The Black Keys

Man, I like these guys more every time I see them.

Susan and I arrived early enough to see the opening act, The Other Gals, which was unfortunate because we cut a nice dinner short to see them. The forgettable four would have been a more suitable name for these scruffy twenty-somethings. Three guitars and a dopey looking drummer.

I've never seen a band sound more unoriginal than these guys, zero creativity. Everything they played had a striking resemblance to The Killers, The Stokes, Coldplay, etc, etc, etc.

These guys seemed pretty talented in their own right, which only served to magnify their keen skill in mimicking those that came before them.

Crowd was not into the set, and I even heard a group standing next to us name the same three bands as a clear influence. We gave each other the nod and all just laughed.

These guys just killed it. The Buffalo Killers is a band I've known about for years, but never had a chance to see them play. I can't believe how much I liked these guys. One part Jam Band, two parts Southern Rockers with a knack for harmony.

One critic labels them a garage blues band with amazing chops and commendable restraint. I don't know what garage blues is but I like it, they have a sound not quite like anything I've heard since perhaps the days of Cream. From songs like Let It Ride, to Get Together Now Today, I was feelin' these guys down deep.

Here's another critical review of the band, and I couldn't agree more with this guy:

"The Buffalo Killers sound like the bastard sons of the James Gang and the Black Crowes. But like both bands, the Buffalo Killers come by their sound naturally. It's organic, dripping with down home funk. It's groovin' - oozing with soul, draped in grittiness and filled with tasty, but not overwhelming guitar licks." - Willy Wilson/Real Detroit Weekly

This is a band I will absolutely see again, and what makes music so great to me. It's so exciting to discover a band I've never heard before, and be just totally blown away by a new sound and the vibe their puttin' out.

The Black Keys.

What can I say, these guys have a raw and aggressive sound that just takes a hold of the audience and sends them over the edge for two and a half hours of violent guitar flailing, drum bashing and raw rock and roll. Not sure what else I can say about them besides see this band first chance you get and see for yourself.

They pored them selves into a two hour set, then did a brief two set encore with Your Touch and I Got Mine.

The first ten rows of the house were a non-stop mosh pit, which I was not entirely prepared for, especially with Susan in tow. People were bouncing off us through the whole night, and we had a Henry Rollins lookalike in front of us jumping nonstop, three feet into the air, throughout the entire concert.

I don't know if I'm gettin' too old for the front row, or it was just a particularly nasty crowd, but we had more than a couple of tense moments trying to hold our ground. Next time, we might just have to sit in the balcony with the old timers.