In 2024 the Black Keys announced a mammoth thirty one date tour across large North American venues…

…which was later cancelled without explanation, although people assumed it was because sales were terrible and they had completely overreached themselves.

Now the pair have spoken to Rolling Stone and blame their management, who they have fired:

“The essential thing that we learned here was how many management companies are directly connected to a company that runs every single aspect of promotion in this country… This whole industry is so intertwined from ticketing to promotion to the management company. But essentially as artists – and this is the thing that we care the most about – it’s almost impossible to talk about this…. You’re dealing with management companies that co-own festivals with this other company. You’re at the [whims] of these people who have other interests.”

“There’s a concentration of connectivity that eliminates competition… Our tour, we had about 10 [arena] shows that were not doing great. They were just in rooms that they shouldn’t have been in. So, in any situation like this tour, we might’ve had to take one on the chin and find new venues to play in certain cities, but instead, we were advised to cancel the whole tour. We were told … there were other venues being booked, and it was all going to get into more intimate rooms, and it would be great. But that wasn’t accurate. That didn’t exist.”

They have now announced a new thirteen date tour.