Saturday 30/10/04 The Black Keys, The Archie Bronson Outfit @ The Cockpit, Leeds

The Blues has come along way since the cotton pickin’ days of 1930’s America.  The Archie Bronson Outfit; three well-spoken, beardy white boys from the deep south of England, are amongst the post-White Stripes brigade dragging the art form screamin’ and a-hollerin’ into the Twenty-First Century.  They’re great too, setting Jack White’s histrionic yelp to a churning bass-driven backdrop.  There’s a dark intensity at work here that belies their unassuming stage presence, and goes to show that even posh English boys know about the nature of human suffering, man.

Though the support are an altogether more intriguing prospect, tonight’s headliners, Ohio two-piece college dropouts The Black Keys, prove that the Yanks still have a slight edge when it comes to stripped-down, amped-up blues rawk.  In keeping with national stereotypes, Archie and his outfit are reserved and edgy where their stateside counterparts are confident and relaxed. From the moment singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach strolls onstage, already noodling away on his guitar with an air of slack charisma, it is clear that the Leeds crowd are begging to be worked up into a frenzy of testosterone soaked retro rock action.  Indie fashionistas are largely absent from the Cockpit tonight.  In their place is a contingent of ageing rockers, whose appreciation for a good honest rock-out no doubt contributes to the fantastic atmosphere.