The Black Keys at Hammersmith Apollo

For a while, it was starting to feel like the Black Keys had moved away from the dirty, raw sound that came to define their early work, but seeing them live in 2026 more than dispels this notion.

The Ohio pair kicked off the UK leg of their Peaches ‘N’ Kream tour with three sold-out shows in London, closing out the summer with a scorcher at the Hammersmith Apollo.

With nearly three decades and 14 albums’ worth of work under their belt, the setlist is not so easy to predict, as there’s ample space for mixing it up with deep cuts alongside the crowd-pleasers.

And this is exactly what happens, as the show opens up with Heavy Soul, a treat for the day-ones from their debut The Big Come Up. With the crowd adequately warmed up, Auerbach and Carney move into more familiar territory with Gold on the Ceiling, which has the entire venue singing along.

Brothers, their 2012 album led by heavier riffs and distortion, dominates the setlist, with Everlasting Light, Tighten Up and Howlin’ for You appearing early on in the night, much to the delight of the audience. Auerbach, who seems to be switching guitars every other song, finds space for some lingering solos over Next Girl and Weight of Love.

In the great tradition of white bands owing much of their success to covers of Black music, the Black Keys are up there with the best of them, but what sets them apart is the reverence with which they approach the artists that inspire them; their work has been dotted with covers, like their scuzzy rendition of Have Love, Will Travel that makes an appearance on the night’s setlist, and gets the crowd dancing. They also play Willie Griffin’s Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire and Earl Hooker’s You Got to Lose, both from their latest record Peaches!, but the real surprise is a flawless cover of the Stooges’s I Wanna Be Your Dog.

She’s Long Gone closes out the main set before the encore, and Auerbach introduces the backing band, Carney and himself, before they walk off.

For the much-anticipated encore, this reviewer is treated to Little Black Submarines, which was made for the occasion. The acoustic first section lingers, building up anticipation for the second part, where Carney crashes through the haze for the perfect 70s sendoff. They bid the audience farewell with the much-loved hit Lonely Boy, which the audience join in for.

Though it feels like it would be hard to translate the more intimate feel of their early work onto a stage of this size, the fact all three London shows are sold out is saying something. Peaches! is a long-overdue return to the Black Keys we know and love, and seeing them on stage is a reminder of the red-hot, molten core of rock’n’roll that fuelled them in the first place. They’re doing it for the love of the game.

Antigoni Pitta
Photos: Miguel de Melo

For further information and future events, visit The Black Keys’s website here.

Watch the video for She Does It Right here: