Dan Auerbach – Live @ Newport Music Hall

The ratio of one gal for every eight guys at Dan Auerbach’s tour kick-off show reminded me a little of the ratio you might find at a strip club or a Babylon 5 convention. In spite of the bad taste in my mouth, Auerbach’s performance gave me everything I wanted and more – just like his debut Keep it Hid. I don’t think I can continue with this review before giving proper attention to one of the year’s most focused and consistently solid albums; proof that a journey of the soul cut analog on tape today can be as sincere as one recorded 60 years ago.

I should also state the obvious: this is not The Black Keys. There, I said it. Keep It Hid drifts effortlessly through the historical legacy of blues rock, single-handedly touching on a more diverse collection of music in one record than The Black Keys have in their five LP discography. Dynamically speaking, Auerbach has choreographed an exquisite group of men to bring to life Keep It Hid live, with the night’s set explored the many facets of blues rock. The diversity of sound was captured with an intensity that I wasn’t expecting. Though most of the chilled-out tracks fell victim to a heavier interpretation, he never lost the soulful intensity locked in so well on his debut. Auerbach’s guitar wail took a backseat to his tour mate Dante of The Fast Five, who are originally known as Hacienda.

Hailing from San Antonio, Hacienda stands as the perfect presence bringing Dan Auerbach’s soul sensitive blues rock to audiences across America. Joining Hacienda on drums is Patrick Hallahan, the percussionist from My Morning Jacket, and together they make quite an onslaught of sound, especially explosive once Dan and Dante begin the night’s show with the delicate soul-stirring track “Trouble Weighs a Ton.” To get things in fourth gear, no time was wasted – with a spectra-blast of white blinding light the crackle of bass, guitar and drums arrested my attention like being cut in the spotlight of the cops.

The rest of the show had us drowning under the syrupy, sexy grooves of Fast Five’s pummeling double drum grooves and Auerbach’s guitar flow. Moments of R&B mixed with blues-rock ensued, reminding me of The Who’s live renditions of “Young Man Blues.” “Street Walking,” “Mean Monsoon” and “When I Left the Room” became dirty swaggering cuts. Lurking and lurching along like a sexy beast, these songs walked the thin line of hole in the wall strip club romp and sultry blues made famous by Muddy Waters or Howling Wolf.

On a few occasions the double drummer layout was a bit too much for a song, and Auerbach’s backing sounded a bit like a jumbled racket. Sadly, “Real Desire” fell apart due to the double percussionists; it lacked the album’s dynamic quality that always reminded me of a outtake from The Band’s “Music From the Big Pink.” Van Morrison would be proud of his rendition of “When the Night Comes” and “Whispered Words,” each song became brighter and more intimate than even the takes on Keep It Hid. Under the night sky would have been the only way to have made those songs feel more comforting and eloquent.

The show was a bit of a home court advantage for Dan Auerbach and his opening act Jessica Lea Mayfield. Jessica is from Kent, Ohio (Auerbach is from Akron, Ohio) and from the audience’s reception it sounded as if she was in good company. Mayfield’s songs were wrapped nicely in a beautiful, vulnerable voice but delivered with a bland and dry stillness. Her songs came from the Townes Van Zandt book of country folk, but grew boring due to the poor lyrics and song craft. Overall I felt at her age, she is a better backing vocal than lead songwriter, and her performance was too long and forgettable.

Justin Townes Earle gave the surprise performance of the night, sandwiched between Jessica Lea Mayfield and Dan Auerbach; this Nashville native gave a loose cannon’s wild set. Standing tall in his straight and skinny blue jeans, Justin bounced and hopped in circles around the stage like a trapped mouse dodging a cat’s paw. His solo set was a reinvention of his recent album Midnight at the Movies. All the songs took on a exuberant energy, lone guitar in hand he spiced up each song taking them back to a simpler time of country western.

Although the live takes lacked the steel string twang, drums and other instrumentation they took on a life of their own, with nods to Phil Ochs, Woody Guthrie and Chet Atkins. In a time of growing attention to the old americana folk sound, Justin genuinely captures the passion better than the recent indie (Americana) impostors Andrew Bird and M. Ward. Okay, well, unlike the others, Justin plays tried and true country western folk not “progressive Americana” for the 21st century (Whatever that means, but you understand right?!) Justin Townes Earle seemed to channel the souls of every foot-stomping, rabble-rousing, gypsy/hobo/nomadic folk singer kicking up dirt singing for the blue collar man at the turn of the century.

*Photos by Kate Ann Terry

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