Michelle Shiers on November 8th, 2014

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The Black Keys worked up a sweat Thursday night at The Forum as they let loose in front of an audience of both die-hard and casual fans. They opened their set with “Dead And Gone” from 2011’s “El Camino” and continued with a top-heavy set of songs mainly from their last three albums.

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney were backed by Richard Swift and John Wood, but the Black Keys were still very much a power-duo. Auerbach’s guitar crunches and shrieks seemed to magically find their way back into Carney’s chest-thumping drums. Together they propelled their outsized garage-blues into a racket large enough to fill the arena-sized space, meting out raucous licks and heavy melodies that were able to strut without the constraints of perfect tempo.

“Gold On The Ceiling” and “Strange Times” were big crowd-pleasers, but there was also a little something for the long-time fans who enjoyed “Leavin’ Trunk” from 2002’s “The Big Come Up.” Glancing across their career, it’s evident that the Black Keys don’t worry too much about reinvention. Rather they continue with their own blues throw-down of riffy grit and amplified texture.

Now, with their eighth album “Turn Blue,” they are perhaps not as raw but just as unabashed. It appears that they barely got to enjoy their full muddy dip into the mainstream before Keys purists started considering the duo’s hookier efforts to be “softer” ones. Nevertheless, their frontal assault at The Forum was well-received, as Auerbach shifted around the stage lost in his own solos and Carney sloppily stomped and struck his colorful kit.

Mid-set, the band performed their Keysian take on Edwin Collins’ “A Girl Like You,” with Auerbach crooning in front of his (count ’em) five meticulously angled amps. “Gotta Get Away,” featuring a few seconds of Auerbach at the lap-steel, sounded like straight-forward rock rather than their signature swampy blues cocktail. “Tighten Up” prompted surround-sound whistling and “Lonely Boy” got nearly everyone on their feet.

The Black Keys came back for a three-song encore starting with “Weight Of Love,” followed by “Turn Blue,” which boasted Auerbach’s impressive falsetto. The night ended with “Little Black Submarines” – one of their moodiest numbers during which Auerbach allowed the entire Forum to take the mic to sing “Everybody knows that a broken heart is blind.”

The Black Keys were preceded by Nottingham’s Jake Bugg. Fresh-faced and minimal in showmanship, the 20-year-old captivated a sparse crowd with his everylad storytelling, not unlike a budding Johnny Cash. While Bugg might seem too young to have a dog in this throwback-fight, it is his youth that makes his perspective powerful.

“Trouble Town” has a rockabilly quality with the cleverly biting opening and closing lyric “Stuck in speed bump city where the only thing that’s pretty is the thought of getting out.” Bugg has the quality of a lovable busker – a Dylanesque troubadour with poetic folk sensibilities and maybe even a little sardonic teenage ennui.

Behind his acoustic guitar he is comfortable and confident. “Lightning Bolt” was an upbeat country-folk number with a small-town swagger that got fans in the front row tapping their feet. His style sounds one part British guitar pop, one part authentic American folk and maybe a pinch of Turner-tongued raconteur. Ultimately his callow-but-promising narratives make him one worth listening to if not for the ambitiously catchy folk-stomps alone.

Photos by Michelle Shiers