Keane Pinetum, Bedgebury 12/6/10
3/5
By: Tom Hocknell
Has a pleasant band ever attracted more unpleasant criticism than Keane? In the same way no one admits to voting Conservative, no one admits to liking Keane, despite recently walking off with their fourth consecutive number one album, (The EP Night Train). In worthy support of that, and the Forestry Commission, this gig plays against the magical backdrop of Bedgebury forest in Kent and is something of a homecoming, being the biggest gig played nearest to their native Sussex, the crowd consisting of well-wishers, friends and children who probably last saw them in a village hall.
The recent EP is well represented tonight, though without the rapping collaborators. Thus, the Rocky-theme sampling ‘Looking Bac’k is shamefully not played; it’s the conifers loss. Some album filler makes for a bland start, after which Tom Chaplin announces it is going to be a special night, and you know what, he’s right, although his announcement that the slightly bonkers ‘Spiralling’ is going to ‘ramp it up’ doesn’t quite materialise, but from then they are utterly in charge.
K’naan’s rap is unmissed from ‘Stop for a Minute’, demonstrating that no matter what you do with a Keane song, it’ll always sound like Keane, which might have some running for the trees, but actually demonstrates the band’s strength. Perhaps overly magnanimously, Tom Chaplin allows the ‘best vocalist in Keane’ to take singing duties on the sublime ‘Your Love’ from the new EP. Its folding electronics match keyboardist, Tim Rice-Oxley’s vocals perfectly, although predictably the crowd are less-enthused than they are for the ‘earlier stuff’
For ‘You Don’t See Me’ Tom stares into the crowd to sing ‘such a beautiful view’ accompanied by the sound of a thousand lumps being swallowed from throats. There is something platitudinal about their lyrics, although ‘as the needle slips/into the run out groove’ of ‘Perfect Symmetry’, they justify their popularity, in a moment that cuts to the quick.
One of the final songs, Under The Iron Sea’s ‘Crystal Ball’ is a revelation – it’s the dark horse in their canon and flexes so impressively tonight that it’s now impossible to hear it in alternative context. They leave on a slow number, which was misjudged, but otherwise they conquered an admittedly easy crowd. Of course, they are preaching to the converted, and regardless of any successes they may have, like the Tories, some people’s minds will remain unchanged no matter what they do. It is their loss.
Artists in this article: Keane
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