By Dave Miller

The Black Keys can rock an arena.

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The duo from Akron, Ohio, had no trouble translating its blues-based garage rock to the cavernous United Center during Monday's stop on its first arena tour. Some unreasonable fans have accused The Black Keys of selling out, but you can't quibble with the band meeting popular demand just like Paul McCartney, the Stones, Springsteen and U2 have done for years in the same building. The only difference in this case was the crowd was overwhelmingly in its teens and early 20s.

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Singing guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney rocked the House That Michael Built from start to finish in a performance that pushed an hour-and-a-half. The setlist has been static during the tour, but there's no good reason to change it after finding a smart sequence that works. Seven of the 11 songs from their catchy new album, El Camino, were played.

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The band opened with "Howlin' for You" and never let up. "Let's keep it movin'," Auerbach said on a couple occasions. That was about the extent of the stage banter. The music did most of the talking behind a potent 1-2 combination. The shaggy-looking Auerbach sprayed fuzzy guitar notes while bouncing about center stage and rising on the balls of his feet. Outsizing his drum kit, the gangly-framed Auerbach ditched his glasses early in the set and pounded primal thumps like his arms were pistons. This result hit you in the gut.

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The Black Keys were accompanied by bassist Gus Seyffert and keyboardist/guitarist John Wood most of the night no doubt to flesh out the music so it sounded like it did when recorded. However, the performance was most compelling when Auerbach and Carney played a handful of older songs -- "Thickfreakness," "Girl is on My Mind," "I'll Be Your Man" and "Your Touch" -- by themselves. It was dramatic to watch two guy rock a sold-out arena.

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Just when the sonic thrill started to dull after about an hour, The Black Keys picked up the pace and the show zoomed to a higher level as "Tighten Up" and "Lonely Boy" closed the main set. The young audience was unusually loud in demanding an encore. "Sometimes a crowd doesn't deserve it," Auerbach told the crowd when the band re-emerged for three more numbers. "You deserve it." With that, a large mirror ball lowered from the ceiling for "Everlasting Light," which featured some impressive high vocals from Auerbach. "She's Long Gone" saw a guitar rave-out and pounding drums, and "I Got Mine" provided a big finish to an engaging encore.

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The Black Keys have often been compared to The White Stripes, though the former has denied following the latter. The denial may be dubious. It's a small thing, but it's hard to believe this was just a coincidence -- the roadies for The Black Keys dressed in formal attire just like the roadies for The White Stripes used to do. One of the reasons The White Stripes trump The Black Keys is visual chemistry. While Auerbach and Carney were in sync musically all night, a visual connection was missing between the two. Auerbach mostly kept a safe distance from Carney, who often looked away from the singer. That's in stark contrast to Meg White locking in on Jack White, who noticeably fed off the drummer's instinctual hits and often moved physically close to her. But we digress. The Black Keys rock in their own guttural way. Now that Auerbach and Carney have proven they can play a big room, the question is, where do they go from here?

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