Looking a bit more Grizzly Adams than normal with his lengthy hair and beard, Auerbach tore into the opening tune, "Same Old Thing," with as much abandon as he would if he were playing a far bigger stage. We are from Akron, Ohio," singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach said at the outset. From "Drunk in Love" to "Crazy in Love," the concert featured nearly 40 songs from the pair, and it lasted more than two and a half hours.Īlthough perfectly capable of filling large theaters, Akron's Black Keys decided to hold a secret MySpace show in the Beachland's tiny tavern simply because it's where they played their first-ever show. Beyonce's impeccable vocals may have sounded pretty much flawless, and Jay's rhymes were shot off with perfect abandon, but it was most certainly real. There was clearly no lip syncing in this show. This was quickly continued by "Part II (On the Run)" and "'03 Bonnie & Clyde," a song written back when the couple was still only dating. Through the cheers and screams, they rolled into Jay-Z's hit with Justin Timberlake, "Holy Grail," stomping and gliding around the stage. There were no dancers yet to fill the expansive, two-runway stage - there was only the two of them and the shadows of the band behind. Hammering home the point, the two arrived at FirstEnergy Stadium on a descending platform while wearing gleaming white and holding hands. But they couldn't just prove this to themselves they had to prove it to the rest of the world by heading out on a giant spectacle of a tour together. They want you to know that they have moved on from their tabloid fodder years, that they have fought for their marriage and that they are stronger. Photo by Raven Varona/Parkwood/PictureGroupīeyoncé Knowles-Carter and Shaun "Jay-Z" Carter need you to know they are still crazy in love.But at the end of the night, it was the Arcade Fire more than a presidential candidate that everyone believed in. When the faithful finally made it inside, they saw the band work through a set list highlighting their best tunes and an eclectic mix of covers that included David Bowie's "Heroes," John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth," and Sam Cooke's "Change is Gonna Come." To the chagrin of many, the political overtones were sometimes heavy-handed - frontman Win Butler's between-song banter wasn't exactly veiled. After the mad scramble for tickets ended, concertgoers with and without tickets were (literally) left standing out in a cold spring drizzle waiting to get inside. The concerts were announced only a few days before they took place. The Montreal band had bypassed Cleveland on its tour behind 2007's buzzworthy Neon Bible, so it was extra special to have these two abbreviated (but free) shows to get out the vote for the Illinois senator. Scene staffers past and present, particularly Anastasia Pantsios, Michael Gallucci and Jeff Niesel, contributed to this list.Īt first blush, it seemed odd that a Canadian band was shilling for a U.S. But it’s still a mammoth Mount Rushmore of Cleveland shows. For all the shows we saw, there were plenty we missed, and critics don’t always agree amongst themselves or with fans. We’ve also added concerts that Scene has reviewed in the past ten years too. Now, to mark the paper’s 50th anniversary and to celebrate the Rock Hall’s upcoming inductions in Cleveland, we’ve reprinted some of that article and dug into the archives to add a few other reviews that didn’t appear the first time around. In honor of the paper’s 40th anniversary in 2010, we looked back at some of the most memorable concerts from the last four decades. Founded 50+ years ago as a music magazine, Scene - along with the commercial radio station WMMS and heavyweight promoter Belkin Productions - helped contribute to Cleveland’s emergence as a hotbed for rock ’n’ roll in the ’70s, a reputation that still carries significant weight to this day.