Okay, so. May 19, my mom and I went to a Keane concert.

Tha's...kind of amazing for me 'cause the only concerts I've ever been to are for Peter Mayer and Paul Anka. >>;

I think you can figure out for yourself where the concert was held, but since I'm a privacy freak, I won't tell you. It's close enough to where I live that I didn't need to get there in an airplane. >>; It is in the United States. That's all.

So in the theater there was a stage at the front. There was a section of "floor" in front of it that stretched almost to the back. Surrounding the stage on the remaining three walls were theater-bleacher-seat things, and they were raised up above the floor. On the balconies overlooking the floor were little boxes containing five chairs that you could watch in as well. That's where my mom and I were. There was a little bit of trouble seeing because a woman in the box in front of ours (closer to the stage) kept shifting her position and obscuring our view of the stage, but eventually she realized what she was doing and leaned to the side so that we had a clear view.

Yeah. The..Helio(s?) Sequence opened for them first, and there was something wrong with the speakers (I think) so the guy's voice sounded really high and...I hate to say it, but feminine. Their style was interesting. I think the best part was their cover of Tomorrow Never Knows by Phil Collins--'tis my favorite song of his, so that was nice.

Then Mat Kearney played. He has the most epic fashion sense ever, and while his music seems more than a little repetitive, the songs all had personal meaning to him (from what he said), and I think his personality suits his chosen profession. I spent most of the concert analyzing the performers' personalities, and Mat was all excited about the fact that he released a new album (number two) yesterday--"I don't know how many of you are releasing an album today too..." (or something along those lines). He kept saying how excited he was. And he said the members of Keane are cute, charming, and wear cool sneakers.

Anyway, eventually Keane took the stage, and everyone on the floor got up and jumped up and down and it was cute. Tom's gotten a haircut since the last pictures I saw, and I think he's like the only male I've ever seen who looks better with short hair. (Aside from like, Daniel Radcliffe. >>; )

Ah... Even though I've been a Keane fan for at least two years, I knew very little about the band itself. I knew names, and I knew some snippets from Rhapsody's Music Trivia about the lack of guitar (although there is guitar on Perfect Symmetry). But for me, again, one of the most amazing parts of live performances is personality, and it was...so evident that the members of Keane had personality. Tom was like, jumping alllll over the stage and prancing around with his microphone. It was really fun to watch and it made me feel energized watching him. He was having a great time and he put a lot into the music, I think. He got this big acoustic guitar and did Playing Along all by himself, and for the line "I'm gonna turn up the volume..." he just belted that out, he used all the space in the hall really well, which I liked. They must've played at least fifteen pieces before they all left the stage, and then they came back and did...three or four more. They ended with Is It Any Wonder?, which was...amazing.

I'm going to go through their albums (since I have all three...that are released in the US; I think there are different tracks on our Hopes And Fears than on the UK's version, because I know we don't have On A Day Like Today) when I get home today and pick out all the songs they played, and create a playlist. ((Edit: I've created this playlist. If anyone remembers the exact order beyond they started with The Lovers Are Losing and ended with Is It Any Wonder?, please let me know. They played twenty songs total, which is way more than I expected. ))

Oh. I said the speakers were weird? Tom sounded like a girl. It made some songs sound kind of off, but still.

I think my favorite part was "oh simple thing..." etc. from Somewhere Only We Know. It was my first Keane song, and Tom let the audience sing that part--which I could never sing right on my own, but I did it right then, at the concert, so that was an amazing experience for me personally.

There was a part in Crystal Ball when Tom just laid down on the stage and waved his legs in the air. It was funny.

Tim was totally rocking out too. At his piano. Whenever his left hand wasn't doing anything he'd wave it in the air. And his feet were constantly in motion. (Yes, he had nice sneakers, Mat. So did Tom.) I think he was attempting to headbang, but he was jerking his head up and down in time with the drums.

At one point all four members gathered front and center for a more low-key number, and Richard sat down right in the middle of the cluster, and Tom gave him this look like "what are you doing in my spot" and Richard gave him this smirk. That made my mom laugh.

Oh, and... Jesse Quin played guitar for most songs. He also did a bit of percussion and vocals. Is he just with Keane for the tour, or is he joining the band? Although Jesse was really into the music, he seemed kind of cut off from the rest of the band. Tom said he was there "for a number of good reasons", but I don't know what he meant by that--there for the tour, or there in the band? They didn't have any other guest musicians, so I...don't know.

*attempts to think of whatever else she missed* I think that might be it. I'll continue to edit, and I hope to put up pictures sometime this or next week.

Thanks~

Additional edits:

There was a banner in the back featuring the art on the cover of Perfect Symmetry. There was a mat on the floor with the same pattern. I got a turquoise shirt with the picture on it as well--it's gorgeous, I wore it the day after.