This past weekend I saw the Black Keys in concert. No, this isn’t a concert review. I’m not telling you all about the show that’s done and over with, and no matter how good I make it sound, you’re unable to attend. This is just a good jumping-off point, telling you of my weekend’s happenings.
When the show was announced around Christmastime, I was shocked to hear they were playing at Joe Louis Arena. I know “El Camino” was a pretty popular album and all, but come on, Joe Louis? What would a two-piece, bluesy band do at an arena? Those venues are reserved for sell out bands and huge stage shows. Not the Black Keys. I bought tickets anyway, despite my disdain.
Everyone knows people like this. People who think of Pitchfork as their personal bible, who refuse to listen to any bands that are played on the radio and looks down upon people who do. These people are known as music elitists. Music elitists hate when bands they claim to love “get big” even if it means having a single played on the radio instead of only being heard on Spotify.
That little music elitist in me made its appearance for the first time in years when this show was announced. Back in the day, it wasn’t rare to hear myself mutter the words “I saw them when they were still openers,” or “I saw them when they were still playing at the Magic Stick” with a scoff.
I’ve grown out of this and learned to enjoy whatever music I like, whether they’re popular or not. Because really, why do musicians get into the business? Sure, they enjoy making music, but would many bands turn down the opportunity to go on an arena tour and start raking in the big bucks? Probably not.
It actually made me quite happy at the Black Keys show to see how many people were singing along and filling up the stadium. Even though I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when the crowd screamed as soon as the first couple notes of “Tighten Up” were played, the two geeky guys from Akron, Ohio had finally made it, after 10 years in the business. They have the talent that’s deserving of success, unlike a lot of stadium performers (cough, cough, Ke$ha?) and they still haven’t seemed to have adjusted to the size difference of their tour.
Singer Dan Auerbach was quietly talking into the microphone, as opposed to shouting into it, trying to get the audience hyped up. The effects weren’t over the top and for an arena, it was pretty low-key.
Something that stood out the most to me watching the Black Keys, was how appreciative they seemed of their fans. Throughout the performance, they’d thank the crowd, humbly and continue on with the show. It wasn’t a big production like Lady Gaga tends to have when addressing her “Little Monsters,” just a genuine “thanks for coming out, and here’s another new song.”
It’s musicians like this who deserve big-time success. It’s unfortunate that bands like this who have a different sound and don’t break out into the mainstream right away, like Vampire Weekend or the Black Keys, also seem to attract those music elitist fans that condemn them for being successful. We should stop doing that.
If we love the band like we say we do, don’t we want the best for them? Don’t we want them to gain the popularity they’ve been working so hard for? Don’t we want them to feel like the music they’ve been making has been reaching as many people as possible? Then let’s stop hating when a good band makes it big. In most cases, it’s completely called for.
Sure, the band might lose some hipster-cred when they sign to a major label and start to be considered “mainstream,” but I highly doubt they have a problem with that. Heck, most people take offense to the term “hipster” anyway.
