After four months on the road in support of this year's Attack and Release, it's completely reasonable that the Black Keys might feel the need to chill out a bit. As such, the duo downed water last night at McCarren Park Pool and seemed to be pacing themselves carefully. They played with their usual precision, but we would liked to have seen a little more wildness. The first few songs were subdued, with drummer Dan Auerbach warbling through the opener, �Girl Is on My Mind� (also the first song at their Terminal 5 show in May). �Thickfreakness� chugged along like a train with a broken � or maybe just wacky � axle.
But things started to pick up for �10 AM Automatic,� which had almost a hip-hop beat and an apocalyptic ending, and �Same Old Thing,� during which our friend noted, �It�s getting heavier.� By �Stack Shot Billy,� in which Auerbach mysteriously changed keys, then changed back again � or did we imagine that? � the spell was cast. It helped that there were about 0.9 joints per capita. �What the fuck is that, a helicopter?� someone commented mid-song, apropos of nothing. Things were strange indeed, and wonderful: During �Everywhere I Go,� played as a holy, flaming march, we thought, What�s that sound? A steam shovel, a herd of elk? Meanwhile, Auerbach�s hair, close-pressed to his head at the show�s start, was unfurling.
But things were, in the end, mellow. �Breaks,� a great tune from their no-nonsense first album, The Big Come Up, settled into a funk beat before turning into a leisurely slow jam. The last song of their set, �I Got Mine,� was restrained, and we couldn�t help but think of all the songs we long to hear at a Black Keys show and never do. (Would it have been too heavy-handed for them to have played �Brooklyn Bound�?) When they came on for their encore, Auerbach confided that a cop had approached him next to the stage. �He wanted my autograph,� he said. �The world must be ending.� Dan, we miss when you were running from the law. �Kathleen Reeves
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