Noel Gallagher made a surprise appearance at The Black Keys‘ show in London last night (May 7). Check out footage of the moment below.
The US duo – comprising Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney – are currently on the UK and Ireland leg of their ‘International Players Tour’, where they are showcasing their latest album ‘Ohio Players’.
Gallagher is credited as a co-writer on the songs ‘You’ll Pay’, ‘Only Love Matters’ and ‘On The Game’ from the record, and he contributed backing vocals and electric guitar to the cuts.
During the first of three Black Keys dates at the O2 Academy Brixton, the band invited the former Oasis musician to perform with them in the encore – which began with the latter two tracks.
Watch the fan-shot footage of the guest appearances here:
The Black Keys’ setlist was:
Recommended
‘I Got Mine’
‘Gold On The Ceiling’
‘Your Touch’
‘Tighten Up’
‘Have Love, Will Travel’
‘Everlasting Light’
‘Next Girl’
‘Lo-Hi’
‘This Is Nowhere’
‘Heavy Soul’
‘Weight Of Love’
‘Howlin’ For You’
‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’
‘Fever’
‘Wild Child’
‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ (Gladys Knight & the Pips cover)
‘She’s Long Gone’
‘Little Black Submarine’
Encore
‘Only Love Matters’ (with Noel Gallagher)
‘On The Game’ (with Noel Gallagher)
‘Lonely Boy’
Speaking to NME last year, The Black Keys recalled their time working with the “incredible” Gallagher in the studio. “He’s hilarious and super talented,” said Carney. “We were referring to him as ‘The Chord Lord’ because he’s just a perfectionist with it.”
He continued: “Dan and I are big fans of him and Liam. “Actually, the Liam song ‘Everything’s Electric’ is why we decided to work with [producer Greg] Kurstin.”
The High Flying Birds frontman later called the three Black Keys songs he contributed to “fucking amazing”.
The Black Keys’ are scheduled to perform at the O2 Academy Brixton again tonight (May 8) and tomorrow evening (9), following gigs in Dublin and Cardiff. They were recently forced to postpone their show at the new Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester amid ongoing issues at the venue.
You can see the rest of The Black Keys’ 2024 UK tour dates below, and find any remaining tickets here.
The Black Keys’ upcoming UK shows are:
MAY
08 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
09 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
15 – Co-Op Live Arena, Manchester (rescheduled date)
The duo will then embark on a run of North American shows in the autumn, and you can find any remaining tickets here.
In a three-star review of ‘Ohio Players’, NME described the Gallagher-featuring ‘On The Game’ as “a honeyed guitar jam”.
As for the album on the whole, it concluded: “The Black Keys might have a killer record collection but ‘Ohio Players’ is the work of a band who are perhaps too good at being themselves.”
In other news, Noel Gallagher recently revealed that he had “scrapped” his planned acoustic album. He explained that the material was “too down”, adding: “I need to make a defiant rock record and that’s what I’m gonna do.”