Keane at the QE

Tonight, I came back from a wonderful show put on by Keane at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. They are a piano driven band from Sussex, England who's music embraces such raw emotion with real, relatable lyrics. Tom Chaplin sung with such beauty that it just penetrated through the music. His vocal range is amazing. Tim Rice-Oxley was astounding with the keys. Richard Hughes pounded the drums to a fanastic beat. I wondered how the concert would be guitarless, but with three pianos, drums, and programmed beats, they totally rocked! The ambience was excellent with colourful lighting, strobes, smoke, and video displays. They played most of the songs from their new album "Hopes and Fears" and a couple of older and new tracks. Tom is a lot of fun and made the show interactive by having us sing along with him. With the song "Somewhere Only We Know" he stopped in the middle of it and had us sing the rest while the band played before taking over with his voice. In between songs, one girl got up on stage and hugged Tom, while the security guards quickly whisked her away. He was a bit caught off guard, but said he was flattered.

This band has so much potential to grow and make it big in North America. They're already quite a success in the UK. Keane put on an incredible show and I definitely want to see them live again.

Peace.