I’m a die-hard Keane fan. My goal in 2013 is to avoid seeing repeat concerts because it’s expensive and honestly, once is enough, right? I’m not through January and I’ve already busted my rule. But Keane follows no rule of thumb. Having toured the entire world for the last 12 months supporting Strangeland, I felt honored to be at Radio City Music Hall to see their very last concert of the tour.
They played all my favorites: “Bend and Break,” “We Might As Well Be Strangers,” “Is It Any Wonder?” and “This Is The Last Time.” Frontman Tom Chaplin still has one of the finest voices in pop music, and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley pounds the keys on “Neon River” and “On the Road” like no other. My favorite moments included “My Shadow” from Night Train, “A Bad Dream” and “Bedshaped.” Classic Keane. I dread having to wait another year for new music. Get to work!
English band Keane is making the rounds supporting their fourth studio album Strangeland, somewhat a hybrid of their piano-led alt-rock 2006 album Under the Iron Sea and their more pop-driven 2008 album Perfect Symmetry. To me, it’s just Keane at their finest, despite critical reviews of their new album. I’m a fan, not a critic. They are comprised of lead vocalist Tom Chaplin who has one of rock’s best voices, pianist Tim Rice-Oxley, the sonic core of the band, drummer Richard Hughes and guitarist Jesse Quin who officially became a full-time band member last year. Together they’re anything but in strange land.
They opened with the lead track off Strangeland, “You Are Young.” It’s the perfect song to showcase Chaplin’s towering vocals and Rice-Oxley’s deft skills behind the keys. The song also stays true to Keane’s penchant for soaring crescendos. Obviously, I loved it. Next was “Day Will Come,” another powerful ode to dreams coming true. “Everybody’s Changing” and my current crush off the new album “The Starting Line” permeated the gilded Beacon Theater, as did the next five songs. Each represented a quality I love about Keane: “Spiralling” has massive energy. “Neon River” perfectly balances Chaplin’s vocals and Rice-Oxley’s mad pounding on the piano. “Bend and Break,” perhaps my all-time favorite Keane song that inspired fist-pumping from Chaplin as if he were the lead in Les Miz. “A Bad Dream” because it projects dark and somber beautifully. And “Perfect Symmetry” for it’s shear genius, message and bridge.
I have seen Keane three times now — Radio City, outdoors at the Williamsburg Waterfront and now the Beacon. All big venues. All places where Chaplin likes to climb on boxes like a meerkat. But I really want to see them at Joe’s Pub, Bowery Ballroom, The Box. Chaplin’s somber, nearly a capella sample of “Strangeland” is the reason why. So pure, so perfect. I could listen to him sing all night long, and I don’t say that about too many male vocalists. I just don’t know how drum-driven songs like “On the Road” would play in a small venue. I think that song is Keane’s next “Bend and Break.” More vocal octave jumping and fist pumps from Chaplin.
I have to tell you about every song they sang because their songbook has grown deep and every one of them is a gem. “We Might As Well Be Strangers,” “Disconnected,” “This is the Last Time,” “Somewhere Only We Know” and Under the Iron Sea stand-out, “Is It Any Wonder?” preceded the beautiful “Bedshaped,” one of Keane’s earliest recordings and “Sovereign Light Cafe,” clearly the band’s favorite new song to perform. For the encore, the guys squeezed three songs into 12 minutes: “Sea Fog,” gorgeous. “Silenced By The Night,” their latest single. And “Crystal Ball,” the song that put Keane on the map in 2004. My crystal ball predicts Strangeland will continue to cement Keane as one of the world’s foremost and influential rock bands. Now if the U.S. would only pay attention.
Keane has become one of my all-time favorite bands. What differentiates Keane from other rock bands is that they use piano as their lead instrument, as opposed to guitar (though they do use guitar). It is the brilliance of composer and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley that gives Keane it’s unique soul. On top of that, the impeccable vocals of frontman Tom Chapman tell a beautiful melodic story in every song they perform. Rounding out the group and giving Keane its rock ‘n roll heart is Richard Hughes on drums and percussion.
I first saw Keane last year at Radio City Music Hall and they were phenomenal. They’re back this year to promote their new EP Night Train. The sun setting over Manhattan made for a dramatic and memorable night at the Williamsburg Waterfront. I missed the opening acts, including Ingrid Michaelson, but she was strangely covering Britney Spears’ “Toxic” as we entered the gates. But it was Keane that I was so excited to see again and what an amazing backdrop. Can you imagine how special it is for a UK band like Keane to have this as their view while performing:
I’m going to confess right now that we missed the opening acts because we stopped in the Radegast Hall and Biergarten in Brooklyn before hitting the venue for a giant liter of Kapuziner Weisse, and the beer garden setting continued once we got to the show, though we switched to Heineken Light. So my set list order is questionable, but I certainly remember all the songs and those that moved me most.
They finally took the stage and appropriately opened with “Clear Skies” off Night Train. Other songs off Night Train included “Back in Time,” “Stop for a Minute” and “Your Love” (featuring lead vocals by Tim Rice-Oxley). Night Train is Keane’s fourth studio album, following Hopes and Dreams (2004), Under the Iron Sea (2006) and Perfect Symmetry (2008). Keane played their best off all three of their previous albums.
From Hopes and Dreams, huge crowd pleasers “Somewhere Only We Know,” “Everybody’s Changing,” “This is the Last Time,” and two of my favorite Keane songs of all-time, “Bedshaped” and “Bend and Break” were all performed. From Under the Iron Sea, “Is It Any Wonder,” “Nothing in My Way,” “Try Again” and “A Bad Dream.” And finally from Perfect Symmetry (which might be their most perfect album), “Again and Again,” “Spiraling,” “You Haven’t Told Me Anything” and title track “Perfect Symmetry.”
As expected, they saved their best for last: the best song off Night Train, “My Shadow.” “‘Cause when your back’s against the wall, that’s when you show no fear at all, and when you’re running out of time, that’s when your hitch your star to mine.“ This song means so much to me, I can’t stand it. They closed with the great “Crystal Ball” from Under the Iron Sea. I loved watching Tom Chapman perch himself on a box like a meerkat with his arms wide open. I hold such respect for this man, and this group. I can’t wait to see them again.
Here’s a YouTube video of Keane performing “My Shadow” last year in Minneapolis. While the video quality is a bit grainy, it beautifully captures the impeccable vocals of Tom Chapman. Watch and worship.
