#1301 The Black Keys in SLC

Last night MT and I went to see The Black Keys in concert at the Maverik Center in West Valley. Funny thing in the morning...I was checking the spot where I keep all the tickets for upcoming shows or concerts and the tickets weren't there. I checked my Flash Seats account, and they weren't there, either. I panicked! I checked the Ticketmaster website and was reminded that it was ticketless entry. All I had to do was show my photo ID and the card I'd used to purchase the tickets. I did not remember that detail since I bought the tickets in March. The ticketless thing worked out just fine.

Anyway, we had pretty good seats to the right of the stage about 16 rows up. That was just about the right height; any lower and I think our view would have been obstructed by some of the equipment. 

Jake Bugg was the opening act. He is a very serious looking young man with kind of a strange voice that grew on me as his performance continued. I don't know if he smiled one time during his 45 minutes on stage. He sure didn't say much. I Googled him after his set and was surprised to learn that he is English. His music had a little blues and jangly guitar not unlike The Black Keys, so I thought he was American. I thought he might be from New Orleans. What the hell do I know?

I also don't know that much about The Black Keys. I know a few of their songs - Lonely Boy is one of my most favorite songs. The opening riff of that song makes me hap-hap-happy. When I got a pre-sale notice from Ticketmaster, I asked MT if he wanted to go see them. He was excited and into it.  I bought their most recent CD, Turn Blue, and there are some pretty good songs, but really, neither MT nor I really knew much of their music.

We had a little tiny preview of the concert on Tuesday night when MT and I watched The Black Keys perform on The Concert for Valor on HBO. Did you see that concert? It was pretty fun. There were a lot of very good performers on the show.

Back to our live show in WVC...it was great. We had a really good time. I was thrilled with the huge amount of joyous noise that four people can make on a stage. The Black Keys are a duo - a guy who sings and plays guitar, Dan, and a guy on drums, Patrick. (I didn't actually know the drummer's name; I had to Google it!) Then there is a guy on bass and a guy on keyboards/guitar/tambourine. 

What I learned from the concert on HBO on Tuesday night was that these guys aren't what you would call "hot". They just look like average dudes.

What I learned after seeing them live on Wednesday is that if you strap a guitar on an average dude and he can sing and play that guitar, he becomes a lot more sexy. :)

Like Jake Bugg, Dan did not do a lot of talking. He said a sentence here and there, usually something along the lines of, "Come on Salt Lake, let me hear you," or "Help us out with this one if you can." The audience was enthusiastic. The floor was general admission and I enjoyed watching the people on the floor bouncing and pumping their fists. There was a guy front and center, pressed up against the barricade that was slinging his hair around and singing along to every word. During Lonely Boy, that guy someone got up on the stage and did a spectacular dive back into the crowd. It was fantastic.

The band played about 21 or 22 songs in 90 minutes. The set moved right along with lots of cool light effects and great guitar riffs  and sing-a-longs. MT and I had a really, really good time.

One thing that added to our overall enjoyment was the little kid sitting in front of us. He was probably between eight and ten years old. He was totally into the music. When the band came on, he was squirming around in his seat, pumping his fist in rhythm to the beat. His dad finally told him he could stand up and when he got the all clear, he jumped up and wriggled around, pumping his fist and having a great time. It was pretty damn adorable.

Here's a photo I took. I did zoom in a bit, but it represents what I was seeing.

2014 has been a fun concert year for me. I think I've seen a few different genres: rap, pop, classic rock and alternative. No country this year though. Maybe next year.

I love music and enjoy listening to the radio or my iPod but nothing beats hearing music being played live.

Since I love the opening riff of Lonely Boy so much, I wanted to share it with you. Here's the official music video. I just saw it for the first time tonight and it made me giggle. Enjoy :)