The Black Keys will play small venues on a three-city U.S. tour this September.
Joshua Black Wilkins*The Black Keys will perform at three intimate theaters in U.S. cities named after foreign cities when the blues-rock duo embarks on their “World Tour” in September. Singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney will play Athens, Georgia; St. Petersburg, Florida; and Oxford, Mississippi.
Carney acknowledged the cheekiness of the idea in a press release on Wednesday. “Dan and I have joked about doing a tour of American cities named after other cities in the world since we were touring together in a van. It feels like now is as good a time as any and we are excited to play in some places we haven’t played in since the early days of the band and for fans that have not had a chance to see us in a while,” he said.
The Black Keys will play a pair of 2,000-capacity rooms (Athens’ Classic Center, St. Petersburg’s Jannus Live) and a 1,000-capacity hall (Oxford’s Lyric). The three shows lead up to the group’s headlining appearance at the 2021 Pilgrimage Festival outside Nashville the weekend of September 25th and 26th (see tickets here).
The “World Tour” gigs will lean on the Keys’ latest album, Delta Kream, a collection of Hill Country blues covers by Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside. “They were so pivotal in our careers, Pat and I. It’s what brought us together. It was the concentric circle, where on the outside, he and I liked totally different things, but in the middle it was Junior and R.L. We could drive down the highway all night and listen to them. It was just endless inspiration for us,” Auerbach told Rolling Stone earlier this summer.
In addition to the tour, the Black Keys have partnered with the Save the Music Foundation, the organization that supports elementary and middle-school music programs. Together they’ll work to bring music education and instruments to schools in Mississippi’s Hill Country.
Tickets for the World Tour go on sale Friday, July 23rd at 10 a.m. local time on the band’s website and Ticketmaster.com. You can also find tickets at VividSeats.com.
The Black Keys’ World Tour Dates:
September 20 — Athens, GA @ The Classic Center
September 21 — St Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
September 23 — Oxford, MS @ The Lyric
The world leader, who has repeatedly faced criticism for featuring songs from artists who do not want their music connected to his political views, shared a viral clip of We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) that focused on the lyric: “Me and my truth we sit in silence.”
The footage shows Trump at a rally while the statement “Men can’t have babies and should never compete in women’s sports” appears on screen.
The Team Trump TikTok account posted the video with the caption: “This shouldn’t be controversial! #trump #arianagrande #maga.”
Ariana responded in a comment that was later removed, saying: “Never use my music again. Also, your truth is false.”
Trump has a well known record of opposing transgender rights, and the US Supreme Court recently ruled that states can prohibit transgender women from taking part in women’s sports. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the justices determined that such laws do not breach Title IX or the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
The decision in June came after several other actions by the Trump administration involving transgender policies. Earlier in May, the Supreme Court also permitted the administration to continue with its “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” order, which would prevent transgender individuals from serving in the US military.
Ariana’s statement arrived soon after Taylor Swift also took steps to stop Trump from using her music on TikTok. Trump had featured a number of her songs in his social media posts, including a video of him and his wife Lady Melania Trump watching fireworks accompanied by August.
The song was later taken off the post and replaced by a notice that read: “This sound isn’t available.”
Trump appeared to deliberately select Taylor’s track, adding the message: “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!”
He also responded to the Team Trump video with: “Mood because it’s August and Donald Trump is your president.”
Other Taylor Swift songs that were removed from Trump’s TikTok content included The Fate of Ophelia and Father Figure.
Trump previously made headlines when he wrote “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on Truth Social after the singer publicly announced that she planned to support Kamala Harris in the previous presidential election.
