage of the duo’s expanded live lineup, which adds four musicians who provide a bass, a second guitar, keyboards and backing vocals. The first, 2014’s “Weight of Love,” is a gently psychedelic number that recalls “Dark Side of the Moon”-era Pink Floyd. During the second, 2011’s “Howlin’ for You,” Auerbach clearly perked up and actually seemed to be into what he was doing.

Given that they’re currently in summer festival touring mode, familiar material made up the majority of the show. So it was unusual to see them sneak in a pair of new ones near the end, the listless album cut “Your Team is Looking Good” and the semi-rocking single “Wild Child,” which limped its way to No. 18 in early 2022.

Auerbach has released a pair of solo albums, has a side project called the Arcs and has produced dozens of other acts, including the Pretenders, Lana Del Rey and Hank Williams Jr. Carney, too, has his own recording studio and has worked with other artists, including his current wife, Michelle Branch. If at this point the Black Keys thing is merely a way to keep up with mortgage payments, well, the guys aren’t trying too hard to hide it.

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