concert news

The Black Keys go 'international' on new tour with stop in Houston

The Black Keys are coming to H-Town.

Photo by Larry Niehues

American rock band The Black Keys are bringing Ohio to Texas with their new North American 2024 International Players Tour with a stop at Houston's Toyota Center on Saturday, September 21.

The tour will commence in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Tuesday, September 17 and visit 31 total U.S. cities. The tour will come to an end in Detroit, Michigan on November 12. The Black Keys will stop in two additional Texas cities in September: Austin on September 17 and Dallas on September 20. American indie folk band The Head and the Heart will accompany The Black Keys for the Houston and Austin show dates.

The International Players Tour will cover The Black Keys' new album, Ohio Players, which will debut on Thursday, April 5. The album features collaborations with Grammy Award-winning artist Beck, Oasis lead vocalist Noel Gallagher, and more. The album's lead single, "Beautiful People (Stay High)" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart and AAA Airplay charts.

The tour comes after the rock duo played two exceptional shows at SXSW in Austin, which is where they also debuted their new documentary This is a Film About The Black Keys. The band will also play a brand new live show in Europe.

Founded in Akron, Ohio in 2001 by singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, The Black Keys are one of the most successful rock bands of the 21st Century. Known for hits such as "Lonely Boy," "Howlin' For You," and "Gold on the Ceiling," they're won six Grammy Awards and headlined festivals around the world.

Tickets for the International Players Tour will be available starting with a presale for American Express card members on Tuesday, April 2 through Thursday, April 4 at 10 pm. According to a release, additional presales will run prior to the general on-sale on Friday, April 5 at 10 am. All tickets will be available via livenation.com.

2024 INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS TOUR DATES

September 17 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
September 18 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
September 20 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
September 21 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
September 24 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
September 26 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
September 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum
September 28 – Palm Desert, CA – Acrisure Arena
September 29 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
October 2 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
October 3 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
October 10 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
October 11 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
October 12 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
October 13 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
October 16 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
October 18 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
October 19 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
October 21 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
October 23 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
October 24 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
October 26 – Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse
October 27 – Knoxville, TN – Food City Center
October 30 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
November 1 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
November 2 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
November 3 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
November 7 – Chicago, IL – United Center
November 9 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
November 10 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
November 12 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena

Movie Review

Dakota Fanning-led The Sun Never Sets needs more direction

Photo courtesy of Independent Film Company

Dakota Fanning in The Sun Never Sets.

The movies of writer/director Joe Swanberg have always been an acquired taste, as he prefers to give his actors a loose framework of a story and let them improvise most of their lines to give the films a more natural feel. Sometimes that approach can yield great results, and sometimes — as in The Sun Never Sets — it can result in addled and maddening storytelling.

Wendy (Dakota Fanning) is in her early 30s and at a crossroads in her life. When a friend announces she’s pregnant, she starts to re-evaluate what she wants, including her two-year relationship with the older Jack (Jake Johnson). Although they love each other, their disagreements on having more children and extracurricular activities call their long-term viability into question.

Jack, not wanting Wendy to settle, encourages her to explore her options where they live — Anchorage, Alaska — telling her he’ll be waiting should she strike out. What he doesn’t expect is that Wendy’s ex-boyfriend, Chuck (Cory Michael Smith), has returned to the city, giving her an attractive alternative. The three engage in a love triangle that proves frustrating and confusing for both the participants and the viewers.

What works best about the film is its location in Alaska, which rarely gets showcased in movies, and even more rarely in the way it is here. The story takes place in warmer months, and Swanberg gives his characters multiple opportunities to be outside, showing off Anchorage’s harbor, surrounding mountains, and seemingly vibrant city life. The subtle but effective way Swanberg frames various scenes makes the landscape enormously appealing.

It’s too bad, then, that the story never measures up to its surroundings. Too often Fanning, Johnson, Smith, and others seem to be grasping for their next line, unsure of what they want their character to do or say next. That lets their scenes mimic real conversations, but you might not realize how much you want scripted dialogue until you see actors trying to come up with their own in the moment.

The larger issue is that there’s no consistency from scene to scene about where the plot is heading. The characters of Wendy, Jack, and Chuck are extremely wishy-washy about their desires, with each of them vacillating back-and-forth in just how much they want to be with each other. Depending on your experience, this may or may not be true to life, but watching it is excruciating and not enjoyable or romantic in the slightest.

As actors, Fanning, Johnson, and Smith are talented and interesting, with each capable of connecting with viewers in different ways. But working in improvisation is a different beast, and only Johnson — who has worked with Swanberg multiple times — seems truly at home. A few others, like Debby Ryan and Anna Konkle, do well in the format and maybe deserved bigger parts.

Swanberg has proven in the past that his method of filmmaking can be insightful and entertaining, but that is not the case here. In The Sun Never Sets, his hands-off approach is a detriment to the flow of the film and the story as a whole, resulting in an experience that is far from what most viewers will want to go through.

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The Sun Never Sets is now playing in select theaters.

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Movie Review

Dakota Fanning-led The Sun Never Sets needs more direction