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Black Keys tap Jake Bugg for West Coast tour support

The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach at the 2012 edition of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Bluesy arena-rock band the Black Keys have unveiled an extensive fall tour that includes support from riff-focused Cage the Elephant, avant-garde shredder St. Vincent and the softly pointed Brit-pop of young singer-songwriter Jake Bugg, who is listed as opening act on the Black Keys’ early November West Coast dates.

Missing from the announcement, however, is a Los Angeles tour stop. While there’s a rather wide block open in early November for the act to pencil in a SoCal gig, the absence of the L.A. market in the announcement probably foreshadows a Black Keys festival appearance in the area.

Don’t be surprised, for instance, to see the band on the roster for Goldenvoice’s FYF Fest, for which a lineup was teased to be dropping in the coming days, or perhaps the inaugural L.A. edition of Live Nation’s Made in America. The Black Keys’ repeated appearances at the Goldenvoice-promoted Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival would hint more to the former.

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Currently, the Black Keys are listed as playing in Seattle on Nov. 1 and San Diego on Nov. 9. The trek, largely targeting basketball arenas, launches Sept. 5 in Columbus, Ohio, with Cage the Elephant supporting through a Sept. 27 appearance in Chicago. Bugg takes over until the Black Keys reach the East Coast with a Dec. 4 date in Baltimore, at which point opening duties are passed to St. Vincent.

The Black Keys’ “Turn Blue” will be released Tuesday. Early listens reveal a more groove-based album with spaced-out arrangements marked by outlandish keyboards, moody guitars and spooked horn sections. The act’s Dan Auerbach has also been working with Lana Del Rey of late, whose video for “West Coast” was released this week.

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