The Black Keys’ Crypto Blues

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It’s always fascinating to watch a band unravel in the public eye. The most recent example is the reunited Jane’s Addiction, who got into a physical altercation onstage in Boston in September. Midway through “Oceansize,” for still unclear reasons, sinewy frontman Perry Farrell took a swing at guitarist Dave Navarro. Farrell had to be restrained, Navarro walked offstage, and the show—along with the tour—came to an abrupt end. Dueling public statements from both sides followed: Farrell’s wife said he’d been suffering from tinnitus and struggling to sing over a too-loud band, and Farrell apologized and took accountability, but Navarro referred to a “continuing pattern of behavior” and “mental health difficulties” on Farrell’s part. This was a 65-year-old man trying to punch a 57-year-old man, but it owned the music-news cycle for days. I was never a fan beyond “Superhero,” the Entourage theme song, but I couldn’t look away.

Another band, Akron, Ohio, duo the Black Keys, has been going through it publicly in recent months after a series of bad decisions. After poor ticket sales for the North American leg of their International Players Tour, which would have seen them hit a string of venues with “arena” or “center” in the name, the band pulled the plug, issuing an Instagram statement that deflected from the real issue, invoking recent European shows at comparatively smallish venues like Brixton Academy in London and the Zenith in Paris (you had to be there) and promising to come back once they’d figured out how to deliver a “similarly exciting, intimate experience” Stateside. A few days later, drummer Patrick Carney said on Twitter that the band “got fucked,” and added, “I’ll let you all know how so it doesn’t happen to you.”

It was later reported that the Black Keys had split with their managers, Irving Azoff and Steve Moir. Azoff is a name you might recognize—he’s the big-dog chairman of Full Stop Management and a notorious music-industry powerhouse who’s worked with the Eagles, Van Halen, Steely Dan, and several other boomer rock acts. He’s also the former CEO of Ticketmaster. Carney has not explained what happened, but before the split was public, he did retweet an Azoff post about nondisparagement clauses, sarcastically thanking Azoff for “always looking out for the artist.”

So, like most musicians, the Black Keys had a problem and chose to blame their management. Then they signed with a new management company, Red Light, the world’s largest independent music management firm. Problem presumably solved, right? Not exactly. Last week, the band announced that they’d be headlining an event billed as part of the “2024 America Loves Crypto Tour” at the Akron Civic Theater in their hometown. It’s actually an even-more-cursed (and more political) booking than the name would lead you to believe.