Metropolis, Fremantle, Australia.

Change is a slow paced beast in the world of blues and roots, but like an alligator in the reeds, change has stealthily crept through the Black Keys camp. Their latest long player Attack & Release was not only produced by Gnarls Barkley mastermind Danger Mouse but also features avant guitarist Marc Ribot, a slew of extra instruments, from organs to banjos and delicately arranged soundscapes that would make purists clutch their Chess box sets in fear and revulsion.

It's a slightly older, salubrious crowd here, sporadically well dressed; the occasional casual suit catching the eye, all assembling under the shadow of the Black Keys' ever present twenty foot inflatable racing tyre; a homage to their industrial town roots of Arkon, Ohio. Veterans from last year will remember a near-definitive performance with Patrick Carney (drums) and Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) inciting the audience to riot with precision execution tighter than the nuts on jeep. Tonight starts a little looser, Aurenbach introducing each of first few songs with little superfluous guitar solos, as if to wind himself up. It's as if they're a shade less focused. However, by the time they hit 10 a.m. Automatic, which from their extra verve and energy they clearly regard as their most explosive live number. It's a tangible, unequivocal gambit to raise their game, evident both visually and aurally. It seems The Black Keys are incapable of writing anything that doesn't contain at least one hardball riff and this rumbling caterwaul stacks one on top of the other. Even their slower numbers are reassuringly abrasive, although The Lengths, a real highlight, stands apart as a genuinely heartfelt, almost vulnerable lament.

Then the new compositions: I Got Mine boasts a slow, muddy riff that congregates the masses in sheer belligerent ecstasy. Psychotic Girl, a cute sounding pop record, is dragged through the mud, roundhouse slapped and sent back to Georgia. Strange Times rides in on a lethal Zeppelin-esque hook, but possesses a chorus which on arrival jars awkwardly, as if transported in from another song altogether. None of the additional instrumentation, moogs, banjos and other niceties featured on the new album are present, although there's a few sneaky licks of wah wah pedal. Auerbach appears loathe to acknowledge it as he shuffles to the back of the stage to briefly dab at it. Meanwhile, Patrick Carney's drumming is simple but effective, especially on Set You Free, his silhouette crystallized in shafts of green light.

The encore begins with a Dan Auerbach playing what seems to be an organ plugged into a guitar amp. Whatever it is, the sound being stabbed out of it is a weird, phantom-like swirl of fuzz and reverb. The crowd don't seem to know quite how to react, and it may be a relief to some that they finish with the predictable familiarity of The Sonics' Have Love, Will Travel; a three chord 60's garage classic built for the hard road. New ideas and methods aren't always popular, especially with followers of anything intrinsically 'rootsy'. Consider the antipathy of traditional folkies at Dyaln going electric or the consternation of White Stripes fans when Jack White started toying with pianos and marimbas. But despite the incremental changes, much has remained the same. The primal blues stomp that's been their defining characteristic since day one, is not only intact but in riotous good health.

Transcribed by Chris James