The wife and I went to the Black Keys “Turn Blue” concert a few days ago Thursday at the Forum in Inglewood, former home of the L.A. Lakers and L.A. Kings. We got ready with some energy drink / vodka concoctions that I prepared at home with my SodaStream. We sat in the parking lot for a while and laughed our asses off as we saw people in cars all around us doing the same thing.
Anyway, after getting “ready” and buying a knockoff shirt or 2 in the parking lot, we made our way into the Forum, bought ourselves a pair of authentic shirts ($70 for 2 t-shirts!!!), and found our spots. We were ready for the show to start.
Verdict: The Black Keys are amazing. The show was raw, loud and lived up to the hype. During the opening song “Lonely Boy,” you could hear a little clanking and a few off timed beats. I loved it! It was honest and that is more than you can say for most so-called performers these days.
The music flowed seamlessly, with one song after the other serving as a showcase for the Black Keys to demonstrate their power to make people dance, nod their heads in unison and feel. That’s the point of music: you should “feel” something. Even sad songs have the power to make you feel better.
Most music today makes me feel the urge to turn the damn sound down, but not the Black Keys. There’s a strange satisfaction to hearing a well composed song, and I don’t mean one that is composed in a formulaic way. Most music today feels like it’s struggling to make the listener like it. I feel like there’s a formula out there because all of it sounds the same. The end goal is to sell, not move or create a truly artistic piece.
Obviously, music shouldn’t be that way. It should be honest and raw. The goal should be to capture a feeling, an expression, much the way a photograph can capture a moment in time. I think the Black Keys did that. By the end of the show, my only wish was that they had played a few of my favorites, like “In Our Prime.” Their catalog is that deep – I wanted more and nothing less.
As I wrote earlier, the Black Keys are my current music obsession. Tonight’s show ensures their place in my daily playlist.
