Tonight, before The Black Keys took stage, I had a chance to sit down with Dan Auerbach, guitarist and lead vocalist. Really enjoyed our conversation. We talked about the new record, touring in arenas vs. small clubs, working with DangerMouse, Playing on the Buddy Holly Tribute Record, the story behind Little Black Submarines, his offer to the WMMR listeners if they vote for The Black Keys in March Madness and what's next in 2012 for The Black Keys. A lot of the background noise you hear is the Arctic Monkeys laying down a great set to get the crowd moving. During the interview, Pat Carney was playing ping pong right outside the door. I really want to play him in a best of five ping pong match.

At 9:32 they opened a blistering 90 minute set with Howlin' For You and Next Girl. This set the already hyped crowd into a slathering frenzy, me included. This was by far one of the best concerts of 2012. They had a couple of friends playing on stage with them as well, on guitar and keys. They played hard and furious and almost everyone in the arena was on their feet moving the entire time. Dead and Gone into Gold On The Ceiling was amazing as well. I got really stoked when they chased Gold with Thickfreakness and Girl Is On My Mind. Little Black Submarines is my favorite song on the El Camino album and it sounded amazing live because they really did an incredible job playing acoustic into full electric and just wrecking the arena. They continued to rock Philly closing out the show with Tighten Up into Lonely Boy before hitting the encore. I came into work this evening so jacked on adrenaline from seeing The Black Keys live that it did not fade the entire shift. I highly recommend that if you get a chance to see The Black Keys when they come back into the area, you do. You will leave smiling ear to ear. They know how to put on a rock show the right way.

Markus

Thanks to Tom Collins of RockNShots Live for the live shot of The Black Keys. Check out his photos of the concert here.

The set list is below thanks to Setlist.fm. Direct link to set list here: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-black-keys/2012/wells-fargo-center-philadelphia-pa-43ded7eb.html:

Howlin' for You

Next Girl

Run Right Back

Same Old Thing

Dead and Gone

Gold on the Ceiling

Thickfreakness

Girl Is On My Mind

I'll Be Your Man

Your Touch

Little Black Submarines

Money Maker

Strange Times

Chop and Change

Nova Baby

Ten Cent Pistol

Tighten Up

Lonely Boy

Encore:
Everlasting Light

She's Long Gone

I Got Mine