Keane (Berkeley Community Theatre, 27 January 2007)

Last time I saw Keane, they were just this little known band from England that sounded a lot like Coldplay but a tad wimpier. They played at Bimbo's in front of a sold out crowd and Tom Chaplin's addiction was still under wraps. A lot has changed since 2004. In 2007, Keane is one of the bigger bands that are classified as Coldplay-esque (along with Snow Patrol, Travis, The Fray, etc.). They play large shows. And Tom Chaplin is now out of rehab and seems to be enjoying life.

So, it was odd to see Keane at the Berkeley Community Theatre. Lots of people were there, from all walks of life, in varying ages. There's a certain novelty seeing a 65 year old male just stand in place and sing to "Everybody's Changing."

Keane's set even looked like a stripped down version of Coldplay's. Back in the Rush of Blood... era.

Tom Chaplin was in great spirits. And it's sort of refreshing to hear that his banter and enthusiasm wasn't cocaine induced. He looked better than before and his voice was top notch. At several points throughout the show, he was very grateful to the crowd for their support and to his band mates for putting up with his antics.

Keane played pretty much every single song from both albums. While the older songs got the loudest receptions, like "Bend and Break" and "Somewhere Only We Know," the newer songs were a bit edgier. "Is It Any Wonder?" is their big single from Under the Iron Sea and it was their "funkiest" song they played. Yes, having weird reverb like organ sounds in the beginning counts as "funky" for this band.

One of the more surreal parts of the show was when they had a recording of Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy read a World War I poem prior to Keane playing, I think, "A Bad Dream." It was a very powerful song and Tom hit the right notes. Tim's piano playing is just superb as well.

Overall, Keane knows how to put on a good show. Songs are pretty solid and the musicianship is just spot on. Yeah, they are one of the bands you would consider "lame," but I like them. And I like Coldplay. And Travis.

Beer Rating:

Coachella Line-Up Announced

Yeah, you know this already. But this is going to be a spectacular Coachella! It'll be as good as 2004, that's for sure. I'm going. Are you?

Calendar Updated

One of the advantages of being sick and up at this weird hour is that you can update the music calendar!

Oh, and a Coachella update. The Police will be one of the headliners. I know this because the pre-sale password for Coachella is "Roxanne." I just bought my $199 3-day pass!! I don't care much for The Police, but I would see them.

January:

25: Minipop, Audrye Sessions @ Popscene

February:

6: Lily Allen @ Great American Music Hall
7: Dont's @ Bottom of the Hill

March:

1: Matt & Kim, Erase Errata @ Bottom of the Hill
2: Diamonds (John Digweed & MSTRKRFT) @ Ruby Skye
2: Annuals @ Cafe du Nord (re-scheduled date)
3: Ghostland Observatory @ Mezzanine
9: Menomena @ Cafe du Nord
13: Fujiya & Miyagi @ The Mint
29: Calla @ Popscene

April:

6: The Gossip @ Bottom of the Hill
9: Muse @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
25: The Decemberists @ The Warfield
26: The Decemberists @ The Warfield
28: Junior Boys @ Mezzanine

June:

19: Low @ Great American Music Hall
20: Low @ Great American Music Hall

Photos from Girl Talk (The Independent, 12 January 2007)

Thanks to James for the photos from the Girl Talk show. These are the photos with me on-stage right behind Greg:

Girl Talk, Matt & Kim (The Independent, 12 January 2007)

Ahhh...nothing says "here comes the weekend" other than a good old dance off.

Girl Talk was spectacular at the Independent tonight. What a way to start off 2007. Oh, and so were Matt & Kim, whose high energized lo-fi pop got everyone's attention.

It's been a tough week for me. Not only with the stress of work, but also because of a minor car accident I was involved in. I'm okay, but my poor baby Audi isn't. So, I needed some sort of stress relief and the perscription is more shows.

Matt & Kim supported and they were very energetic. Everytime Matt would raise his arms to count down to the start of the song, I was reminded of Jasper Future of Art Brut. Kim was definitely the person who wore the pants, with her sculpted arms being far superior compared to Matt's lanky body. But what Matt lacked in physique, he made up for with character as he was just entertaining as all hell to watch. Of course, the crowd favourite, "Yea Yeah" was a success. I wanted to chuck food at them just like their video.

Girl Talk came on next. This one man band with one working laptop (not even an Apple, but a Toshiba Satellite and a Dell XPS!) played song after song after song and even more songs mixed in between. If you were thinking that this guy would just play Night Ripper, you are dead wrong. He played some Night Ripper songs, but it was a bit more freestyle than planned.

After one girl went on-stage, the invasion began. A whole mess of people were on stage, including a couple of guys who were just absolute wiggas. I was part of the invasion along with a newly met bloke from Aberdeen, Scotland. We tried to get our friend to join us, but she was a bit reluctant. We danced and observed Mr. Girl Talk himself fiddle with his audio program (I still can't believe it's not an Apple! He had Windows XP and shit!) as he searched for folders of songs to play. I forgot the program he used, but the man is truly doing something while he's playing these songs. No, he's not just opening up his iTunes and playing a Smart Playlist, but he's actually trying to figure out what songs will mix with what. Yes, it may be a bit WTF, but who cares! It was a lot of fun and I was dancing along with the rest of the crowd on-stage. I even helped Mr. Girl Talk get down from the table and patted his sweaty back a couple of times.

Great show! If you were lucky enough to get a ticket and see the whole thing, consider yourself lucky. I want this guy to DJ my party!

Beer Rating: 1/2 Beer.

New Concerts Added

Happy 2007! Here are some new shows for y'all to consider:

February:

8: Birdmonster @ Bottom of the Hill
10: Sparklehorse @ The Fillmore
23: Cold War Kids @ Great American Music Hall

March:

1: The Donnas @ Bottom of the HIll
3: Ponys @ Bottom of the Hill
3: Brightblack Morning Light @ Great American Music Hall
9: Bright Eyes @ Great American Music Hall
10: Bright Eyes @ Great American Music Hall
12: El Perro Del Mar @ Great American Music Hall
17: Bloc Party, Final Fantasy @ Concourse Exhibition Centre
28: TV On The Radio @ The Fillmore
29: TV On The Radio @ The Fillmore

April:

23: The Books @ Great American Music Hall
27: The Kaiser Chiefs @ The Warfield

May:

1: Explosions in the Sky @ Slim's