Concert Review: The Black Keys @ Wells Fargo Center

From The Key

The Black Keys were born in a basement and have since evolved into one of the 21st century’s defining sounds. Their aesthetic, a unique tone developed with the help of none other than Danger Mouse, is unparalleled. And while you may know them by one of their countless hits from their 3 consecutive top-five albums over the past 5 years, their catalogue is extensive and the quality of songwriting hasn’t dared falter since the group’s inception in 2001. Frontman Dan Auerbach’s voice couldn’t be more soulful, his guitar playing more skilled, and we might as well go ahead and call Patrick Carney the epitome of hard-hitting indie-rock drums. All of this is to say that you’d expect a damn good show from this celebrated rock duo, and that’s just what Philly got.

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Concert Review: Yes @ The Tower Theater

From The Key

Epic (adj): heroic or grand in scale or character. It is perhaps one of the most over- and misused words in the English language. Yeah, that grilled cheese may have been tasty, but it wasn’t quite as monumental as Odysseus. But I’ll tell you what was epic: English prog-rock legends Yes’ concert at the Tower Theater. It would have been easy to doubt a group whose 46 years together do not by any means belie them, not to mention that founding singer and frontman Jon Anderson left the group in 2008. I don’t think Yes cared about these things. When you’re the band that played the most attended festival-style show in United States history here in Philly (the “Spirit Of Summer ’76” show at JFK Stadium on June 12, 1976 for 130,000 fans), a few grey hairs (or more precisely, a full head of white ones, but who’s counting?) aren’t going to get in the way of putting on a show of, that’s right, epic proportions.

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