Dan Auerbach – MBE & SXSW Preview

When I heard Dan Auerbach was playing Morning Becomes Eclectic on Monday morning -- at the very same time my flight to Austin was departing from LAX -- I nearly cried. His new solo debut “Keep It Hid” is among my favorites of the year so I decided to catch his sold out show at the El Rey last night. Let me tell you, do not miss tomorrow’s performance because if it is even half as good as what I saw, your jaw will hit the floor.

He offered up soulful, bluesy guitar rock with unstoppable riffs that somehow still feels intimate. And every time he thanked the audience last night, I believed him. He was truly thankful and he poured himself out into every song. With his band the Black Keys, Dan and drummer Patrick Carney are masterful in the amount of noise they can cook up as a duo, but his solo songs are more accessible. My showmate Danny thought he sounded like Van Morrison at times while Nic Harcourt has mentioned Neil Young as a comparison.

Last night, Dan had Texas natives Hacienda as his backing band, along with Patrick Hallahan from My Morning Jacket, who felt a bit underused but that’s probably because I know what he is really capable of. He added another layer of percussion while Hacienda’s Jaime Villanueva pounded out the beat. Dan produced Hacienda’s album “Loud is the Night” and it is definitely worth checking out.

In the meantime, tune in at 11am PST to MBE on air and online to check out Dan’s live set or check it out in our archives after the show. Dan will be playing a few shows at SXSW and I’ll try to catch some photo next time around!

RR