The Black Keys Hit Rothbury With Powerful Set of Grizzled Blues Rock

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Akron, Ohio duo the Black Keys delivered an hour-long set of bluesy rockers that were every bit as grizzled as frontman Dan Auerbach's increasingly bushy beard. A rowdy "Set You Free" found drummer Patrick Carney pummeling his kit like a back-alley brawler finishing off an over-matched opponent; "Strange Times" veered between spacey psychedelia and whale calls of feedback; a cover of Captain Beefheart's "I'm Glad" — all chiming guitar and heartfelt vocals — proved a lone tender moment. Still, Auerbach seemed struck by the crowd's mellow nature. "We should go for a record today," he offered near the set's midpoint. "World's Most Peaceful Mosh Pit. Can we do it?"

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Song Stories

“Karma Chameleon”

Culture Club | 1983

Boy George has said this song was about standing by what you believe in. However, at the time, he was involved in a secret affair with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. "Now people can understand the songs better," he said. "They were written about my relationship with Jon, and they were also written about being a gay man in a homophobic world." The lines "If I listen to your lies, would you say/I'm a man without conviction/I'm a man who doesn't know how to sell a contradiction," described his life at the time, he said. "I was selling this big lie."

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