The Black Keys have given their first interview since cancelling their 2024 tour and the subsequent separation from their management company.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney look back on the decision to fire Full Stop Management, a company chaired by industry veteran Irving Azoff, citing apparent "shared interests" between different arms of the business.
"Dan and I have a pretty good grasp on the music industry," says Carney, "but to be exposed firsthand to how things have changed, it was pretty shocking to understand what’s actually going on.
"It’s mind-blowing. And there’s just a lot of shared interests across the business side of this."
Carney goes on to say that the band's 2024 European tour was poorly orchestrated, with management demands to fulfil a booking at Manchester’s Co-Op Live (co-owned by Oak View Group, another Azoff company), leaving the band with just nine dates in three weeks after the venue's opening was delayed due to much-publicised technical issues. The band were originally scheduled to play in Manchester on April 27, but weren't able to perform until May 15.
"The essential thing that we learned here was how many management companies are directly connected to a company that runs every single aspect of promotion in this country," he says. "This whole industry is so intertwined from ticketing to promotion to the management company.
"But essentially as artists – and this is the thing that we care the most about – it’s almost impossible to talk about this…. You’re dealing with management companies that co-own festivals with this other company. You’re at the [whims] of these people who have other interests."
The interview coincides with the release of a new Black Keys single, The Night Before, which was co-written with Silver Seas frontman Daniel Tashian.
"It’s so groove-based, says Dan Auerbach. "The Night Before started with a chord progression that Daniel and I came up with and the rest just fell out. It was really collaborative and all came together in about 30 minutes.”
"We’ve never really worked with songwriters like that in Nashville," says Carney. "It’s crazy because Daniel was one of the first people I met when I moved to town over a decade ago. But we pushed ourselves to bring in some new co-writers, and we really tapped into something cool with Daniel. We’re finishing up the album now and plan to release more tracks leading into the tour."
Earlier this month, The Black Keysa announced the No Rain No Flowers tour, which kicks off in Durant, OK on May 23 at the Choctaw Casino & Resort's Grand Theater. The tour arrives in Europe in late June. Full dates below.
The Black Keys: No Rain No Flowers tour 2025
May 23: Durant Choctaw Casino & Resort Durant: Grand Theater, OK
May 25: Colorado Springs Ford Amphitheater, CO *
May 27: Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre, CO *
May 29: Bonner Kettlehouse Amphitheater, MT *
May 30: Boise Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden, ID *
May 31: Bend Hayden Homes Amphitheater, OR *
Jun 01: Berkeley Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley, CA ^
Jun 03: Los Angeles The Greek Theatre, CA ^
Jun 07: Austin Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park, TX ^
Jun 08: Rogers Walmart AMP, AR ^
Jun 11: Wilmington Live Oak Bank Pavilion, NC ^
Jun 12: Raleigh Red Hat Amphitheater, NC ^
Jun 14: Asbury Park Stone Pony Summer Stage, NJ ^
Jun 26: Odense Tinderbox, Denmark
Jun 29: Esch-Sur-Alzette Rockhal, Luxembourg
Jul 01: Berlin Zitadelle Spandau, Germany
Jul 02: Zurich The Hall, Switzerland
Jul 04: Marmande Garorock, France
Jul 05: Beauregard Festival France
Jul 06: La Nuit De L’Erdre, France
Jul 08: Leeds Millennium Square, UK
Jul 09: Manchester Castlefield Bowl, UK
Jul 11: London Alexandra Palace Park, UK
Jul 12: Cactus Festival, Belgium
Jul 13: Bospop Festival, Holland
Jul 15: AMA Music Festival, Italy
Jul 16: Rock In Roma, Italy
Jul 19: Benicàssim, Spain
* = with Hermanos Gutiérrez
^ = with The Heavy Heavy
