The rock duo are currently taking their new album ‘Ohio Players’ on tour, visiting London and Manchester in the UK. On the first London date, they introduced Noel Gallagher after the encore.

The Mancunian singer joined them for the songs: ‘On The Game’, and ‘Only Love Matters’. Gallagher helped to co-write these songs, as well as ‘You’ll Pay’, alongside being part of the backing vocals, and adding electric guitar.

Watch the video below to see Noel and The Black Keys working together on ‘On The Game':

According to NME, The Black Keys and Gallagher adored working together, with the duo giving Gallagher the nickname, ‘The Chord Lord’, as he was such a perfectionist.

The Black Keys have a long tour ahead of them, including remaining UK dates and North American dates, any tickets can be found here.

A series of gigs have been announced next month to mark its long-awaited reopening, with its first performances taking place on Friday April 19, except it will feature tribute acts as opposed to famous bands. Nirvana UK will pay homage to the 90s grunge band, with a tongue-and-cheek The Smyths following suit. On the following Friday, April 26, two more tribute acts will take to the stage, including Definitely Might Be, inspired by Oasis, and UK Foo Fighters. Tickets for both shows will go on sale this Friday (March 8) at 9am GMT. You can purchase them here.

English quintet Editors will be the first major band to headline the venue, and are set to perform on May 2, with special guests yet to be confirmed. The band took to social media today (March 4) to showcase the gig after wrapping up their UK tour yesterday, commenting: “We’re extremely excited to return to @o2academybrix in London on May 2nd!”

We’re extremely excited to return to @O2AcademyBrix in London on May 2nd!

Tickets on sale this Friday, March 8th, at 10am -> https://t.co/9cvHB75upU pic.twitter.com/6DRZ1U8QK6

— EDITORS (@editorsofficial) March 4, 2024

In an unexpected announcement, US rock band The Black Keys have also revealed they will be playing the South London venue in a two-night residency on Tuesday 7 May and Wednesday 8 May. Tickets for both Editors and The Black Keys will also go on sale on the same date as the tribute shows, Friday March 8, but at 10am GMT. You can find them here.

Pre-order our new album Ohio Players from our UK store before March 5th, 5pm GMT to access the exclusive fan pre-sale on March 6th, 10am GMT. Fans who have already pre-ordered will also get access.

Tickets go on sale Friday 8th March, 10am local time. https://t.co/0inZOM7ceQ pic.twitter.com/mG3Avcfm4i

— The Black Keys (@theblackkeys) March 4, 2024

The future of the legendary music venue remained uncertain for the best part of a year and a half after Lambeth Council suspended its license, with the Metropolitan Police reportedly advocating for the beloved music spot to close its doors permanently. An online petition was launched after the venue confirmed its closure, with the hope that the decision would be overturned. A plethora of artists and industry professionals also spoke out, condemning the possibility that it could be closed for good.

In December 2023, it was declared that the venue would be allowed to retain its license and reopen, providing the building and its organisers can meet more than 77 “robust” safety rules and conditions. Brixton Academy has allegedly spent £1.2 million on maintenance and improvements last year, including stronger doors, a more efficient queuing system and a more secure ticketing process, according to Brixton Academy’s owners, Academy Music Group (AMG).

Interior. CREDIT: AMG.

“We continue to be devastated by the events of last December,” AMG’s statement said. “Our heartfelt condolences remain with the family and friends of Rebecca Ikumelo and Gaby Hutchinson. What happened was and is a tragedy and we are committed to ensuring that it can never be repeated.”

“Over the past nine months, the venue’s importance to the local community and the live music scene in the UK has been made clear. Academy Music Group is determined to learn all appropriate lessons from the night of December 15 2022. As the Licensing Sub Committee knows, the venue must implement all the new conditions and will reopen at first with test events. The commitment we give to work in close partnership with all the responsible authorities as we reopen is a serious and sincere one.”

The building first opened in 1929 as a cinema and boasted sleek Art Deco interior and a theatrical-style stage framed by its famous arch, which was modelled on the Rialto Bridge in Venice. In July 1972 it reopened as a disco, rebranded again throughout the 80s and 90s, and has held enormous cultural significance ever since, attracting some of the world’s greatest and most renowned acts, including Amy Winehouse, The Clash, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.

With a string of exciting new headline shows set to take place over the coming months, this hopefully marks a new chapter and era for a venue that has been clouded by such a devastating event.

The band discuss everything from the processes of songwriting and recording, to Auerbach’s comedically boastful presentation of his various, and hugely expensive guitars.

In the trailer, Patrick Carney quips about his drumming background, saying, “I come from a long line of drummers, and I’m not talking about the Nick Cannon drum line, although I wish I came from that one too”.

“You have to be inspired by what’s around you, I wrote that song when I was eating caviar with Michael Jordan in Paris,” Dan Auerbach says, adding, “He cheats at blackjack”.

At the end of the trailer, Auerbach quips, “We wrote Let’s Rock to prove to the world that we’re better people than everybody else, not just musically, all around better people, I’d say we proved them right”.

The ‘MasterCourse’ spoof comes soon after the release of their latest album, ‘Let’s Rock’, unveiled at the end of last month, awarded three out of five stars on NME.

Meanwhile, The Black Keys will be touring North America, with support from Shannon & The Clams, Jessy Wilson and Repeat Repeat. This will be their first tour in four years in the US. Their tour dates are listed below:

21/9/19 – Life Is Beautiful, Las Vegas
23/9 – Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
24/9 – Spring Center, Kansas City, MO
25/9 – Enterprise Center, St Louis, MO
27/9 – United Center, Chicago, IL
28/9 – Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
30/9 – Quicken loans Arena, Cleveland, OH

1/10 – Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
2/10 – Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
4/10 – Fisery Forum, Milwaukee, WI
5/10 – Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
7/10 – PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
8/10 – Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI
9/10 – Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario
11/10 – TD Garden, Boston, MA
12/10 – The Anthem, Washington DC
14/10 – Wells Fargo Arena, Philadelphia, PA
15/10 – Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

5/11 –  BB& T Center, Sunrise, FL
6/11 –  Amway Center, Orlando, FL
8/11 – PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
9/11 – State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
12/11 – Toyota Center, Houston, TX
13/11 – Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX
14/11 – Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, TX
16/11 – Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
17/11 – Pechanga Arena, San Diego, CA
19/11 – The Forum, Los Angeles, CA
20/11 – TBA, San Francisco, CA
22/11 – Moda Center, Portland, OR
23/11 – Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, WA
24/11 – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC

His death was confirmed via a statement on his Facebook page, which simply said:

And all the angels sing
“Que Sera Sera”

Richard Ochoa Swift
March 16, 1977 – July 3, 2018

Born in California, Swift worked all his life as a prolific self-taught musician and producer, drumming for The Shins between 2011 and 2016, and playing bass on tour with The Black Keys in 2014. He also founded National Freedom, an independent recording studio in Oregon, as well as producing the work of Foxygen, Sharon Van Etten and Guster, amongst others.

Those paying tribute to Swift over social media included the lead singer of The Black Keys Dan Auerbach, who said the musician had now joined his mother and sister. He ended his tribute with the words “I will miss you my friend”.

Carney took to Twitter at the time to voice his frustrations about YouTube, calling the site out for it’s negligence in allowing unauthorised music to spread through it’s site. Carney then targeted artists that don’t speak out against this, saying “A sell out in my book in 2016 is anyone that takes a share in a streaming company who also is an artist and doesn’t advocate for fair pay.” At the time Carney received backing from Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, who accused YouTube of being “built off the back of stolen content.”

Give me five minutes on @youtube and I probably can find 250 songs that are available which the artist isn't getting paid for. At least.

— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) June 16, 2016

Today however, Carney’s tweets told a very different story, to tell his fans about his decision to allow the Black keys to be streamed, claiming “I’d rather people hear our music than not.” Seemingly in anticipation of followers pointing out a contradiction, Carney followed this tweet to tell fans that there was no major financial benefit to be gained by the band, and that his stance on the subject had not changed at all.

After five years of struggling with this we agreed to put the keys songs on Spotify. I'd rather people hear our music than not.

— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) December 19, 2016

No advance or money was exchanged. I'm still an advocate for artists to be paid fairly. I'm still apprehensive.

— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) December 19, 2016