Laura Stricker

Last night I saw Keane at the Sound Academy here in Toronto. I would have written about it sooner, but I needed time to really think about it and decompress.
First of all, I will say that two years is MUCH TOO LONG for them to have been away. However, the wait was so worth it. The show was incredible. They really know how to entertain a crowd. Tom’s voice - whether he is singing something more upbeat or a slowed down ballad, is so rich and pure. His range is amazing - he hits super high notes and low notes with complete effortlessness. It really is quite something!
Helio Sequence and Mat Kearney were the opening acts. They were also both really, really fantastic. I’m actually a pretty big fan of Mat Kearney and yet, I’m ashamed to admit I did not know he was the opening act until this past Friday! But he’s really great, and I recommend everyone check him out. He’s kind of a mix of Jason Mraz (style wise), with a voice that is a dead ringer for Chris Martin’s.
Anyhoo, here’s a few pics:

Helio Sequence

Mat Kearney

Mat Kearney

Helio Sequence played seven songs (I think). I liked all of them except for one, which I think says a lot about just how good they are. Mat Kearney sang around 10 songs. Much as I love him, his set was wayy too long. Really good, just too long. Plus I was all anxious for Keane to come out.

So we waited around for what seemed like forever. My knees were starting to hurt. I guess I’m getting old, haha. Oh yeah going off topic for a second: earplugs are an amazing thing. Everyone always told me to use them at concerts and I basically said ‘pffft.’ But I used them when I went to Hey Rosetta, and again last night. My ears were not ringing at all afterwards and the sound was way better than if I had not been using earplugs.

Back on topic now. Keane came onstage and the crowd totally FREAKED OUT! It was awesome. Keane is like ridiculously popular in Toronto. I’m not sure if the show was sold out, but it was definitely packed. Tom (lead singer) seemed totally stunned by the reaction, as did the rest of the band - Tim, Richard and their newest addition, Jamie. Tom just kept kind of looking around in awe in between songs. It was really cool. They were definitely getting a lot of audience love!

The concert got me reminiscing about how I first discovered Keane. Obviously I love that they’ve been discovered over here and are doing well, but on the other, selfish, hand, it makes me a bit sad too. Before it was like they were my little secret, and now everyone knows about them. Which is great for Keane, but makes it harder for me to get primo standing room space at their shows.

Since I mentioned it…back in 2003, on October 31, I went with two of my friends to see Travis perform. The opening act sang three songs, and they were really, really good, but none of us heard what they said when they said their name. The next day I went on a frantic Google search for them. That band was none other than Keane. I found a contact email on their official site, and decided to write to them saying I’d really enjoyed their set. This is what I wrote:

I saw you in Toronto with Travis, and I just want to say that you guys are awesome, and hopefully soon your stuff will be in Canada, because you are very talented and I love your music!

I was not expecting a response or anything, I just wanted to tell them how great I thought they were. So I’m sure you can imagine how thrilled I was to find this in my inbox two weeks later:

Laura,
thanks a lot! we’ll be back, and i’m sure the next single will be out in canada, so keep an eye on the website!
see you next time,
Richard
KEANE

thus cementing my love for them

Oh, and something else I respect so much about them is how they experiment with different sounds on all their records. I may not always like it right off the bat, but it usually does grow on me. Both times now when I listened to the first single on Under The Iron Sea and Perfect Symmetry, if I did not know I was listening to a Keane song, I would have had no clue who it was. So kudos to them!

I’ll be posting more video from the show on Youtube. Pics will be up on Facebook shortly (hopefully).