The Black Keys and Band of Horses Bring the Dropout Boogie Tour To South Florida – Photos and Feature on The Black Keys concert at the ITHINK Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, FL

After a string of corona-related postponements, Ohio heroes The Black Keys have finally made their triumphant return to the South Florida area, gracing the tip of the state with their first Black Keys live shows since the riotous 2019 Arena tour in support of “Lets Rock!“. This time they’re here visiting the wonderful ITHINK Financial Amphitheater and supporting their most recent album Dropout Boogie, after which this tour is named. They also brought along Band of Horses and Early James to help kick off the concert and get the crowd’s mojo going before Dan and Patrick took the stage.

Early James was the first opener of the night, and the band brought a very unique “Southern Blues” vibe to the audience. Clad in what can only be described as traditional “Alabama Jugband” attire, the young singer-songwriter and his excellent backing band took us for a sonic journey into the murky folk-bluesy sounds of the American South. Playing songs from his albums Singing for My Supper and Strange Time to be Alive, it was hard not to see the incredible talent that this 29 year old brought to the stage, which is probably exactly why Black Keys mastermind Dan Auerbach signed him to his label Easy Eye Sounds. After a few more incredible jams, the band departed to the back while roadies hurried to flip the stage for the next band.

Band of Horses was next up to bat, and by this point the crowd was getting thicker and thicker as the sky darkened to allow for more impressive visuals. As the band appeared on stage, fully covered in green, blue, and purple lights and flanked by a giant banner bearing their name, lead singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell kicked off into the first song, Is There A Ghost. Band of Horses is another group that displays a folkish-Americana style, this time with more of an indie-alternative flavor as opposed to the country-blues stylings of the last band. After playing a few more songs from their most popular album Cease to Begin, they played their last song and the long wait for the main event began.

After what seemed like an eternal wait (and a pretty hilarious intro video featuring the one and only David Cross), the lights dimmed once again and The Black Keys sauntered out onto the stage, bathed in the cheers and applause of the ecstatic crowd. Kicking off with I Got Mine and Howlin’ for You, Dan and Patrick hammered though the opening songs with the ferocity of a metal band and bringing amazing energy to the fans. Surrounded by their backing band, an incredible lighting setup and an enormous LED wall displaying psychedelic visuals behind the band as they performed, the show featured an incredible aural and visual production. Dan Auerbach displayed not only his incredible guitar chops (and mouth-watering collection of six stringed armaments) but also his amazing singing talent, and Patrick Carney brought the beats with aplomb, sitting front and center of the stage behind his colorful drum kit.

After a few more songs including hits Tighten Up and Gold on the Ceiling, the group took a little bit of time from their setlist to slow things down and display their blues chops. Bringing out legendary delta blues slide guitarist Kenny Brown and bassist Eric Deaton, the group played some tracks from their Delta Kream album, which featured covers of famous Hill Country Blues songs that inspired the boys to start the band in the first place. After a few more blues covers, the pace picked back up again, and hits like Lo/Hi, Everlasting Light and Ten Cent Pistol made their appearance before the group took a small encore break. Appearing back into the stage with a killer three song encore performance, the group finished off their time with their biggest song Lonely Boy before once again disappearing into the shadows of the backstage. Overall it was an absolutely amazing concert and I cannot wait for The Black Keys to come back to South Florida once again!