Page 72 - Rolling Stone - India (December 2019)

The Mix
SET LIST
The Black Keys’
Live Return
How the band chose what songs to
play on its first tour in five years
By PATRICK DOYLE
1. I Got Mine 2008
The Black Keys started a
recent show in Denver with
this stomper from Attack
and Release, which they
like for its combination of
slow tempo and heavy riffs.
“It’s kind of like when Kool-
Aid Man breaks through
the wall,” Dan Auerbach
says. Discussing how they
made the set list for their
first tour in five years, he
jokes, “We just went to the
top 25 songs on Spotify.”
2. Eagle Birds 2019
Auerbach likes this hypnotic
Delta-blues-style rocker
because he gets to play
a Peavey Razer — the
guitar of choice for the
late Mississippi guitarist
T-Model Ford. “I probably
saw T-Model [live] more
than anybody,” he says.
“He’s probably our biggest
influence. Junior Kimbrough
was like jazz, but T-Model
was like a garage band. We
could do that.”
3. Gold on the Ceiling
2011
“I wanted to make sure we
pepper the set list with new
stuff, and not play a block
of, like, six new songs in
the middle,” says drummer
Patrick Carney. After two new
songs, he says, “we hit ‘em
with the hit.” Here, a curtain
drops, revealing a 55-foot 10
lighting rig. “I just try not to
play too fast, because Dan
and I get excited.”
4. Everlasting Light 2010
The bandmates have retooled this soulful rocker with
a tremolo-steeped psychedelic arrangement they
can get lost in. “It gives me time to look out,” says
Carney. “It’s like our slow-dance moment, because
there’s always people embracing each other during
that song. It’s touching.” Says Auerbach, “The groove
feels so good. I can still hit those high notes, which is
so weird. Someday I won’t be able to.”
72 | Rolling Stone | December 2019
10. Lo/Hi 2019
This new encore — with a
T. Rex-style groove and
backup vocals — is brought
to life with visuals of an
electric chair on the band’s
huge screen. It’s a reference
to the Keys’ new album,
“Let’s Rock” — named after
a convicted killer’s reported
last words before he was
executed. “It’s all about the
groove and being able to
lock in to all those guitars,”
Auerbach says. “It’s just fun.”
9. Lonely Boy 2011
At a recent Las Vegas
1 fest, the band brought out
Wayne Newton to dance to
this single. “We anticipated
2 Lil Wayne [who also played
the fest] was going to be
late, because of previous
experiences,” says Carney.
“So I said, ‘We need to have
an extra Wayne.’” Says
3 Auerbach, “He’s built like
a fucking tank. He could
have whipped all of us. His
handshake was crushing.”
8. Little Black
Submarines 2011
On this El Camino epic,
Auerbach plays an acoustic
guitar before strapping on
an electric for a psych-rock
4 explosion. “I can take my
earplugs out while Dan’s
5 doing the acoustic part,”
Carney says. “We have this
nine-year-old superfan who
6 attends a lot of Black Keys
stuff. The other night, he
was there with his parents,
just losing his mind.”
7. Thickfreakness 2003
7 “It’s currently the oldest song
in the set list,” Carney says. “I
remember opening our first-
8 ever show in London, in front
of about 20 people at the
Camden Barfly in April 2003.
And I was so nervous in front
9 of 20 people. That feeling
of being basically a kid and
getting flown overseas to
play rock & roll and feeling
like you gotta put on a show.
That song still reminds me of
that every time we play it.”
5. Howlin’ for You 2010 6. 10 A.M. Automatic 2004
Auerbach used to simplify this Brothers song before “That’s straight-up garage rock,” says Auerbach of
they hired the backing musicians in their current this thrasher, recorded in a tire factory. The crowd
setup — guitarists Steve Marion and Andy Gabbard, gets rowdy: Carney always looks for a character he FROM TOP: KOURY ANGELO; ALYSSE GAFKJEN
plus bassist Zach Gabbard. “We can open some of calls “Mr. Party Animal.” “It’s always some guy with
these songs up,” Auerbach says. He rakes the guitar an eccentric piece of clothing, a hat, and is dressed
strings with his fingernails like he did on the record, like an asshole just dancing his ass off,” Carney says.
while the other guitarists play lead. “Those little “It’s the equivalent of going to a football game and
details on the record make it for me,” he says. sitting next to a guy who has fully painted his face.”