Like many artists on the 2025 Innings Festival bill, The Black Keys kicked off their year at the Tempe, Arizona, music festival.
And if their Right Field stage performance on Friday, February 21, was spring training for the Akron, Ohio, rockers, a jam-packed regular season lies ahead.
After canceling their 2024 arena tour, the duo of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums) will perform 33 concerts across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and more European countries over the next several months.
“Just feels really good to be here tonight,” Auerbach told the Arizona crowd.
Their Tempe set featured an array of their familiar bluesy and groovy hits, along with covers of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Gladys Knight & the Pips (or, as SWOMP recalls, The California Raisins’ version) and a rendition of “Have Love Will Travel” by Richard Berry & The Pharaohs.
During ‘Howlin’ For You,’ after singing the baseball-themed lyrics—’Throw the ball to the stick; swing and miss, and a catcher’s mitt—strike two’—Auerbach engaged the crowd.
“Come on Innings, sing it with us,” the front man encouraged.
The Black Keys have long been a part of SWOMP’s soundtrack, evoking memories of road trips with our daughters, campfires at our trailer, and simply jamming to their tunes at home.
It was great to see them back on stage and doing what they do best.
Here are some photos from their performance by photographer Ismael Quintanilla III:
Follow the band at https://theblackkeys.com/.