Keane are one of those bands who have outgrown their humble indie beginnings and as a result have become a punch-bag for the self-proclaimed cool music mags (well NME…). This is pretty much the same as the Stereophonics - got too big and people translated this (wrongly) as selling out.

Opening at such a large venue is a mixed blessing. It is a great opportunity for relatively unknown bands to share their music with a big audience (it must be an amazing experience to stand in front of the biggest crowd of their career) and do what they love. On the downside, few if any of the crowd know the band or songs, most are still getting into position, doing toilet runs and stocking up on the beers for the headline act - who they actually paid to see. And then of course the novices are squeezed onto stage-front trying not to touch the big band’s kit. It must be like being given the key to the sweetshop only to find the chain has been left on…

The support act are strange mix upon first viewing, from the pretty pop keyboards, to gritty rock and roll lead guitars, drums and bass and highly sophisticated lead singer – there could actually be 3 bands on this stage. However, it is just the one, they are called The Dears, and this mix only leads to much anticipation about what is to come. It felt very restricted for them, which was a shame from one point of view, but I have seen them before and they are a band who produces raw emotional energy from the intensity of the performance, rather than physical energy from scissor kicks and getting big air off the amps!

They are not a spectacular band, but they do what they do well. There is a lot at stake for bands who get their foot in the door these days. There is no room for mediocrity or average record sales, or actually being rock and roll and upsetting the apple cart. The Dears, in all that is good about them, are very typical of this current trend. They throw the shapes and have the tunes but have got to their current position based on being good but safe.

I am a little stuck with The Dears as I am not sure who they appeal to. They verge on the interesting, but the REALLY good parts of their songs are hidden away and only appear in tiny bursts catch a breath before slipping back under the surface. It is so difficult to judge the band on a show where the group dynamic is so obviously shot by the stage set up, particularly as they are lined up like naughty school children who have been told not to look at each or face detention. This is a real shame because the band does have tunes and can do it live. They give a heartfelt, sometimes sweeping take on the big rock song, with hints of more daring avenues in the slight touches of electronica and absolute raw metal - which as they grow and develop should lead into something special. The best way to sum it up is to say they did their job and kept everyone happy, but few Keane fans are going to go out and buy their album based on what they saw and heard.



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And so on to Keane, a band I have always struggled with. They have some really good songs and obviously hit the right note with many people to be able to play arenas. But how much more is there behind the hits and headlines? I have to be honest and say that one thing that has always grated about Keane is their 3- piece make-up. Most 3-piece bands use what they have and often generate simply blistering sounds - Muse, The Gossip and Nirvana spring to mind – hell, the White Stripes do it with only 2. Hamell On Trial does it all on his lonesome… My point is that Keane have lots of instruments on their records and when they perform songs live they still have loads of instruments – but still only 3 people! Now does this amount anything more than karaoke? The 3 members are singing and playing along to backing tracks for the majority of the set, which can only limit them as there can never be any mistakes, or the experience of moments of inspiration where they set off in a different direction, and the others either follow or run. This to me is not what live music is about. The band is trapped within the song and have to do it as on the album and as near perfect as possible. I just can’t see what the difference is between this and Leona performing on X-Factor last year, except of course that she had a fully live band for most of the shows – oops!

Anyway, I can leave that to the side because this may be karaoke, but blow me, it is bloody good karaoke. Tom does at first look a little out of place on such a huge stage, but he works hard to really make it seem like a home. Tim is the powerhouse of the band – he is not the drummer by the way, but the multi instrumentalist (mainly keyboards) who throbs and generates the passion and absolute commitment of at least 3 other rather energised band members – which is just as well because from what I can see he is the one flicking the switch to get the invisible members going. Sorry, I will leave the Keaneoke comments aside now…

What I noticed most is that they have very little of any substance other than the singles. Now don’t get me wrong, the singles were pretty engrossing, epic, stadium sized anthems which really made the place rumble. However, the fillers were certainly not killers. They are very ordinary, and although delivered with gusto and with an adoring crowd in full dreamlike gaze, they are instantly forgettable. And Keane (a bit like Coldplay) do not have enough big hits to sustain such a large show. Their venture out onto the mini stage in the centre of the venue with the big balloon dropping down to just over their heads should have signalled a few moments of absolute beauty and soul destroying intensity that would have made grown men cry, yet they just washed over. Even the diehard fans seemed to be willing them to get back to the main stage and crack on with their big ones. But to be fair, the big ones did arrive and although they were too closely bunched together at the end (which accounted for the very forgettable and tune light mid section of the show) they were very big. Crystal Ball, Is It Any Wonder, Bad Dream, Somewhere Only We Know, Everybody’s Changing, and finishing on Bedshaped were by a country mile the highlights of the show which do take on extra dimensions live – despite the backing track (sorry, last time) – due to the huge singalong choruses and dedicated following. And in a venue this size with this many people it would have been a real let- down had the crowd not made these songs a bit special.

I just can’t get out of my head that they are sticking with the 3-piece under either label pressure to remain slightly unique, or because they themselves want to remain unique, or even because they are such a tight gang that they just don’t want any new members to shake things up. BUT, they should. They should have real people playing real instruments in real time for their songs to really take on the life that they capture on record. Not often that that is the case, but I think their already pretty good live show would be truly deserving of such a venue and be quite breathtaking if they could build on the energy and enthusiasm of the 3 guys already there. We’ll just have to wait and see if they have the balls to sacrifice novelty and uniqueness and really take their music to a whole new level. I hope so because they really do sparkle – some of the time.

DP