No doubt, one of (or, two of, actually) the best highlights of our trip to Austin last year for the ACL Festival was seeing the Black Keys – twice. They opened for the Arcade Fire at Stubb’s and then were the penultimate set of the festival on Sunday night. They were scorching on that Sunday night and, really, who wants to watch Coldplay after that? Not us. We left.
So I was a little disappointed I missed ’em come through Tempe in September. But once again, NPR saves me by webcasting a show from Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 club on Nov. 5 with the Black Angels. It doesn’t quite match the intensity of seeing Patrick Carney whale away on his drum kit or Dan Auerbach play a furious guitar. But I’ll take it.
NPR offers two downloads for each group’s set, at good-quality 128 kpbs. As I’ve done in the past, I’ve separated the one long file into more digestible parts. (For you nerds out there, the individual mp3s are still at 128 kbps.) Get the original downloads from NPR here.
The Black Keys, NPR Live Concert Series, 11/5/06:
1. Thickfreakness
2. Girl Is On My Mind
3. Just Got to Be
4. Modern Times
5. The Breaks
6. Stack Shot Billy
7. Busted
ADMINISTRATIVE: I’m part of the mass mp3 blogger exodus from the formerly great file host EZarchive, which provided pretty much unlimited bandwidth before recently “upgrading.” I’m hosting files with Dreamhost, which means I’ll be a lot more diligent about cleaning out mp3s after two weeks to keep potential overages at a minimum.
IN SPORTS: Have to mention that Arizona State opens its college hoops season tonight vs. our neighbors up the hill, Northern Arizona. I’m not expecting much from the Sun Devils until first-year coach Herb Sendek (formerly of N.C. State) really gets his recruits in here. Judging by the first batch, which includes Jamelle McMillan (son of Nate), it could be promising. Sendek isn’t the boisterous type, but I think he’ll be good in the long run.While I’m on the topic, what a joy this was. Thank you, Virginia.
Hehe. I left before Coldplay hit the stage at Sasquatch a couple of years ago. Flaming Lips had just made the day seem complete so there was no point waiting 45 minutes for the Coldplay tour crew to relight just so Chris’ piano would look pretty.
How are you liking Dreamhost so far? They seem like a viable option as does Midphase in the wake of all this EZArchive fallout.
Eric,
So far, so good with Dreamhost. Getting used to the uploading process and such. EZarchive made all that pretty, well, um, easy. As a friend mentioned, there’s probably a little more control in terms of organization through a dedicated server host.
Yes, yes, yes… but how do the Lady Devils look this year? I think they’re ranked 12th in pre-season polls. What’s the news, Pikachu?
The Devilettes won again tonight. Ranked No. 11 now. The pride of ASU!
And the Stanford gals lost. I love it.
I noticed your little blurp “Thank You, Virginia”, but show me another top 25 team that had the cajones to go on the road to another team’s new arena and use that team’s referees. Gloat all you want, but every true Arizonan knows about 100 miles south of where you live is where the state’s only respectable college b-ball team is located….
Great site, btw. I’ve been living in Germany for over 5 years now and your blog gives me a little reminder of home every once in a while.
Grendelz,
I agree with you fully. The bad blood in the rivalry, of course, clouds my judgement. But there’s no question that the basketball factory in Tucson is top notch. I just hope Sendek puts up a fight with ASU.
And thanks for the kind words!
Kev,
Thanks for these. Black Keys rock my world.