Keane live in the US!

The wife and I braved the frigid Atlanta temps (don't laugh, it was cold!) to venture out the The Tabernacle to see Keane on their month-long US tour.  Since Keane has been one of my favorite Brit-Pop bands for years, I didn't dare miss this opportunity to see them live.  They DID NOT disappoint!  Tom was in top vocal form, even though they were nearing the end of the tour.  In fact, their show in Austin (City Limits) was taped for Stageside Live and broadcast on the web, and I must say, Tom sounded much better here than he did on that show.  The Atlanta crowd was in top form as well, and may well have been as loud and raucous with applause and adoration as any of their US stops.

Because my wife requires a mobility assistance device, we got a premium spot in the front at stage right.  For concerts, the floor area of The Tabernacle is standing only, but there is no elevator to the balconies (it's an old, turn of the century (20th) church), so they block of that section down front for those that can't stand for long periods or climb stairs to the balcony. Richard's crowd shot shows us down front, on the right.  My wife is wearing her pink jacket and waving from her scooter, I'm to her left, taking a picture of Richard taking a picture.  I really wanted to record the show with my Blue Mikey and iPhone 3GS, but I failed to prepare properly and clear out enough space, so the storage filled up after only 7 songs, and the FiRe recorder didn't even save that much...it just bombed.  Standing that close, the bass would probably have been overwhelming anyway (which is what happened when I recorded Boston last summer in Valdosta from the front row), but it would have been nice to have the recording, all the same.  I did manage to score the setlist used by Jesse Quin, the bass player (the crew was clearing the stage, and when the guy pulled up the setlist, he turned around and I was the first person he saw with my hand out, so he just walked up to me and gave it to me).

I have managed to acquire recordings from 3 venues on the tour, Nashville, New York, and Boise, as well as the Austin video. I'm hoping more shows trickle out over time, as the set was fantastic.  If you haven't picked up their latest album, Strangeland, released in 2012, you are missing a real treat.  It's a return by Keane to the upbeat, catchy tunes that propelled their first 2 albums (Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea) to the top of the album charts in the UK back in the mid-2000's.

The setlist:

01 You Are Young
02 Bend and Break
03 On the Road
04 We Might As Well be Strangers
05 Nothing In My Way
06 Silenced By The Night
07 Everybody's Changing
08 She Has No Time
09 Neon River
10 Spiraling
11 A Bad Dream
12 Hamburg Song
13 My Shadow
14 Disconnected
15 Is It Any Wonder?
16 This Is the Last Time
17 Somewhere Only We Know
18 Bedshaped
19 Sea Fog
20 Sovereign Light Cafe
21 Crystal Ball

As always, I'm available for trading bootlegs.