Morrison Holiday Bar soundman Tom Smith got the call in early May: The Black Keys wanted to do a Record Hang — a late-night party with the band’s two leads spinning 45s for fans — at the bar after their May 27 Red Rocks concert.
They’d provide their own security and equipment.
While the band set the Record Hang up ahead of time, the Holiday announced it on its Facebook page on the day of the event. It sold just 300 tickets — all the space it had in a room stripped of most furniture to create more space — and filled the bar to capacity by midnight.
The Record Hang wasn’t the first time the band’s leads Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have hung out at the Holiday.
“They came in in 2022 and did a benefit,” Smith said. “They really liked it and started doing it all over the country.”
It wasn’t an unusual request.
Bar owner Dave Killingsworth said artists from Red Rocks commonly drop in, sometimes just for a drink and occasionally asking to take the stage.
“Sometimes they show, sometimes they don’t,” he said. “They find out about the bar. We don’t actively go out looking for anybody.”
Texas-based country band Shane Smith and The Saints do a Holiday after-party following every Red Rocks show.
Spinning singles
Black Keys’ Record Hang attendees paid $15 each to get into the 11 p.m. event. And while Smith coordinated much of it, the Holiday didn’t keep any of the ticket sales.
The bar’s staff also took on extra shifts and duties to get ready for the event.
While three bartenders were on duty earlier in the evening as the band Alibi played, three more joined them at about 10 p.m. — when the bar closed and Smith asked everyone to leave.
(Please see slideshow below for more photos from The Black Keys’ Record Hang)
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney spin 45s together on stage at Morrison’s Holiday Bar after their May 27 Red Rocks concert. Credit: Jane Reuter 
The Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney walked onto the Holiday Bar stage shortly after midnight, following their May 27 concert at nearby Red Rocks. Credit: Jane Reuter 
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach spins 45s during a late-night May 27 Record Hang at Morrison’s Holiday Bar. Credit: Jane Reuter 
Holiday Bar staff cleared the bar of most of its furniture, including the bar stools, to make room for the standing-room only crowd that turned out for The Black Keys’ Record Hang. Credit: Jane Reuter 
A standing-room crowd watched The Black Keys during their Record Hang at Morrison’s Holiday Bar, held after the group’s May 27 Red Rocks concert. Credit: Jane Reuter 
Drummer Patrick Carney approaches a group to autograph a concert poster during the band’s recent Record Hang in Morrison. Credit: Jane Reuter 
Patrick Carney takes a break during the Record Hang with fellow band member Dan Auerbach. Credit: Jane Reuter 
Crowds of fans pressed all sides of the Holiday Bar stage during The Black Keys’ recent Record Hang in Morrison. Credit: Jane Reuter
They took the next hour to clear tables and chairs, making way for a mostly standing-room-only crowd. The Black Keys’ staff also arrived during that hour, setting up their own sound system and boxes of 45s, establishing a VIP area for the band on the top deck, and checking to ensure doors were locked.
At 11 p.m., while the Keys’ were still on stage at Red Rocks, the Holiday opened its doors for Record Hang attendees. Just after midnight, Carney quietly walked onto the stage and started spinning 45s. A few minutes later, Auerbach joined him.
Neither spoke but went straight to the business of playing records, with Auerbach occasionally acknowledging the audience by raising a glass in a toast.
Finding the right sounds
The Record Hangs aren’t just a way to come down after a concert. Auerbach and Carney, who are known for their love of vinyl and DJing, says it’s significantly influenced their music and creative process. The Black Keys spent part of 2023 doing Record Hangs across North America and Europe, playing singles in small clubs into the wee hours of the morning, according to Billboard magazine.
They gauged the crowd’s reaction at those events, using it as market research to help tighten up their songwriting. That had a strong influence on the 2024 album, “Ohio Players,” on which they collaborated heavily with Beck.
“Ultimately you want to find the record that sounds like a hit that people haven’t heard before,” Auerbach told iHeart Radio in 2024. “That’s what the goal is. So we were having this friendly competition buying records, searching for records, trying to spin records and see how they would go over with the crowd. Then we would take that energy into the studio.”
For the Keys, the hunt never ends. The group’s Facebook page shows Auerbach and Carney spent part of May 24 in downtown Denver, looking for new 45s to spin at Wax Trax and other shops.