Dan Auerbach
» Grouplove - January 4, 2012
» The Dum Dum Girls - January 3, 2012
The anticipation and feverish-like response to Dan Auerbach’s return to Australia’s shores as a solo entity must have come as a surprise to some people. Having just recently toured as The Black Keys with fellow band member / producer Patrick Carney, Dan Auerbach decided to unleash another aural assault on our sunburnt land. He made the right decision, because arriving at the corner hotel was genuinely full of punters eagerly waiting to kick off their long weekend.
It was definitely one of those nights where one has to carefully navigate there way back to their friends with beers in hand in order to avoid a) spilling beer and having to tell your angry friends, or b) spilling beer on someone much bigger than you who has the potential to put you in a hospital bed for a few days, or c) spilling beer on a leggy brunette who slaps you, then complains to her boyfriend who has the potential to put you in a hospital bed for a few days. All of these eventualities are to be avoided at all costs. Dan ambled out with his band in tow, something which any fan of Dan Auerbach or the Black Keys have rarely had the privilege of seeing. Opening with Trouble Weighs a Ton, we were witness unparalleled vocal versatility by example of his golden harmonies. Followed by I Want Some More, a true understanding of what Auerbach is capable of and where he’s able to venture was reached by the mesmerized audience.
The pulsating and deliciously evil rhythm was further enhanced by the addition of unique rhythmic applications. I feel it’s appropriate to mention here that the George Fisher (Cannibal Corpse vocalist) look-a-like percussionist was using a hitting a crow bar with a pair of pliers. Even though it sounded totally appropriate, how on earth does one come to the realization that the unique sound they are looking for can only be attained by hitting one obscure household tool with another?Although Auerbach’s familiar Black Keys sound resonated familiarity within a number of the songs with the new outfit, it was this brooding primal growl direction that really speaks volumes of his ability to reinvent himself. He has struck that balance between originality and familiarity.
The delightfully catchy My Last Mistake gave the bumbling audience an excuse to dance, and dance they did. Although it didn’t quite reach that peak where you’d use the phrase ‘transcendental rock moment’, it was perfectly fitting to say the least. The thing I enjoy most about Auerbach is his ability to write a song that isn’t wholly predictable. Hearing a few of these songs for the first time, I was captivated at just how wrong I was at the end. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with an element of predictability within the pop stratosphere. It was as though Auerbach would unknowingly promise one thing, and then rather than going straight ahead at a roundabout, he’d opt for the turn slightly left of that. It wasn’t a complete U – turn, yet it was unpredictable nonetheless.
Possibly the best song on the night and on the album (I’m open for criticism here) was the hauntingly brilliant Whispered Words. I’m not quite sure whether it’d work as a single, yet the degree of authenticity with which it was delivered sent shivers down my spine and has thus made it a clear favourite on subsequent listens. The decisively visceral Street Walking is an incarnation of the Iggy and the Stooges classic 1969.Its thunderous toms and hypnotically roaring dirty blues groove drive it until it stops intermittently for Auerbach’s possessed howls. Going Home was a befitting candidate for set closer. Auerbach took the opportunity to step forward and strip everything back to the bare essentials for this lonely, yet warming ditty.
With minimal assistance, he picked away and delighted the audience with sentiments of longing for home and familiarity. This song seemed to resemble the idea of Dan Auerbach’s music as a whole. With minimal fuss and intrusion, he is able to create something much larger than the sum of its parts. In the process of making the music they love, some musicians make the mistake of getting too bogged down with recreating unnecessary aspects of their chosen art form. Auerbach, on the other hand is able to make the music he loves whilst maintaining focus on the soul of his chosen art-form. It’s not so much recreating as it is playing. It’s what he knows. And in understanding this, you realize that there is no ulterior motive here. There is no motivation other than the genuine urge to create something beautiful in a manner he sees fitting.
Witnessing this truly formidable act is enough to prompt even the most loyal of Black Keys Fans to ask for the briefest of seconds, ‘The Black Who???’
