Three Imaginary Girls - Keane

Keane {Keane! Keane! Keane!}

heather b — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:31:56 +0000

10 Sep 2009

As we located our seats at the beautiful Moore Theater Thursday night, my friend turned to me and said "If anyone starts chanting 'Keane! Keane! Keane! Keane!' I'm totally leaving. I'll bet we're in for at least one session of overhand clapping in unison too." It's easy to be cynical about Keane at this point in their career, as they're not revered in indie rock circles as much more than Coldplay-lite (and Coldplay is pretty damned "lite" already, right?). But you know what? I think Hopes & Fears was a damned fine record and I don't care who knows it.

I like several tracks off both Under the Iron Sea and Perfect Symmetry also, so I was happy to settle in and enjoy at least a smattering of tunes from Hopes & Fears and hear the newer stuff too. Settling in wasn't in the cards though, as the very VERY enthusiastic Moore crowd leapt to it's feet as soon as Keane took to the stage and remained standing throughout the entire performance. With no fanfare, Keane burst into song; Tom Chaplin looked good in a simple blazer and yellow t-shirt, playing guitar in front of a backdrop of the new album cover. Warmup over, he greeted the screaming crowd by referring to Seattle as "America's greatest music town" and told us to enjoy ourselves and "just let go."

The set proceeded with a fairly even mix of songs from all three albums, albeit a little heavier on the Hopes and Fears tracks, but just by a smidge. Keane knows what their audience wants to hear, after all. The majority of the show turned into one big Keane singalong, at times the lead vocals were completely drowned out by the bellowing crowd on old favorite "Everybody's Changing", new track "Spiralling" and the instantly recognizable "Somewhere Only We Know". Our Tom didn't even bother trying to sing that one, instead turning the mic to the audience and conducting from atop an amp.

Chaplin certainly loves his fans, and definitely did not disappoint on Thursday night. While not the world's most dynamic dancer, Keane's frontman still kept the adoring crowd's attention with his high energy stage moves, working all sides of the room and keeping up the between-song banter with a lot of positive chatter. His characteristic style is to sing with one arm raised, marching in place, occasionally doing a full wind-up and punching the air for punctuation. He reminded me a lot of an early 80's Paul Young.

Owing to the new album's heavily synthed 80's pop style, the majority of the night was fairly upbeat and rock infused, however they did break it down for us once or twice. "We Might As Well Be Strangers" began with just a voice and piano (although you could hardly hear the kid over the audience singing along); drums kicked in after the first verse and Tom gave us a full, gutsy howl on "...be straaaangeee-eeers" which I found quite satisfying. The most beautiful song of the night (for me) was a totally scaled back, acoustic version of "Eyes Open". I didn't even take notes, I just stood rapt with the rest of the crowd and swooned a little bit. This was followed by the equally beautiful, slow and yearning "Try Again". Against the simple orchestration, Tom's voice really carried. It was one of the only times the entire evening where the audience was perfectly still.

Still overall, most of the set was pretty rockin'. They really tore up the stage with big, rock loudness on Iron Sea's main single "Is it Any Wonder?". It was crunchier than the album cut and once again, the audience took the lead on vocals. Between songs, the crowd screamed requests and Tom finally relented with one of his favorites, "A Bad Dream" in which he finally took to the piano. Following that track, a very sweaty boy informed us that Keane were about to perform their best song written to date: "...a song for our time, we've learned so much yet we insist on killing each other...a cry for help." They then launched into the desperately hopeful "Perfect Symmetry", a fairly classic Keane song, yet anthemic just the same. Check it out.

The final song of the set was the ebullient "Crystal Ball" which indeed featured the most massive overhand-clap session of the night (of which there were many). It was madness both on and off stage, and a completely drenched and grateful band acknowledged the crowd briefly before heading offstage for a short break. Only then did the audience bust into "Keane! Keane! Keane! Keane!" The band returned quickly and gave us a slightly sinister "Atlantic" before totally blowing the crowd away with a near-perfect rendition of "Under Pressure". Dude, Tom Chaplin can really work the Mercury and I think Freddie would have been proud. Finally, after vigorously and sincerely thanking their opening acts, the audience and whatnot, Keane finished the night with my all time favorite song of theirs, "Bedshaped." Who knew it was everyone else's favorite too? I was really happy to hear it, Chaplin's voice clear and pure and the stage alternately flooded with yellow light on the lyric "with the sun in your eyes" and then blinding white on "in white light, I don't think so..." <sigh>. Good show, y'all.

Win tickets to see Keane at the Moore on September 10th!

imaginary victoria — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:43:40 +0000

Guh. Okay:

Pretend it's the winter of '04-'05. Ready? Go.

I don't know what you were up to, but I was geeking out about shows and posting really, really bad pictures I was taking with my point-and-shoot on my blog (that all of six people were following). My heavy rotation of new music included I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, Emoh, Hopes and Fears, a Barsuk comp, anything involving Colin Meloy or Ray Lamontagne, The Wrens, The Frames, Andrew Bird, Iron and Wine, Damien Rice, Ed Harcourt, and David Garza. Plus some live acoustic Howie Day bootlegs from way before he got awful. At this point, I'd been hip to KEXP for about six months or so, I was drooling over the content on three imaginary girls, and my BFF was trying to get me to move out to the West Coast.

I also had a really, really crappy mp3 player.

Keane, with The French Kicks

imaginary jessica — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 07:00:00 +0000

7 Sep 2004

frenchkicks04sept.jpg

I must confess, I didn't know much about The French Kicks until about a week before the show, when I bought their two LPs and started asking friends what they knew of the band in preparation for an interview that's yet to transpire (stay tuned). Two people whose taste in music I particularly trust assured me that I was in for a treat. With both One Time Bells - the FK's 2002 release - and their current album The Trial Of The Century still ringing in my ears, I set off for the Showbox with my favorite plus-one, the ever-delightful Janay.

Despite the larger venue and all-ages crowd, The French Kicks' live set had all the intimacy of an evening in a dear friend's living room. Picture yourself in a familiar dimly lit room, settled in on an appropriately overstuffed couch, surrounded by a group of your closest friends listening to the most perfect harmonies you could possibly imagine. The French Kicks sound just like their record, but it's even more fabulous in person because you can hardly believe that they're so tight.

If you couldn't tell by now, I've developed a rather acute infatuation with the French Kicks. This crush blossomed to its fullest during their set. Their special brand of strong, sexy pop entrances listeners with romance and bittersweet goodness. Sultry and warm, the French Kicks use their technical proficiency and flawless harmonies to seductively awe you at every turn. Their performance of "Oh Fine," a track off their latest LP The Trial Of The Century, showcased their beguiling charm exquisitely.

Frontman Nick Stumpf, obviously ecstatic to be out from behind the drum kit (a new role for him as of this February), got everyone's hands clapping to set the rhythm for a solid drum machine and shimmery cymbal-driven drums. The driving bass line swelled to meet celestial guitars and delicate keyboards, inciting hip swaying galore. Looking oh-so-stylish in his black sportcoat and Jaggeresque strut, Nick crooned up to falsetto over the rolling drums, topping off what may be one of the most perfect harmonies I've heard in ages. I'm a sucker for good harmonies. It's quite a rare phenomenon and when it really happens, it's magic.

As openers, The French Kicks set the bar exceedingly high. In fact, too high for Keane to match. Secretly, I like it when this happens. It's a bit like an underdog team coming around to beat out the hometown favorites. Now let's be clear, I'm not saying that Keane didn't sound good. They played a beautiful set, impressively meeting the standard set by their record Hopes and Fears.

But when it comes to stage presence, Keane left me with a bad taste in my mouth; a taste strangely akin to bad cheese. Tom Chaplin marred his lovely vocals time and again by riddling the set with over-the-top hand gestures, genuflections, and melodramatic bows at the end of songs. Keyboardist Tim Oxley-Rice failed to help the cause by playing in a manner that strongly resembled a Muppet (in particular, for those of you who remember, the clumsy tuxedo-clad giants from the "At The Dance" scenes of the Muppet Show). Janay called it dead-on when she said Keane live is "like Spinal Tap meets The Muppet Show." I couldn't think of a better description.

I don't think I'll be able to listen to Keane without recalling Chaplin (or, as I've taken to calling him, Lord Fauntleroy) trying to pull off the brooding Brit pop star look with his cherubic face and absurdist sweeping arms. After seeing The French Kicks just moments before, Janay and I were having none of it (although we thoroughly entertained ourselves with banter about Spinal Tap and the Muppets). As we slipped out during Keane's by-now superfluous encore, we both agreed that The French Kicks had won the day.

As openers, The French Kicks set the bar exceedingly high. In fact, too high for Keane to match. Secretly, I like it when this happens.

Hopes and Fears

imaginary jessica — Sat, 21 Aug 2004 07:00:00 +0000

8.2

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000268QB2/wwwthreeimagi-20

B000268QB2.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The first time I heard Keane, I was struck by the intense familiarity of their music. Not familiar in the generic "oh I've heard this before" sense of the term; rather, Keane's songs are like something remembered from a dream — ethereal, rich with meaning, bordering on celestial. With only piano, keyboards, drums, bass, and the highly expressive vocals of Tom Chaplin, this three-piece concocts glamorous, full-sounding tracks imbued with bittersweet beauty.

While comparisons to fellow sonorous Britpop bands Coldplay and Travis continue to run rampant (and rightfully so, to a certain extent), don't think Keane's music is simple mimicry. The exquisite talents of Tim Rice-Oxley on piano, keyboards, and bass, when combined with Chaplin's achingly beautiful vocals and Richard Hughes' sparingly perfect drums, let Keane create not just songs but atmospheres, swirls of music that engulf you as you listen. Musically, Keane is intricate and lush, moving far beyond formulaic (dare I say, sophomoric?) commercial favorites. What's more, Keane achieves its sound without any guitars (save a bass for rhythmic enunciation). Lyrically, the songs possess both complexity and charm — Chaplin manages to articulate universal sentiments about everyday life in a manner that inspires empathy in the listener, without sounding common or maudlin (which is far more than I can say for certain bands who write annoying and impossibly sappy hit songs about colors and bad luck with weather).

Don't write Keane off as merely derivative. When a band takes an existing genre and goes beyond previously established understandings of that sound, as Keane has with Hope And Fears, the label "derivative" just doesn't fit. Keane redeems the soaring Britpop musical trend (a trend that, until Keane came along, I enthusiastically shunned) by infusing the genre with a greater sophistication.

As an album, Hope And Fears is very all-of-a-piece; each track dovetails neatly into the next, leading you along a path that is at once familiar and foreign. The mood wanders from song to song; melancholy ballads like "We Might As Well Be Strangers" live peacefully next to more uptempo — albeit still poignant — tracks like "Everybody's Changing." A subtle apprehension and longing underlies Hope And Fears throughout — Keane makes manifest the vague disquiet and expectation that accompanies reflection on future days. It's a gorgeous album, a strikingly impressive debut LP, and a must-have for anyone who enjoys listening to pure beauty.

With only piano, keyboards, drums, bass, and the highly expressive vocals of Tom Chaplin, this three-piece concocts glamorous, full-sounding tracks imbued with bittersweet beauty.