The Black Keys @ The Anthem [DC] - 10/12/2019
Rock's preeminent two-piece have kept their live shows lean and mean despite adding touring musicians the last few times out. And according to Patrick Carney's recent appearance on "The Road Taken with Baio and CT" podcast, they rarely rehearse. You'd never know it from Saturday's electric performance at The Anthem, a scorching set filled with arena-sized riffs and drum fills. This was the band's first area appearance since they played the then Verizon Center and the Concert for Valor a few weeks apart at the tail end of 2014. And judging by how amped the sold-out crowd was, they were missed.
The Black Keys at The Anthem (Photo by Kyle Gustafson)
The setlist showcased six songs from their newest releases, “Let’s Rock”, including the two leadoff singles, “Lo/Hi” and “Eagle Birds”. That latter featured early, helping set the tone for the night, while the former drove the point home during the encore. The slower “Walk Across The Water” provided a nice tempo change before whipping the crowd into a sing-along frenzy with 2011 megahit “Howlin’ For You.” Speaking of megahits, this band has ‘em in spades. “Lonely Boy”, “Gold on the Ceiling”, “Next Girl”, “Tighten Up”, these songs have been powering rock radio for the last decade or so. It's great to have The Keys back in the spotlight again.
Modest Mouse, another band that has been out of the spotlight for a while, opened with a blustery, shouty 12 song set that strangely did not feature their biggest hit, "Float On". The band has promised a new album soon and released a new song back in March, but again, it was not part of the set list. ¯\ _(ツ)_/¯
