Okkervil River & Black Keys

Double feature: like in an old American cinema, the kind where a young Quentin Tarantino used to spend his evenings. Except this time, the double bill on the marquee brings a slice of American indie-rock into the sharp Milanese autumn: the visceral energy of Okkervil River and the feverish blues of Black Keys together in a single show. Two very different souls - one as vividly colourful as the other is granite-solid - but an equal expressive energy, squeezed into a necessarily limited timeframe, with all the inevitable drawbacks of a pairing that feels more accidental than intentional.

Will Sheff and co. wasted no time greeting the packed floor of Magazzini Generali, opening with the glittering melody of "Plus Ones" and the bubbling rhythm of "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene", before plunging almost without a breath into the ever-overwhelming blaze of "Black". The set is dominated by songs from the last two albums, favouring bright, heated tones over light-and-shade nuance: the urgent tension of the "Black Sheep Boy" era gives way to a burning desire to pull bodies and souls into the fray. Sheff, as ever in dark suit, tie and white shirt, increasingly seems to embody the physique du rôle of the rocker, diving into the crowd during "The Latest Toughs" and playing up his role as ringleader on "Unless It's Kicks": entirely fitting, given that both "The Stage Names" and "The Stand Ins" are built around the theme of fame's many masks. That game becomes even more overt amid the jittery guitars of "Pop Lie", with Sheff openly playing the part of the "liar who lied in his pop song".

New recruit Lauren Gurgiolo (formerly of Texan outfit Dialtones) swaps guitar for pedal steel on "A Girl In Port", the evening's only concession to more relaxed, enveloping atmospheres, while bassist Patrick Pestorius steps in for departed member Jonathan Meiburg, duetting with Sheff on "Lost Coastlines". Despite a few technical hiccups, the band's sound is as vigorous and powerful as ever, driving the climax of "John Allyn Smith Sails" to erupt forcefully into the borrowed strains of "Sloop John B". The restless drive of "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe" breaks down into an interlude riddled with sharp dissonance, while the guitar lashes of "For Real" whip pitilessly with their need for truth. And the closing celebration of "Unless It's Kicks" wins over even an initially hesitant crowd, one more focused on the Black Keys' Italian debut than on Okkervil River's return.

The decision to pair two such important yet so different bands on the same bill probably made financial sense, but it risks leaving both Okkervil River's and Black Keys' fans unsatisfied. The former (who perhaps only know the Black Keys by name) want their favourites as the night's headliners, while the latter, who had waited a lifetime to see the Ohio duo in Italy, find themselves stuck, for obvious practical reasons, with a mini-set lasting just an hour. So once Okkervil River's performance ends there's a literal changing of the guard in the crowd: the front rows empty out, many people step back, and some, already satisfied, head straight for the exit. Only after a good fifteen minutes does the floor fill up again as it had at the start of the night. The mood takes on that slightly irritating festival feel, where the enthusiastic rub shoulders with the bored.

Better to focus on the music, then. Seeing the Black Keys in Italy is a rare event indeed, and Patrick Carney (drums) and Dan Auerbach (guitar and vocals) seem well aware of it, doing everything they can to give the crowd a red-hot performance. Witnessing this duo's live power is an experience hard to put into words. In this band's music, the American blues tradition comes alive again and shines with its own light. It's not recycling or sterile name-checking - it's as if Auerbach and Carney had absorbed everything they could from their legendary heroes and then spun it back out in a thoroughly personal way (which is why the covers of Richard Berry's "Have Love, Will Travel", Junior Kimbrough's "Everywhere I Go" or Captain Beefheart's "I'm Glad" never feel like flat retreads, but rather heartfelt, fully "internalised" interpretations). From the Jimmy Page-worthy riffage of "I Got Mine" to the Jimi Hendrix Experience-style fiery groove of "Set You Free", in these guys' hands rock's clichés are elevated to the status of classics.

Contrary to expectations, the setlist doesn't favor the band's latest work (“Attack & Release”) but instead digs deep into the duo's past (even a couple of tracks from the little-known debut “The Big Come Up”). The overriding impression is one of greater immediacy. The more recent songs are stripped of producer Danger Mouse's electro-funk trimmings: “Same Old Thing” loses the sixties flutes of the studio version, “Psychotic Girl” sheds its near hip-hop groove to focus on Auerbach's monolithic riffs. Carney pounds the drums like a madman (the cymbals hit the floor more than once, the sticks snap on multiple occasions), eyes closed, wholly absorbed in his own performance: the tight time slot leaves no room for pauses, greetings or unnecessary frills.

The energy of the live show is laid bare in the wrecked state of the two musicians, sweaty and spent, in a way you rarely get to see. The crowd and the fans go wild to the notes of “Your Touch” (from “Magic Potion”), “Girl Is On My Mind” and “10:00 Automatic” (from the Black Keys' masterpiece, “Rubber Factory”), while they seem less engaged during the more meditative moments (the aforementioned covers of Captain Beefheart and Junior Kimbrough), though these are no less accomplished or intense for it. In the end, the only regret is the show's short length and the less-than-stellar acoustics (the bass frequencies sometimes rattle your guts and Auerbach's vocals aren't easy to make out), but looking for other flaws would be splitting hairs.

(25/11/2008)

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