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
London four piece Keo are on course to land their first UK Number 1 album with Put A Smile On For Me. After building a loyal audience over the past two years, the London band now lead this week’s Official Albums Chart update. Their debut record explores love, guilt, and self destruction.
Nothing But Thieves are close behind at Number 2 with their fifth album, Stray Dogs. The Southend band are hoping for a second straight Number 1 after Dead Club City reached the top in 2023. Taylor Swift is at Number 3 with The Life Of A Showgirl, helped by the expanded The Encore edition. Olivia Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In sits at Number 4, while Soft Cell’s Danceteria opens at Number 5. It is the synth pop duo’s final album together following Dave Ball’s death last year.
Europe could reach Number 9 with Come This Madness, giving the Swedish rock band its first UK Top 10 album in four decades. A 30th anniversary reissue of Alice In Chains’ MTV Unplugged is at Number 13 in the midweek update, with Orbital’s Glastonbury 1994 set at Number 14. Julia Jacklin is heading for her first Top 40 album as The Gem reaches Number 18, while Suede’s Coming Up returns at Number 23 after its 30th anniversary physical release.
Also on track for Top 40 places are Nessa Barrett’s Tough Love at Number 29, the companion soundtrack to LINKIN PARK: UNSHATTER at Number 30, and Dublin band Gurriers’ Nobody’s Coming To Save You at Number 31. Blondshell, Kneecap, Tina Turner, and Leon Bridges also appear in the lower half of the midweek chart.
The official positions will be announced when the final Albums Chart is published on Friday.
