like any good explosion...

i went to The Black Keys concert last night at the 930 club. its was awesome. like any good explosion, there was a great effusion of sound and light. it was everything i expected and more. i expected soulful ear scorching guitar, and it was so. i will have to put Dan Auerbach among the likes of Jack White and Augie of The Hard Lessons in terms of guitar playing. all three totally awesome in their abilities to coax and incredible amount of sounds and soul from six strings. its like they were made with the guitar in mind.

the percussion provided by Pat Carney was great too. typically simple, but a few of their songs end up all syncopated and off-beat at times only to return to where it began. sure, its not the most impressive thing i have ever seen, but the style of music isnt well suited to drum solos. solos, by the way, is a palindrome. Carney lays down the foundation for Auerbach to build upon, and in that respect, hes perfect.

so the music was kick ass. thats been established. but the stage set up was pretty sweet too. they had all sorts of nifty lights spraying the stage, crowd, and rafters with various patterns and colors through out the show. they also had some bright as shit lights that would flash like lightning when shit got real crazy and at times i had to close my eyes. it was like staring at the sun and i think thats the idea. it was a like an explosion of soul and rock. fucking sweet.

they also had this giant inflatable tire behind them. you know how some bands have big banners and stuff behind them, well they had this tire. i can only imagine that this was inspired by the Uniroyal tire on I-94 just outside Detroit. thats what i thought of as soon as i saw it. then, that is my hometown.

long story short, if you like rock music listen to the Black Keys. then see them live. afterwards your ears will ring and youll see stars. in such a good way. im still reeling from it.

the Buffalo Killers were the opening act. they were good, definitely skilled. not really my thing. its wierd how if you take the Keys, who im totally gay for right now, and tweak it a little bit, you end up with something that doesnt do it for me. take the keys and make them a little more metal, a little more Guns n Roses and a little bit Lead Zeppelin, and i just dont feel it. anyway, they did pique my appetite for what was to come with the Keys. and they were good, so if you like blues rock with a little metal twist, you should totally check them out.

now im all sleepy after sitting in meetings this morning, going on like 5 hrs sleep since i got home at like midnight, reliving the show last night, and half assedly doing my job. im so glad that pandora.com exists. the music the pump into our office is terrible, absolutely awful when compared to what i witnessed last night.

look out as i see Mr White with fellow Detroit native Brendan Benson in their band, the Raconteurs, on the 28th. that should be a good one, too. i saw them last summer with Bob Dylan, and that was great. this show is going to be at the 930 club, which holds maybe 2,000 rather than a stadium for 20,000, so it will be much more personal and generally awesome, especially since the Black Lips are opening, and ive got a growing appreciation for them lately.

i heart musics.