The Black Keys have turned a heavy time into inspired music.<\/p>\n
The veteran rock duo of singer\/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney is playing The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on Friday night, on their \u201cPeaches \u2019N Kream\u201d tour. The show supports the band\u2019s latest release, \u201cPeaches!,\u201d a collection of obscure blues covers issued last month.<\/p>\n
The album is the follow-up to 2021\u2019s \u201cDelta Kream,\u201d also a covers compilation. The tour borrows from both releases.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeaches!\u201d was created to help Auerbach cope with the illness and passing of his father, Chuck, in April 2025.<\/p>\n
The band had set up a tour of Latin America to open in March 2025. But the previous fall, Chuck had become seriously ill. The elder Auerbach was diagnosed with terminal cancer in January and moved into his son\u2019s house. The upcoming tour was shelved.<\/p>\n
Carney, who has been Auerbach\u2019s partner in The Black Keys for 25 years, felt his friend\u2019s struggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing I know about Dan is he loves to be in the studio,\u201d Carney said in a recent phone chat. \u201cHe loves to have something to do, to work on, and there was nothing for him to do during the day. So I suggested it might be a good idea for us to just go into the studio and record for a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUs\u201d included legendary blues musicians Kenny Brown on guitar and Eric Deaton on bass. Both had played on \u201cDelta Kream.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just brought in the same dudes that we played with on \u2018Delta Kream,\u2019 because we had a list of songs that we wanted to record, and we\u2019d done a session with those guys like a year and a half earlier,\u201d Carney said. \u201cIt just seemed like the right kind of creative project to pursue at the time, because there was no writing involved. It was just channeling music, having fun in the studio, basically noncritical thinking so Dan could just shut it off and go home to be with his dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018It was very heavy\u2019<\/p>\n
The album has an unvarnished blues sound, which Chuck Auerbach preferred. Dan\u2019s father was an icon in the band\u2019s native Akron, Ohio, an antique and folk art dealer who loved music and was deeply proud of The Black Keys\u2019 success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very heavy. Dan was really going through it,\u201d Carney said. \u201cBut you know, he was definitely very engaged in his sessions and wanted to do it. I think it was very good for him. So we did these recordings, and then his dad passed away, I think 10 days later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The album kicks off with \u201cWhere There\u2019s Smoke, There\u2019s Fire,\u201d by Willie Gibbons, which captured Auerbach\u2019s mood. As he said in an interview with NPR, \u201cI think that the song \u2014 just the recording, the original recording \u2014 is just kind of haunting and spooky and weird and maniacally out of tune. And I just remember, the first time I heard it, it kind of blew me away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The duo had thought of calling the new album \u201cDelta Kream Part 2,\u201d the second in a series, for all the reimagined covers. Then Carney found a photo by William Eggleston, famous for his vivid, color images of the South. The band had also used an Eggleston photo for \u201cDelta Kream,\u201d a shot of a burger stand in Tunica, Mississippi, in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
The shot chosen for the new album depicts a fruit stand, the sign \u201cPeaches!\u201d shouting from the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no thinking about that,\u201d Auerbach said in a social media post about the new album. \u201cIt just named itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Having a blast\u2019<\/p>\n
Carney says the ongoing tour, which includes guitar great Jimbo Mathis from Squirrel Nut Zippers, has been especially rewarding.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusically, I think it\u2019s the best tour we\u2019ve ever done. I mean, we\u2019ve been having a blast,\u201d the 46-year-old Carney said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been changing the set list a lot every night, and you know, we have Jimbo Mathis, who also played on \u2018Peaches!,\u2019 and I\u2019m such a huge fan. Just being in a room with him and being around his energy is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though malleable, the set is anchored by the duo\u2019s best-known songs, among them \u201cWild Child,\u201d \u201cGold on the Ceiling\u201d and \u201cLonely Boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latter song has featured prominently in The Black Keys\u2019 Las Vegas history. Auerbach and Carney summoned \u201cBig Wayne\u201d \u2014 Mr. Las Vegas himself \u2014 to join them in that song during the 2019 Life is Beautiful festival in downtown Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
As Wayne Newton famously said of that performance, \u201cThe crowd went ape!\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney let out a laugh at the memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s one of the highlights of our performing career,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Katsilometes\u2019 column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com.<\/a> Follow @johnnykats<\/a>on X, @JohnnyKats1<\/a> on Instagram. <\/p>\n \t\t\t