The Black Keys, Modest Mouse -- Main Event Energy

By Connor Norris.

November 5, 2019.

Shannon and the Clams/Modest Mouse/The Black Keys.

BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida.

I’ll begin my writing today discussing beginnings, and moreover, first impressions. When you’re meeting your significant other’s parents, it’s an important moment. In music, it’s crucial. It’s make-or-break, it’s cutthroat, and it’s sink or swim. Back in those glory days where people would play vinyl records on a record-player, an artist was given more freedom and room for error when it came to beginnings of songs. You could doodle, or have a weak hook until the chorus revived the song. People had patience. A common mistake that current artists make is assuming that people still have this patience. The short answer is that they don’t. Tapping the skip button on streaming services is much easier (and that’s an understatement) than getting up, lifting the needle off of a record, putting that one record away, selecting a new one, and putting the needle on that one. Having a weak intro is like having a limp handshake… and, generally, good doesn’t follow bad. Of course there are masterpieces that start off slow and somber, but if an artist is looking for efficiency when it comes to plays and streams, they should take the smarter route rather than the road taken more often (starting slow.) Start off the song with a bang, and take it from there. Do as good salespeople do… Captivate your audience before they walk away. As Alec Baldwin said in the timeless Glengarry Glen Ross, “Guy doesn’t walk on the lot ‘less he wants to buy. They’re sitting out there waiting to give you their money. Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it?” Listeners want content. They want hooks. They want hits. They want something they can hum, something they can turn up. So why are you trying to give them cat food? Give them something they’ll believe in from the start… Because as seconds pass, you’re only losing the audience if you aren’t gaining them.

The same goes for live shows… This proves to be the same case because, after all, a band is only playing the songs they put out on streaming. Many bands have figured this out and play loud and loose during live shows, contrary to their recorded material. Exhibit A: All of Sturgill Simpson’s records before this latest one, Sound and Fury. Sturgill Simpson’s first three albums are comfortably listed as country, and rightfully so. The records predominantly include an acoustic guitar and his fitting country vocals. Simpson’s guitar playing was not showcased in the slightest on his records, because he focused mostly on songwriting and production of the songs. Those who never saw him live, but only listened to his records would think nothing more of his guitar-playing ability than that of, say, Bob Dylan (not a bad thing… just not impressive.) But I was fortunate enough to see Simpson open for Guns N’ Roses back in August of 2017, and I can confirm that anyone who has seen Sturgill perform live discovers what the records leave out when the man begins to play the guitar. The guy shreds. And it is impressive. And it poses the question: why leave that out of the albums? I suppose that Sturgill figured that he had secured his fanbase enough by his fourth album that he would have some fun… And in this state of mind, he ditched the acoustic guitar and made a rock album in Sound and Fury. And within the first minute of the album, it is easy to hear the loud and loose nature of the band that the artist brings to his live shows. He most likely made this record because he was bored of the other stuff, because… well… the other stuff can get boring. And in the same way that playing such music can get boring, listening to it gets boring too. Listeners want to hear a BANG. And even if they don’t, pure curiosity will lead them to listen to more. My school band teacher (mind you, a director of symphonic winds) tells his students that it’s not what you play, it’s how you play. And in technical and classical terms, this means crescendos and accents and such… But more realistically (and lucrative if we’re being real here), it means feel and distortion and effects and all things that are good. All things that are different.

So when one is opening up for a band (especially opening up for a band like the Black Keys), one should keep this in mind… because if you find yourself as the opener act for such a band, you already know your audience. It would be in a band’s favor to preach to the choir here. Or you can have opener act energy… and then you’re not really going anywhere.

Opener act energy is being background noise. It’s being… the opener… and nothing else. It’s not making a real contribution to the show nor the audience’s experience. So why in the world would one want to have opener energy? The point can be made that the minimal amount of audience members in the crowd for the opening band can be discouraging to that opening band. But there comes a time where an artist or a band must ignore the feedback of the crowd and play every show like it is their last. Of course it is easier to play a good show when the crowd is into it (and clapping after every song), but one is never going to get there if they’re sour when no one shows up to the opening act. Opening for a massive band -- such as the Black Keys -- is such a massive opportunity, but it’s so easy to squander it by playing to yourself and not to the audience.

But I’ll say it again: when a band is opening up for the Black Keys, they know who they are opening up for, and they know who the audience will be. By the time the opening band is onstage and into their set, the concourse/food and drink area is already packed with fans either at the merchandise station, getting food, or just talking before the show starts. Going back to knowing your audience… Opening for the Black Keys will tell you that these people are interested in a down and dirty, loud sound (or at least the real Black Keys fans are… not the fools that like 3 songs off of Brothers and Turn Blue.) So if the opener turns the amps up to 11, and if the audience hears a metaphorical bomb go off inside the arena when the opener begins playing… their ears will perk up. “Maybe it’s the main act.” And when they’re already inside the arena to see if it is the main act, they’ll get drawn in to sit in their seats until the main act does come on.

And I do not mean to imply that in order to draw an audience, you must be a rock act. This is not true. But in order to make it big, you have to make it big. Whatever you’re doing, sell it. Turn it up. Play, sing, act, perform your heart out… Because this can only bring a positive reaction. A limp effort brings limp reactions. At a show, an artist is trying to provoke emotion. Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds once said that he’d rather people hate his music than feel indifferent about it. And, admittingly, I am not a huge fan of Imagine Dragons, but I agree wholeheartedly with what he said. An artist is trying to make the audience feel something. In order to make someone else feel something… well… you have to do something. Specifically something people have never seen before. Because watching a movie you’ve already seen is great and all… but you’re not going to recommend that re-watched movie to a friend. Because your friend has already seen that movie too. But when you see a new movie, and it kills, what’s better than playing Paul Revere with your new discovery? And isn’t this an artist’s objective after all? They (generally) want people to like what they put out, because from that, they make money. And no matter how artistically focused and minimalist you are, everyone, at the end of the day, is trying to make money.

On November 5, 2019, The Black Keys headlined BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, with special guest Modest Mouse. The opener, Shannon and the Clams, was not listed on the bill.

The doors opened at 7:00 pm, and by then, there were crowds full of people in the concourse eating, drinking, and standing in line for band merchandise. Since there was no opening band listed on the bill, no one knew there was to be an opener inside the arena. After 7:00, people in the concourse still had no way of knowing there as an opener act… and this was the problem with the opening act. I walked through the drapes and into the broadview of the arena, and saw wayyy down on the stage a band of 4 people. And they were playing qui-et. The guitar was lathered in reverb, and the sound was waxed clean and spotless. One can make something out of a very clean tone. But it was simply bar chords. And the drums were as simple as the guitar: closed high-hat staccatos and snare drum hits. The highlight of their set was -- fitting to the name -- Shannon. Shannon Shaw illuminates the band with her dirty vocals and bass-playing. I wouldn’t expect such a rockstar of a character to be playing with such a band, and I hate to see such a talent go unrecognized, because she is greater a part than the whole. She sings with the grit and fearlessness of Janis Joplin and Elle King, and she plays the bass guitar like Lemmy. Kilmister. She strums the bass guitar. And With such an individual description, it’s hard to mess up such a dynamic. With this talent, it would seem easy. Just give the ball the Shannon and let her run with it. Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys recognized the talent in Shannon Shaw when he signed her to his record label, Easy Eye Sound. Yet, on stage, she drowns in the sound of the rest of her band, a surf-rock band that according to a reviewer at Punknews.org, has “sound of a prom band in 1964.” The band played their set, thanked the crowd, and walked off stage. There was no climax in their show.

Lines of people shuffled into their seats to catch Modest Mouse’s set that began at around 8:00. Modest Mouse presented a large step up from the opening act. Most of all factors, Modest Mouse was loud. When they came on stage, everybody in the arena could hear it. And that’s why they were and are primetime. They didn’t have opening band energy. It was a Modest Mouse show to them, and they played like it. Their lead singer and guitarist Isaac Brock brings the band their unique sound. The way that he sings, especially at live shows, makes the lyrics of the songs nearly indecipherable. His style of singing consists of meticulously selected accents on specific syllables of specific words to make it impossible to confuse Modest Mouse’s sound

with any other band. And Isaac Brock sells his act. There’s no hesitation when it comes to what he is singing or playing, and he plays hard. If he was to make a mistake, he was going to do it hard. And that’s the attitude that one must have to do virtually anything well and to make anything their own. Modest Mouse was loud, and they played their own show. Songs like “Bury Me With It” and “This Devil’s Workday” presented the audience with confused, distorted jams, and the latter half of the show had Brock on a banjo, treated more like an electric guitar.

Everybody in the audience was happy to see Modest Mouse, and their presence added value to the concert. When they were done with their set, the audience settled in for The Black Keys. The roadies moved quickly to set up Dan Auerbach’s impressively vintage rig, including speakers that look like they come from before WWII. On the opposite side of the stage, Patrick Carney’s drum set stuck out with rainbow stripes on the outside of the drums and pink bubble letters spelling out “The Black Keys” on his bass drum. The roadies who were tuning up Auerbach’s guitars brought out impressive equipment, further exciting the music gear nerds in the crowd.

Patrick Carney strutted out onto stage first, drum sticks in hand, and he was followed by the band’s 3 backing musicians, including 2 rhythm guitarists and a bassist. Lastly, Auerbach walked onto the stage and the crowd went wild.

The band opened up with an older blues number of theirs, “I Got Mine.” But regardless of what they played first, last, or 24th, they had main event energy. They played loud and they played to the audience. The band played according to their setlist, but they improvised on each song. Although the band played with backup performers, Auerbach and Carney riffed off of each other, maximizing the energy onstage. The band gave the people something that they didn’t already have, and that’s what matters.

I realized the proliferation of the Black Keys as they played hit after hit as the night went on. And when the band walked off stage before the encore, I found myself guessing what they could possibly play for the 2-3 songs to close the night out. They finished the show by playing “Lo/Hi,” “Go,” and “She’s Long Gone” alongside a massive inflatable electric chair to accompany them onstage. They left out hits like “Weight of Love,” “Gotta Get Away,” and “Psychotic Girl.”

The Black Keys, although their come-up was long and arduous, played throughout their career with main event energy. And they made it big, because imagine playing after the Black Keys opened up for you. When it is hard for a band to wow the crowd after their opener, it leaves promoters and managers no choice but to propel the opening act to the bigger stage.

It’s just Darwinism.