The Black Keys on being swept up in "insane" Oasis fever in Manchester: "We’ve never really seen anything like it"

13 August 2025, 11:13

The Ohio duo played a show at Manchester's Castlefield Bowl just before the Oasis Live '25 tour swept through their hometown.

The Black Keys have described the "amazing" atmosphere ahead of the Oasis Live '25 dates in Manchester and said they've never seen anything like it.

The Ohio blues rock duo - comprised of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney - were in the band's hometown just before they were due to kick off their mammoth dates at Heaton Park and were immersed in the scenes as the city prepared to welcome back the Britpop heroes.

"We were in Manchester for a couple days right before their first show there,” said drummer Carney. "Getting to feel a whole country excited and pumped for a rock band reunion… it was kind of insane. It was amazing.”

Frontman Auerbach added: "We’ve never really seen anything like it."

The band - who worked with Noel Gallagher on their Ohio Players album and donned Oasis t-shirts in a nod to the band's reunion dates - did admit there were some downsides to Oasis fever, revealing that it's hard for any other music news or events to cut through.

The sticksman, who recently missed out on seeing fellow musicians Mumford & Sons at a local show, mused: "It’s just Oasis".

He added: “Everybody in the world knows Oasis was playing Wembley this weekend, but that just takes up so much bandwidth – and rightfully so – on your algorithm.”

Sparing a moment to think of smaller artists trying to make a splash about their own music this summer, he added: “It’s a weird time, man. How are you supposed to get the word out?”

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Meanwhile, The Black Keys released their thirteenth studio album No Rain, No Flowers last Friday (8th August).

From it came their laid-back title track, which saw the duo lean away from their bluesier themes and drift towards a lighter, more summery sound.

Listen to No Rain, No Flowers below.

The Black Keys - No Rain, No Flowers (Official Audio)

The song followed previously released tracks, Babygirl and their groove-based lead single, The Night Before, which came alongside a Running Bear-directed black and white video.

The Black Keys - The Night Before (Official Music Video)

Produced by the band themselves and recorded at Easy Eye Sound Studios in Nashville, the new album features collaborators including GRAMMY award-winning songwriters Rick Nowels and Daniel Tashian as well as legendary keys player/producer Scott Storch (Dr. Dre, The Roots).

With their last album witnessing collaborations with fellow artists Beck and Noel Gallagher, the band this time chose to work with long-admired songwriters, who work in the background.

Frontman Auerbach explains: “I had worked with Rick Nowels on Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence. We’d never really collaborated with a keyboard player or someone who writes on piano the way he does, but it clicked immediately.”

"We wanted to go straight to the source—into the room with people known for their songwriting," added drummer Carney. "Daniel Tashian was one of the first people I met after moving to Nashville, and we’ve been fans of Scott Storch forever.”

The singer and guitarist concludes: “This whole album was really labored over with a lot of love. We hope you feel that.”

Listen to The Black Keys No Rain, No Flowers album here:

Last year saw the band cancel their US Arena dates and re-plot more intimate, special dates for 2025 after being influenced by their smaller shows in Paris and London.

Speaking to Radio X's Dan O'Connell after the first of three gigs at the newly reopened O2 Academy Brixton, Auerbach gushed: "It was incredible really. Amazing venue. Crowd was crazy.

"We had Noel [Gallagher] come out and play some songs with us in the encore and everybody lost their minds."

Talking about the venue itself, drummer Carney added: "It was always the place that you wanted to try to get to, you know?"

He added: "Those are my favourite venues. Like the 5, 6000 cap. Standing room floor."

The Black Keys on Brixton gig

Read more:

• The Black Keys talk hanging out with Liam Gallagher and the "crucial advice" he gave them
• The Black Keys: There's 'no better feeling" than Noel Gallagher being proud of our collaboration
• The Black Keys' "iconic" Brixton Academy gigs influenced cancellation of North American dates