The Black Keys: Live at the Crystal Ballroom (2008)

• 62%
• 2008
• Music
• Lance Bangs

The Black Keys' new concert DVD, Live at the Crystal Ballroom, reflects the no-frills genius of the drums-and-guitar duo's studio sound: It's a refreshingly straightforward video document of their April 4, 2008 sold-out gig at Portland, Oregon's Crystal Ballroom, featuring seventeen songs culled from all five of the pair's albums. Director Lance Bangs - who has made videos for the Arcade Fire, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sonic Youth as well as directing R.E.M.'s Road Movie - keeps his small camera crew focused on the stage, getting up close and sweaty with guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. Occasionally, he'll pull back to acknowledge the head-bobbing crowd pressed close to the stage, their hands reaching out to Auerbach. There are no visual pyrotechnics, no elaborate editing, no backstage cutaways, yet the show is riveting from start to finish and the feel of the music in that room is nothing less than triumphant.