Regular readers know that The Black Keys and Dr. Dog are both Stranger Dance favorites, so we were pretty excited that the good people at Converse hooked us up with tickets to the final installment of their Converse Century Concert Series. [Review and photos after jump.]

Click on photos to enlarge:

All photos courtesy of Laura Ciekot

I should start with a few disclaimers. First, I’ve always passively liked the Black Keys, but never dived too deep into their catalog. Second, while I’m impressed with two-piece bands, I’m always struck by the thought that it’s a novelty and that adding at least a bass would improve the sound.

Having said all that, I was pretty blown away with the Black Keys’ show. I kept asking myself throughout the show whether a bass, keys or anything else would add anything, and each time, the answer was no. Unlike with Jack White (of the other big blues duo, The White Stripes), Dan Auerbach’s sound is a lot “bigger” with booming bass and fully fleshed out middle. He also seemed more committed to playing rhythm guitar, constantly chunking out meaty chords that glued each song together. He’s also the only person I’ve ever heard make a Rickenbacker (think Byrds and Tom Petty) sound mean.

Patrick Carney’s drumming also compares interestingly to The White Stripes. Where Meg White is a totally no-frills drummer, banging out straight-forward 4/4 beats on every single song, Carney seemed intent on syncopating everything possible – almost every backbeat was deep in the pocket. Especially considering his bare-bones kit, I was amazed at how much attention I was paying to a drummer (normally the last instrument I pay attention to).

Dr. Dog’s albums have been getting a lot of play around these parts and we caught their great set at Treasure Island back in September. As impressed as we were with that show, they really stepped it up last night. It was great to see them on a bigger stage (with proper sound).

For those not familiar, Dr. Dog’s sound is heavily indebted to a wide spectrum of ’60s music. While not aping any one artist or sound, they mash together seemingly disparate influences – Beatles, Beach Boys and the Band are the most obvious – into a sound all their own.

They put on a great, high-energy show, mixing in new and older songs. It’s always interesting to watch bands with multiple lead singers, as it can be challenging to find a balance of sound and style. Bands that make this work (notably the three previously mentioned influences) have a synergy that one singer alone can’t provide. Dr. Dog mostly uses their multiple-singer for the best, with two very different singers that allow for a wide range of sounds and styles – with bassist Toby Leaman’s (aka Tables) Lennon-esque shouts (and Tyrannosaurus Rex stomp) balancing out Scott McMicken’s (aka Taxi) lighter approach.

All in all, both bands put on great shows and I’d highly recommend checking out both of them whenever you can.

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