DICKINSON In storytelling mode.

THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR has a way of bringing out the storyteller in alternative rock songwriters. Rob Dickinson’s Grog Shop performance on Thursday night was no exception. When fronting the Catherine Wheel, Dickinson was coy and reticent when discussing song lyrics and meaning. But when armed with only a guitar and a microphone in front of a small crowd of avid supporters, his apprehension quickly melted away.

After opening with Catherine Wheel favorite “Heal 2,” Dickinson played “The Storm,” the first of many cuts from his solo debut, Fresh Wine for the Horses, and began to reveal himself to some of the people who have helped support his musical endeavors for nearly 14 years. The lyrics to Wishville’s “All of That” were described as a “list of my own shortcomings,” while “My Name is Love” explored Dickinson’s fascination with “the mystery of love.” Dickinson described the sublime “Oceans” as “the first song I wrote for [Fresh Wine for the Horses] that I really liked.” The crowd ate up “Bathe Away” and “Handsome,” the latter introduced with an anecdote about Dickinson trying to persuade Cher’s A&R man that the diva should sing the song on her next album. “Intelligent People” was perhaps the best of the crop of new songs that Dickinson played, and was closely followed by “Towering and Flowering.”

Although “Crank” closed Dickinson’s set, he opted not to leave the stage before the encore, which included an audience-requested version of “The Nude.” When he couldn’t remember the second verse, Dickinson broke into an epic version of “Black Metallic,” complete with distortion and delay. (After all, you can’t expect an ex-shoegazer to leave all his toys at home.) Show closer “Future Boy” proved an incredible end to what amounted to a Catherine Wheel fan’s dream show.

The Black Keys
Agora Theatre
Saturday, Feb. 25

It’s been nearly three years since the Black Keys emerged from Akron to traverse the globe with their raw and dirty blues. While drummer Pat Carney and singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach still call the Rubber City home, we in the Rock Capital have quite an affinity for the pair, nurturing their meteoric rise and career with packed shows at the Beachland, or by taking trips down South to catch the Keys in their element at the Lime Spider. But after several years of witnessing the Keys excel in intimate venues, it appears those small shows are a thing of yesteryear, as anyone at Saturday’s sold-out Agora Theatre can attest.

But even though this was the pair’s largest homecoming show, it still had much of that small-venue vibe. The stage was bare, with Carney’s drums on a riser stage left, Auerbach set up to the right and only a sequined streaming backdrop behind them. And with understated conviction, the Keys took to the Agora Theatre stage like two possessed by elixir of the blues- rock Gods, tearing into “Thickfreakness” and “Girl Is on my Mind.” While Auerbach bounced and flared about, guitar in tow, and hollered muddled vocals with the drawl of a Delta bluesman, it was Carney who dictated the feverish pace with his demolition of the drums.

As fluid and maddening a drummer as any, Carney led the assault on “Set You Free,” “Stack Shot Billy,” and “10 A.M. Automatic,” breaking drumsticks and doing more with his tiny kit than many drummers do with three times the equipment. Between Carney’s incessant drumming and Auerbach’s howling, feedback heavy guitar and vocals, covers of the Beatles “She Said” and Robert Pete Williams’s “Grown So Ugly” took on a new life, showing that the Keys have perfected an era of classic rock that was all but extinct. And as the Keys returned for two encores, it was evident the duo is in an elite class, on a par with the White Stripes as a two-person band whose sound is louder and fuller than many four-piece bands will ever be. — Aaron Mendelsohn

Battle of the Blues Divas
Beachland Ballroom
Friday, Feb. 24

It was billed as a “Battle of the Blues Divas,” but Friday’s showdown at the Beachland was more of a love fest. Blues singers Candye Kane and Michelle Willson commandeered the stage for a powerful night of shouting and shaking. The evening started with a quick swing dance lesson for the rhythmically challenged, conducted by members of Get Hep Swing. We got to use our freshly minted dance steps when Blue Lunch warmed up the room with a short but tight set. The local jump blues favorites ably backed up both divas, demonstrating again that these guys can play just about anything.

Willson fired the first salvo of the battle with a solid set of blues, R&B and ballads. Her voice has a big, broad sound that carries hints of Janis Joplin at one turn and Koko Taylor at the next. The blowsy, double entendre-laden “Long John” was a crowd favorite. Kane went straight for the single entendre in her set. She trumped Willson in the camp department, taking the stage draped in feathers and sequins, and proved a worthy opponent vocally. More of a shouter than Willson, she demonstrated a flair for the outré without sacrificing solid blues phrasing. She put her unique stamp on songs ranging from the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream” to Bull Moose Jackson’s “Big Fat Mamas.” Kane is a woman who’s comfortable in her formidable skin. Who else do you know who has cleavage you could store a bottle of drinking water in? Encouraging the audience to love their bodies, she said “Orgasms are God’s gift, and they’re free. Ain’t nothin’ gonna make you feel so good that’s so cheap.” In a three-song finale, the two women blasted through “Shake, Rattle, & Roll,” “These Boots are Made for Walkin’” and “Walk Right In,” with all the sisterly fun of two girls at a sleepover. — Peggy Latkovich