Black Keys bite back against management for poor ticket sales
By Lee Vowell
The Black Keys are angry, at least drummer Patrick Carney is. And, to be fair, he should be. The band should be embarrassed for recently having to cancel gigs because of reported poor ticket sales. That is like saying, "Sorry we aren't good enough for you! We won't bother you with concerts!"
The problem is that the Black Keys are very good. They produce excellent and imaginative blues-rock that understands sometimes it's nice to be quiet and still and the next second it is fine to unleash the full fury of rock and roll at the listener. They are worthy of being heard, and well...seen.
We here at Audio Phix are not going to pretend to know what was said between the band and their (now former) agents, Full Stop Management. We can assume the conversation was not a fun one. In fact, the band has now terminated their relationship with Irving Azoff and Steve Moir of Full Stop, and Carney took to social media to blast Azoff.
Black Keys change management companies after canceling tour dates
This is what happens when tour dates are refunded and the band loses money. No matter how great of musicians Carney and his bandmate, Dan Auerbach, are, they create good music to earn a living. It helps if a band has management they can trust to increase their income.
Full Stop Management aren't fly-by-night agents, however. Azoff has represented musical artists such as U2 and the Eagles. Those two bands do quite well, of course, so maybe Azoff has issues with marketing a group that isn't capable of being sold no matter who the management company is. That is just a guess and not an attempt at a suggestion of fact.
Carney went on social media and wrote since-deleted posts that hammer Azoff. In one post, Carney said, "We got f****d. I’ll let you all know how so it doesn’t happen to you. Stay tuned."
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In another, he wrote sarcastically (in response to a 2018 tweet from Azoff commenting on YouTube asking performers to sign non-disparagement clauses), "Thank you! This advice is very important for all musicians. So great you provided this for us all. It’s hard to speak up to the industry at times. So great to know you are always looking out for the artist."
The Black Keys have made mention of rescheduling the canceled dates, but making the shows at smaller venues. The band has also hired new help, Red Light Management. These are the same agents who work with bands such as the Dave Matthews Band and the Strokes. Those bands are popular, of course, but they also seem more in line with the same audience as the Black Keys.
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