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It’s a bit disconcerting how rock and roll has changed over the last 20 years. Slowly becoming an amalgamation of frivolous power chords, meaningless lyrics, and auto-tuned vocals, rock today is generally uninspired and churned out for mass consumption. With the birth of musical nomenclatures like indie-rock, alternative, folk-rock, roots-rock, post-punk, and Britpop, the meaning and essence of rock and roll is but a mere shadow of itself – marginalized and fractured.
So what happened? When did rock and roll vanish?
To the elation of every Ohioan and anyone who ever heard a note played by Chuck Berry, rock and roll is not lost. To the contrary, it has been stolen with force and resides in Akron, Ohio where its protectors, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, have sworn to harness its awesome power for anyone who’ll listen.
So when The Black Keys emerged onto the LC Pavilion stage last Friday and rang out the long bend intro of “Thickfreakness” in their signature heavy distorted sound, rock and roll rose from the ashes like a fiery melodic phoenix.
The show from start to finish was a hard-hitting uproar of old school standards with a new spin. Songs like “Busted,” “Strange Times,” and “Your Touch” have never sounded better. Expanding into a four-piece for cuts from their critically acclaimed recent release, Brothers, The Black Keys soared on “Ten Cent Pistol” and “Tighten Up.” Dan’s spot-on falsetto on “Everlasting Light” was impressive, showing a new dimension for the Akron-duo and a possible direction for the future.
The show ended on a high note, literally. The Black Keys played “Till I Get My Way” like it was a decree from Robert Johnson himself – blasting on the chorus and unleashing their garage blues-rock into the deep tidal wave of crowd surfers.
As The Black Keys gave Columbus everything they had with a set that left the city wanting even more, behind them on stage was a testament to who they are: an enormous banner depicting two hands clasped together inside a rugged car tire. The Black Keys are Akron rubber-rat brothers united, not by kin, but by a vow to keep rock and roll alive – one incredible tour stop at a time.
This review was written by Josh Fitzwater and brought you by the Franklin University Plaza at the LC Pavilion. For more information about shows that Josh and the Franklin crew will be attending and for chances to win tickets to concerts all summer long, visit www.franklin.edu/concerts or like us on Facebook.
Rock and roll never vanished, it just fell out of popular favor for crap music and people are lazy and don’t find music themselves anymore…They wait for the radio to tell them, kinda like why the Black Keys played Used Kids and Lil Bro’s for a few years and only 6 albums later play a sold out LC show.
Or they just listen to too much Blitz rock, man that stuff is terrible.
1. Love the latest album and it was cool to see them play a bit of the show as a 4 piece, but live they still are insanely better live just Dan and Pat.
2. I can’t even believe they didn’t play “Ohio”
3. I can’t even believe I scored tix at face value the afternoon of the show. :)
So painful to have missed this. Thanks for the write-up.
I was enjoying the show immensely until a couple 250 lb 45 yr old’s started a mosh pit 5 feet away from me. Thanks.
That concert was great and I had not seen the LC that full before. But I think saying a tidal wave of crowd surfers is using too much artistic licensing as I would put money that less than 50 crowd surfers in the audience.
It didn’t seem like mosh pits and crowd surfing fit with the vibe and appreciation of their music.
And the pot was plentiful.
I saw three crowd-surfers, none of which (thankfully) were near me.
Amazing show….have to agree with lew. I grooved on the keyboard for a couple songs, but was glad when they moved back to the power duo songs.
Also, lew, you probably paid less than I did. $25 face x2 + fees = ~$75 :(
Finally…to the two guys yelling “Fuck LeBron!”…nobody cared. Seriously.
The Hipsters were in their glory. Any retro NBA jersey sightings?
I was actually next to some crowd surfers but some of those types will do that at any concert, much like some moshers. I enjoyed the show and preferred the parts when it was just the two of them.