Black Keys make up for early-evening horror show in Vancouver

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      At the Pacific Coliseum on Thursday, October 30

      Even without the downpour, Thursday night was looking grim. It being the night before Halloween, ghosts and ghouls were haunting the midways at Playland and having a scream while riding high on the Hellevator.

      But you want to talk about a Fright Night? Try working the will-call booth of the Pacific Coliseum 30 minutes before show time with hundreds upon hundreds of grumbling Black Keys fans in muddied shoes, soaked jean jackets, and the occasional pirate costume anxiously waiting to get out of the cold to catch the Akron-spawned blues-rock champs. Horror show didn’t begin to describe the delay fans had to put up with while waiting for their tickets.

      After enduring a brain-decaying delay at the gates, the sopping zombie masses slumped out of the rain and into the rink to catch what was left of young U.K. singer-songwriter Jake Bugg's opening set. He strummed an acoustic guitar politely for folky fare like "Seen It All" and "Me and You" but seemed happiest milking licks out of a vintage Telecaster during the back end of the performance.

      "What Doesn't Kill You" was the raunchiest number, playing out like a scrappy, early Arctic Monkeys single, but the young Bugg seemed reserved on the rocker, slowly pacing the stage with his head down.

      All attention was on the main attraction when Black Keys’ singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney confidently arrived to soulfully slam out "Dead and Gone." Bearded blues deconstructionist Auerbach got the crowd in a panic quickly as he slid to the front of the stage to unleash a whammy-bar whirlwind of notes. Fans eagerly ate up the grimy, porno-theatre funkiness of "Next Girl" and the snarling "Run Right Back".

      While Carney tends to be the band mouthpiece off-stage, whether beefing with Beliebers on Twitter or slamming U2 in interviews, the lanky, bespectacled drummer was too busy beating the hell out of his kit to undertake any between-song banter.

      Despite a handful of pleasantries, Auerbach likewise cut out the chit-chat. The songbook more than made up for this, though, whether with the tube-busting deep cut "Leavin' Trunk" or the big hit "Howlin' for You", which had the arena booming into a soccer-hooligan-style chant.

      The down-tempo crawl of "Too Afraid to Love You" practically murdered all of the momentum the Keys built early on. A languid cover of Edwyn Collins's "A Girl Like You" had Carney significantly backing off his otherwise oppressive drum attack. Though the Black Keys were proficient enough on these numbers, the lack of oomph made you realize consummate professionalism are two of the ugliest words in the rock world.

      Thankfully, Carney soon got back to crushing it alongside Auerbach, backup bassist Richard Swift, and multi-instrumentalist John Clement Wood on "Money Maker". "Gotta Get Away", off the band’s new Turn Blue had Auerbach getting even wilder once a pedal steel was rushed on-stage for him to slip and slide his lightning-quick fingers across.

      After closing out the regular set with the juke joint jumpiness of "Lonely Boy", the band showcased its new album's generally relaxed pace with an encore of the desert-drug-trip-conjuring "Weight of Love", whose psychedelic elements were accented by a mesmerizing, multicoloured hypnotist's wheel.

      Most entrancing, however, was show closer "Little Black Submarines". Under a spotlight, Auerbach stood with a cradled Dobro guitar, quietly strumming the song. As he whispered "voices calling me, they get lost and out of time," an adoring audience provided the backup vocals. By the time the group ripped into the song's distorted finale, the room was roaring.

      The lesson you learned by the end of "Little Black Submarines" was this: a broken heart may be blind, but a Black Keys crowd can leave you feeling loved and spectacularly deaf. Even if you’ve just spent the beginning of the night waterlogged and miserable in the cold October rain.

      Comments

      2 Comments

      cranky rocker mom

      Oct 31, 2014 at 12:43pm

      I heard people complaining that Black Keys will call tickets could only be picked up after noon, when people are at work. The line ups did not end there. The beer lineups went from one side of the coliseum to the other. Is it meant to slow down beer consumption?

      The Black Keys blew me away. The sound was spot on. The set was super cool with the multiple screens, & lights changing completely for every song. The crowd was dancing with very few phones until everyone turned their flashlights for an encore.

      I had no idea how they were going to translate into a big venue, but they totally rocked and filled that crappy arena with massive energy.

      BoomerNV

      Nov 6, 2014 at 12:12pm

      This was my third time seeing the Black Keys and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. If I could provide a couple of constructive criticism though it was the pace of the show. Dan's guitar changes between each song took too long and he kept losing the crowd and then had to work harder to get us back into it each time. Also mildly disappointing was that Dan and Patrick didn't perform part of the set as a duo as I've seen them do the other times I've seen them. In spite of those nit-picks the sound was great, the music was awesome and the visuals complemented the show very well. The Black Keys will remain on my Must See list.