Keane : Camden Barfly 1st June 2001
REVIEW
Thursday 7th June 2001
Call
me stupid for doing a 120-mile round trip to see Keane play on Friday
at Barfly but it was well worth it, taking second billing to 'Kaito'
who must have been pumped seeing the crowd who were packed into Barfly
at 21.00 hrs as Keane took the stage. No messing and straight into 'Call
me what you like' it's nice to hear songs that sound the same live as
well as on cd. Richard effortlessly keeping the beat on his drums, Tim,
slightly hunched yet relaxed, pacing, forward, back, forward again.
Tom centre stage with acoustic guitar, voice pitch perfect, slightly
flushed and Dom apprentice guitar hero who's already making first team
appearances on a regular basis, confident enough to leap, lean and crouch
without playing a bad chord.
'Pot of Gold' was
followed with a bit of banter, no hecklers in the venue tonight and
then 'To the end of the earth' once again faithfully reproduced live
and expertly seamed into 'Wolf at the door' which when finished gave
the audience an excuse to shout that bit louder. As if they weren't
already. Then the final three songs 'This is the last time' 'She has
no time' and 'Closer now'. So seven songs in twenty-five minutes possibly
thirty but time restrictions apply. Exit stage left shouts and chants
for more but to no avail. Hold on, aren't the English meant to be reserved
and quiet, even a couple of South Africans aren't that excitable? It
was all over too quickly.
Audience
reaction made me wonder whether I was at Keanes farewell gig their passion
was unquestionable. Keane thrived on it with a tight well rehearsed
set played with confidence. Two thirds of the audience left, Kaito didn't
have to struggle through the crowd to set up their kit. I'm sure they
gave it their best effort but one thing they did share with Keane was
the P.A. For a venue that exists to break new bands, the sound should
be premier league. Err can we check tonight's billing again I think
we got two of the groups the wrong way round.
review by Bec.
photos by Paul Rodwell
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