The third Tuesday night of November was a monumental one in Los Angeles–for the city of Akron, Ohio, that is. While LeBron James was busy making NBA history with the Lakers at Staples Center, located some seven miles southwest of downtown, The Black Keys were sending sonic shockwaves through The Forum in Inglewood during the latest stop in their Let’s Rock Tour.

It should come as no surprise to see those famous Akronites once again connected. Like LeBron, the Black Keys’ core duo of singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney started laying the foundation for their current line of work as high schoolers in their northern Ohio hometown. They both came onto the entertainment scene in a more significant way in the early 2000s—LeBron as the No. 1 pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft, the Black Keys as basement-bound recording artists putting out low-fi, self-made releases like 2002’s The Big Come Up and 2003’s Thickfreakness–the latter of which contributed “Hold Me In Your Arms” to the band’s set at the Lakers’ former home arena.

Related: The Black Keys Welcome Joe Walsh In Los Angeles [Watch]

Between 2006 and 2007, while LeBron was leading the Cavs to the NBA Finals, the Black Keys took another step up with Magic Potion, their first album comprised entirely of original material and that showed up in the form of “Your Touch” on Tuesday, before recording Attack & Release—which made its way into the band’s latest LA set by way of “Strange Times” and an opener of “I Got Mine”—with noted producer Danger Mouse.

Come the 2010s, when LeBron won three championships in eight straight trips to the Finals with the Miami Heat and Cavs, the Black Keys—following a move to Nashville—broke through into the mainstream with Brothers and El Camino before achieving their first chart-topping release in 2014 with Turn Blue.

Those career-making albums still figure prominently into the Black Keys’ live performances, just as LeBron’s on-court triumphs from that time comprise the core of his current legacy. With support from “Delicate” Steve Marion and Andy Gabbard on guitar and “Big” Zach Gabbard on bass, the group gave the audience “Fever”, splattered a smattering of “Gold on the Ceiling”, sang spitefully about its “Next Girl”, whipped around with a “Ten Cent Pistol”, and managed to “Tighten Up” its act before regaling the crowd with a tale of a “Lonely Boy”.

The Black Keys may not be able to count on the support of a musical equivalent to Anthony Davis, LeBron’s new sidekick with the Lakers, though Joe Walsh comes close. The long-time guitarist of the Eagles was welcomed to the stage for a mid-set tribute to legendary axeman Glenn Schwartz before adding extra electric heft to “She’s Long Gone”.

Along the way, the Black Keys gave ample time to their 2019 release, Let’s Rock with the driving rhythm of “Eagle Bird” and more psychedelic “Tell Me Lies” early on, to the rock-danceable “Fire Walk With Me” and gospel-tinged “Walk Across the Water” in the middle of the set. The band’s catchy singles, “Lo/Hi” and “Go”, also made appearances during the encore. In each instance, the band made it clear that their new material not only represents a return to the post-garage sound that defined its rise to prominence in the early 2000s, but that it also fits seamlessly with all of its prior material, precisely because the new songs draw so well from the Black Keys’ entire oeuvre.

Through it all, the Black Keys have retained much of the same do-it-yourself defiance that helped them rise up “from the basement,” as Dan put it, and return to that same basement anytime they please. Perhaps no song better embodies that crossroads than “Little Black Submarines”. From its acoustic intimacy at the outset to its headbanging grunge in the latter half, the rock tune perfectly encapsulates the full range of the band’s infectious energy even eight years after its release.

It’s no wonder, then, that the Black Keys used it as their closer. Just as LeBron’s fans are excited to see him write another championship chapter in L.A. while still basking in his successes from his time in Miami and Cleveland, so, too, can Dan and Patrick push forward without forgetting the past and wax nostalgic without encumbering the brightness of its future.

If there is any way in which Akron’s most successful current band and its most famous athlete see eye to eye, it’s through their respective habits of shouting out Northeast Ohio at every turn. The Black Keys made sure to do so at the Forum, time and again, unabashedly reminding a room full of coastal, big-city folk that the middle of America can still keep one hell of a beat.

The Black Keys’ 2019 fall tour continues this weekend with a performance at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter in Portland, OR on Friday. Head to the band’s website for tickets and tour info.

Setlist: The Black Keys | The Forum | Inglewood, CA | 11/19/19

Set: I Got Mine, Eagle Birds, Tell Me Lies, Gold on the Ceiling, Fever, Next Girl, Fire Walk With Me, Walk Across the Water, Everlasting Light, Howlin’ for You, Your Touch, Water Street*, She’s Long Gone*, Tighten Up, Thickfreakness, Ten Cent Pistol, Lonely Boy

Encore: Lo/Hi, Go, Little Black Submarines

Notes:
* w/ Joe Walsh