The Black Keys close Pinewood season with fine sold

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Guitarist Dan Auerbach leaned into his amplifiers, generating about 10 seconds of feedback. Drummer Patrick Carney hit the tom-tom a couple of times and The Black Keys were off “I Got Mine,” kicking off a fine show on a perfect evening at Pinewood Bowl on Sunday.

Auerbach and Carney, who’ve been together for more than two decades, revealed their DNA with a back-to-back pairing of covers — the garage rock of The Sonics' version of “Have Love Will Travel” and Junior Kimbrough’s Hill Country blues “Crawling King Snake.”

That mixture could be heard through the night, whether on the soul blues of “Everlasting Light” with Auerbach singing in falsetto, the Stonish rock ’n’ roll of “Lo/Hi” or the terrific glam rocker of “Wild Child,” from last year’s album “Dropout Boogie,” which provided the title of the tour The Black Keys were wrapping up Sunday.

Joined by a second guitar, bass, keyboards and percussion, the duo caught grooves from “Gold on the Ceiling” to “Howlin’ for You,” which had the sold-out crowd of 4,500 singing along at Auerbach’s urging.

The Black Keys ran through 19 songs in about 80 minutes — an average of three or four minutes each, which is how rock 'n' roll and blues should be presented — no meandering, no boring solos, just grooves, hooks and stinging short blasts of impressive guitar.

I believe Sunday’s show was The Black Keys' Lincoln debut. If so, it was worth waiting for.

I’m The Velveteers, the Denver trio that closed out last year’s Lincoln Calling with a set of hammering, high-intensity rock, did the same for 45 minutes opening Sunday’s show.

Guitarist/singer Demi Demitro, who’s a flamboyant performer, was more restrained Sunday. But with her Stooges-style heavy-riffing guitar, she and the two drummers nonetheless stirred things pretty well-crammed onto the front of the Pinewood stage.

Sunday’s concert was the last show of 2023 at Pinewood Bowl. The summerlong concert series that was heavy on August shows couldn’t have ended in better fashion.

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