The Black Keys Melting Faces... (Live at Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood - Atlanta, GA 05-02-13)

So last night, I was fortunate enough to be in the pit for the first time at Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood to see one of my all time favorite bands: The Black Keys. Now, I'll preface this by saying that The Flaming Lips opened for the Keys, and they were pretty good, but this post will solely focus on TBK's performance... And what a performance it was. (Note: It may seem unbelievable, but all photos and videos were taken by me.)

I'll start this post by saying this, I hadn't been to Lakewood in a pretty long time, and I had forgotten how small the pit was. Needless to say, when I got down to the pit, I was stoked because I knew that I was going to be extremely close for this show. The two previous times I had seen the Black Keys (in Charlotte and in Chicago for Lollapalooza) I wasn't able to get very close... that wasn't a problem here. I was able to take some of the best concert photos and videos I've ever been able to, and am gladly sharing those here. The Keys are a band that plays a pretty standard setlist with a few deviations here and there. This set was almost identical to the one played at Lollapalooza, with a difference of about 4 songs. Some people may see that as a bad thing, but not me. Of the 3 shows I've seen of theirs, this one was by far the best; not only because I was so damn close, but because it felt like they were just on their A+ game. They started the show with two songs from their album Brothers: "Howlin' For You" & "Next Girl", and that got the crowd fired up right off the bat. For their next number, they played a song from their most recent album El Camino...

"Run Right Back"

One really good thing about a Black Keys show is that, while they've added a band behind them that adds a bass guitar and keyboard to the mix, for a good bit of the songs, it's just Dan and Pat. I've always said that you don't need an 8 piece band to make good music, (that's not to say that 8 piece bands don't make good music either) and The Black Keys are a great example of that. My favorite thing about this band is that they stay true to Rock and Roll at it's core. Big bluesy riffs, meaningful and soulful lyrics, and the ability to make you feel the music, not just hear it. A great example of these characteristics comes from this next song, one of their older ones...

"Your Touch" 

 This is one of the few bands left that is trying to keep Rock and Roll as it has traditionally been defined alive, and I for one am very glad that they are because they really know what the genre means and how much it has influenced music as a whole over the years. It's their respect for the genre that makes them as good as they are, and this next number shows that...

"Little Black Submarines" 

The boys were definitely in good form at this show, and it really was a dream come true to be able to soak it all in from basically the front row. The picture here to my left is probably my favorite of all the ones I took. I feel like it encapsulates everything good about a Black Keys show: the rawness, the way they are fully absorbed into what they are playing, and the energy that comes from one of their shows.       

                                                                                     

This picture to the right is probably my favorite picture of all time with me in it. I'm the one in the BADASS guitar shirt, and those are my buddies Brent and Bobby. We definitely had one hell of a time, and props to the old dude who helped us out by taking that picture, because he got it framed perfectly. But anyway, back to the music. These next two songs were the finale before the encore...

"Tighten Up"

"Lonely Boy"

 

During their encore break, my buddies and I started a pretty phenomenal Tomahawk Chop. It started with just the three of us, but at one point I looked back and I'm pretty sure 80% of the crowd was doing it, if not more, so that was a pretty cool memory I'll have for a while. The band then came back out and played what is this blog creator's favorite song by them... 

"Everlasting Light"

Now, I'm not usually one to get through a show and not have at least one thing to complain about (a bit snobby, I know), but I really have zero complaints about this one. It was amazing from start to finish and it was one of the best concert experiences I've ever had in my life. This venue holds a special place in my heart as the first concert I ever went to was there: Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1999. I was in 8th grade, and that show was really important in helping to form my musical tastes. This show last night has made Lakewood an even more important venue for me and this is a show that I won't ever forget. I leave you now with the setlist from last night, something I kept track of the entire show (somewhat needlessly with Setlist.fm out there, but hey, I had fun doing it). 

 

 Howlin' for You

Next Girl

Run Right Back

Same Old Thing

Dead and Gone

Gold on the Ceiling

Thickfreakness

Girl is on My Mind

Your Touch

Little Black Submarines

Money Maker

Strange Times

Sinister Kid

Nova Baby

Ten Cent Pistol

She's Long Gone

Tighten Up

Lonely Boy

Encore:

Everlasting Light

I Got Mine