The Black Keys on the Fallout from Their 2024 Tour Cancelation
The Black Keys are finally opening up about their chaotic 2024, which saw the duo cancel a North American tour and fire both their management team and PR team.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney address the entire drama, but they still do so with caution. (At one point during the interview, Carney chooses his words carefully, because, ” … I don’t want to get f—ing sued.”)
So, what happened that led to an entire tour being canceled and for Auerbach and Carney to fire their management team, which includes famed mega-manager Irving Azoff? The duo points to a poorly organized tour and how so many aspects of the music industry are more tied together than ever before.
Carney said, “After going to Europe 30 times in our career for tours, this was the most poorly orchestrated tour we had been on. The shows were incredible, but [it] just became the first sign that maybe there was some poor organization happening.”
Carney added, “The essential thing that we learned here was how many management companies are directly connected to a company that runs every single aspect of promotion in this country. This whole industry is so intertwined from ticketing to promotion to the management company. But essentially as artists — and this is the thing that we care the most about — it’s almost impossible to talk about this…. You’re dealing with management companies that co-own festivals with this other company. You’re at the [whims] of these people who have other interests.”
One of the biggest complaints about The Black Keys’ 2024 North American tour was the high ticket prices. Media speculation seemed to indicate that the high prices led to poor sales, which led to the tour’s cancellation. Carney says he and Auerbach weren’t consulted about the ticket prices, and they learned they needed to be more involved with the entire process.
In the process of canceling their North American tour, The Black Keys came under fire for playing a show in their hometown of Akron, Ohio called “America Loves Crypto.” While the duo was told the event was bipartisan, it was soon discovered its target audience was conservation “crypto-bro” types. Unfortunately, the real reason why Auerbach and Carney took the gig was because they needed the money, because their entire income for 2024 was dependent on the North American tour.
Fortunately, according to Auerbach, there is a silver lining to the 2024 issues, which he referred to as “trauma.” As a result, he and Carney have been spending more time together, improving their bond over music, and trying to make the business aspect of their careers better.
“Like we said with those shows in Europe, even though the business side of the tour was so bad, the actual shows were amazing, and we expected the same when we went back to the States,” said Auerbach. ” … To just have all that completely pulled out from under us, it was not something we’d ever experienced before in 20-plus years of doing it. So yeah, it was traumatic. But I guess we’re feeling more thankful than ever that we’re able to go out on the road and play shows and be able to see our fans again.”
