At the moment, mainstream rock ’n’ roll no longer affects the Zeitgeist like it did in previous decades. We’ve had the same cast of rock stars -- Bono, Chris Martin, Dave Grohl -- for what feels like an eternity. And this week’s Billboard Hot 100 looks like any other week this year: Pop stars, rappers, R&B singers, country artists, indie-pop one-hit-wonders and almost no traditional rock stars. (Pop-punkers Fall Out Boy at No. 28 and the insufferable Imagine Dragons at No. 56 are the closest exceptions.)
In terms of exciting and engaging guitar-driven music, 2014 is a bland state of affairs. Recent years past have felt no different.
The Black Keys -- the Ohio garage rock duo that released its eighth album, “Turn Blue,” in May -- are not saviors, but their music is strong, clever and idiosyncratic enough to be an exception. On Thursday night, after an opening set by the multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter St. Vincent, singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney had the Royal Farms Arena crowd fully entranced by its deft brand of muscular blues rock.
The set, which packed in 21 songs total, was effective, efficient and lean. With just a keyboardist and bassist as their backing band, the Keys opened with the stomping “Dead and Gone” from 2011’s “El Camino” to the type of worship only fuzzed-out guitar solos could evoke. Throughout the night, Auerbach was happy to indulge, standing on monitors in front of the stage like a denim-clad Demigod there to supply the riffage. Carney played with the intensity you expect from a drummer sharing the front of the stage with the singer. The crowd was theirs.
Smartly, Auerbach’s posturing was the hammiest aspect of the night. Despite being an arena show, the Keys kept the spectacle to a minimum. An initial circus-curtain backdrop fell after a few songs to reveal a firing squad of white spotlights, but even this felt relatively minor. There was no pyro, no contrived storyline to follow and no somersaulting drum kits. The lack of pomp played well, as the crowd seemed only interested in bopping up and down to the Keys’ deep catalog.
Hits like “Gold on the Ceiling,” with its impossible-to-shake hook, “Lonely Boy” and the whistlefest “Tighten Up” received the biggest pops, but the crowd remained enthralled during album cuts such as “Next Girl” (from 2010’s “Brothers”) and the excellent ‘60s-pop-inspired track from “Turn Blue,” “Gotta Get Away.” The acoustic singalong closer “Little Black Submarines” ended the night on a nicely understated note, but the highlight was a soaring rendition of “Nova Baby,” a bar-band-anthem with enough swing and groove to feel cathartically soulful.
The Black Keys are not incredibly original, but they avoid facsimile because they subtly pull from other influences, like blues, funk and R&B. (Consistently working with the eclectic producer Danger Mouse since 2008’s “Attack & Release” likely plays a significant role.) More importantly, it’s their execution, ability to pen earworm-heavy tunes and general off-the-cuff coolness in the face of rock’s stale cornball factory that make them a successful band today. On Thursday, the Black Keys made mainstream rock feel less like a stagnant, niche genre and more like a vital, influential force, which given the current climate, might have been the night’s most impressive accomplishment.