Black Keys played to a full house at The Molson Canadian Amphitheatre in Toronto on Thursday, July 07/11. (Dave Thomas/QMI Agency)

TORONTO - How appropriate that psych-blues-rock duo The Black Keys would wrap up their sold-out show at the Molson Canadian Amphtitheatre on Thursday night with the song, I Got Mine, right before the encore.

Because that’s exactly how I felt after a punishingly loud, passionate and brisk 75-minute set by singer-guitarist Dan Auberach and drummer Patrick Carney.

Who knew two early thirtysomething dudes from Akron, Ohio - recently transplanted to Nashville - could make such a sexy, swampy, soulful, old sound and leaving the audience wanting more?

The twosome, aided by two other musicians on bass and keyboards at various times in their show, are still riding high on the success of their 2010 breakthrough disc, Brothers, after a half-dozen albums and a decade in the business.

The record picked up three Grammys and now has them playing their first ever Canadian tour graduating from the club circuit to amphitheatres and arenas.

Their Toronto stop, which came after production rehearsals in nearby Oshawa three weeks ago, saw them ramp things up ever so slightly with rows of dramatic back lighting, strings of white Christmas lights above them, and four projection screens onto which grainy black and white footage of burlesque dancers appeared during the Next Girl, among other images.

But really it was all about the music as both Auerbach and Carney (who removed his glasses at the beginning of the concert and put them back on at the end) played their instruments as if their lives depended on it, never really letting up in intensity for a second although they could be subtle players when the song demanded it.

It wasn’t until the very end that the band’s name in big white lights slowly rose up behind them in an ultra low key move that would have come much earlier in the proceedings for almost any other group.

The Black Keys are anything but obvious even in a live performance.

While they have most frequently been compared to The White Stripes, Auerbach and Carney do their own thing in their own unique, some might say simple, way.

As the crowd of 16,000 waited for the encore, fans chanted the band’s name while the sign lit up in unison.

Taking the stage a half-hour later than scheduled, The Black Keys opened strongly with Thickfreakness before quickly ratcheting the grittiness up with Girl Is On My Mind and later set highlights Everylasting Light, which included the appearance of a disco ball and the first appearance of their two touring musicians Chop and Change, and their latest hits, Howlin’ For You - complete with an audience singalong on the “Da da da da da, da, da, da, da da,” course - and Tighten Up (with Auerbach nailing the whistling intro), Ten Cent Pistol, a slowed down version of I’ll Be Your Man, I Got Mine and the encore ending Your Touch.

“Thanks for coming out tonight - it really mean a lot to us,” said Auberach, who wasn’t a big talker but didn’t really have or need to be given his prowess on the guitar and soulful voice.

SET LIST:

Thickfreakness

Girl Is On My Mind

The Breaks

Stack Shot Billy

Busted

Act Nice and Gentle (The Kinks cover)

Everlasting Light

Next Girl

Chop and Change

Howlin’ For You

Tighten Up

She’s Long Gone

Ten Cent Pistol

I’ll Be Your Man

Strange Times

I Got Mine

Encore:

Sinister Kid

Your Touch

Dan Auberach and Patrick Carney (above) delivered a forceful show for fans in Toronto Thursday night. (WENN.com photo)