Keane Music Argentina: July 2009

As you might've gathered, it's quite a quiet week in the world of Keane this week (the band are off having their very well-deserved holidays). So we thought we'd raid the km.com content for some classic content. Here is the first ever liveblog we did, from the Brighton Centre in October 2006. It begins with a picture of Colin and ends with a proper bit of drama. Enjoy...

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3.15PM - IN THE PRODUCTION OFFICE, BRIGHTON CENTRE

And so our time on the road with Keane begin. It's a damp Wednesday afternoon in Brighton and we're sitting in the Prodution Office with Colin the Tour Manager - who you can see in the picture above. He tells us that he has OCD and keeps his desk very tidy. We'll let you know if that's true as the day goes on.

Of the band, only Richard is currently in the venue - he's got a few phone interviews to do. Beth, the band's assistant, tells us that Tom and Tim are currently out and about in Brighton.

Right, we're off to nose around. You can email us at ontour@keanemusic.com if there's anything in particular you'd like us to find out (or just to say hello).

3.33PM - TIM VISITS THE PRODUCTION OFFICE
Mr Rice-Oxley has just arrived to sort out his guestlist for tonight. Nichola Hallows emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to ask if the Brighton show is more special because it's the most local to Battle (Keane's home town). 'Yes,' says Tim, who is wearing a nice beige top. 'I've got my brother and my mum and dad coming along tonight.' Tim says he's also looking forward to the show because apparently the sound is very good in the Brighton Centre. Half an hour till soundcheck...

3.49PM - SOUNDCHECK PUSHED BACK 5 MINS
Because the piano tuner is running late. The beauty is in the detail.

3.53PM - SUPPORT ACT QUESTION
Andrea Jones has emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to ask who the support act is tonight. Well, we've just been handed what's known in the trade as a 'Day Sheet'. This reveals that the supports are John Roderick at 7pm and Captain at 7.45pm. Keane will be onstage at 9pm.

4.02PM - TOM IS IN THE BUILDING
Or so we're told. We're off to look for him. And the piano tuner. Krystina has emailed to ask why things on Colin's desk aren't at right angles if he has OCD. He's actually "mortified" that the picture was taken before he had the chance to tidy it. But you'll note that the gap between each of the three A4 pieces of paper he's posted up is exactly the same...

4.16pm - AN EMPTY VENUE

No sign of Tom or the soundcheck. But here's a picture of the empty Brighton Centre. Could that be the piano tuner standing there...?

4.29PM - DICKIE THE TOUR CHEF

Ewan Mackie emailed ontour@keanemusic.com asking what's for tea tonight. Well Ewan, Dickie the tour chef tells us the menu is as follows...

STARTERS
- Butternut squash and ginger soup
- Chicken tikka salad

MAINS
- Shepherds pie
- Pork fillet with gorgonzola sauce
- Prawn noodles
- Sweet potato and sweet chili tart

PUDDING
- Banoffee pie (a request from Beth, she tells us)

Right. Soundcheck time. See you in a bit...

5.16PM - BACK FROM THE SOUNDCHECK
The band played 'Leaving So Soon', 'Frog Prince', 'Can't Stop Now', 'Broken Toy' and 'Your Eyes Open'. Richard tells us that it was a very good soundcheck. In fact, Keane's front of house engineer Iian told the band it's the happiest he's been with a soundcheck on this tour. Apparently they've added some new equipment. It certainly sounded good to us. Pictures to follow as soon as we've uploaded them...

5.36PM - PICTURES FROM THE SOUNDCHECK
Don't forget you can email ontour@keanemusic.com with questions or comments (thanks to the bundles of you who already have!). Peej has emailed to ask how big tonight's venue is - it's 4,500 people.

5.45PM - SORRY AMERICAN FOLKS, WE DON'T KNOW...
Lots of Keane's US fans have (quite understandably) been emailing to ask when the lads will announce new US dates. Sorry, but we honestly don't know. However, we did think it was promising that the prize they're offering as a competition on the USB stick is "a trip to see Keane in America next year". Seems unlikely they'll go all that way just to play to a couple of competition winners from the UK. But as soon as we have concrete news, you'll read about it first on keanemusic.com.

5.49PM - 'WHO DOES THE WASHING?'
Sylvia has emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to ask who does Keane's laundry (as it's pretty apparent from the fans' photos that their shirts get very sweaty). Beth's, the band's assistant, tells us that it gets given to the local production runner (each show has one provided by the promoter) and they take it to the laundrette or dry cleaning place. Although Colin tells us that sometimes, if they're in a hurry, they have to get it done at the band's hotel. "At great expense," says Colin, who's paid to worry about such things...

5.55PM - SECURITY BRIEF
Andy - Keane's security chap - is currently having a security brief with the venue's security (as he does every night). He'll be passing on the band's general security requirements and suchlike. From where we're sitting, the security chaps look tough, but friendly.

6.05PM - INSIDE THE DRESSING ROOM

We've just popped to see Richard, Tim and Tom in their dressing room which, Richard tells us, "is bigger than average" and "quite nice". In the above picture, you'll note that Tim's aforementioned "nice beige top" has been left on the sofa, replaced by a smart shirt and some trousers, as Tim has just given a short interview to Sky News about the live bootleg CDs. Tom, as you'll also see, is reading today's Independent newspaper in which he was particularly enjoying an article about former Norwich City goalkeeper Bryan Gunn. And Richard showed us his collection of vegan candy. We have more pictures, which we'll post in a bit. But for now it's dinner time.

6.15PM - DINNERTIME
Before we go for our dinner, we can tell you what Tim, Tom and Richard are having for theirs (they're currently in the dressing room eating it while on a conference call to their manager, Adam).
Tom - butternut squash and ginger soup; peppered pork fillet with gorgonzola sauce
Richard - sweet potato and sweet chili tart with potato wedges; banofee pie
Tim - chicken tikka salad; Thai prawn and coconut noodles.
Now, we really are off to get some food for ourselves...

7.04PM - PICS OF DINNER
Okay, we had the chicken tikka salad, the Thai noodles and the banoffee pie. We sat next to Keane's new security chap Andy, who was telling us about his martial arts training, how to deal with crowd surfers and the fact that he very much enjoys watching Keane play live every night. He also said that the standard of catering on this tour is very high, and we'd have to agree.

7.26PM - MORE FROM THE DRESSING ROOM...
Here's some more of our pics from the dressing room earlier.

Um, this is what the door looks like. Please put out your cigarettes...

Tom reading his paper. And looking ever so slightly suspicious of us.

The dressing room smoothie maker. Tom, as you may know, is the Smoothie King. Elisabeth in Holland emailed ontour@keanemusic.com asking for a recipe from Tom. The one he made today, Tom tells us, contained "melon, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, orange juice and soya milk". According to Richard it was "very nice".

Richard, modelling Tim's smoothie, which he'd saved for later (in the ice box, which Richard is sitting on).

Richard, holding vegan candy (from America) standing by the lads' travelling wardrobe. Each member has a drawer there on the left. Richard's is the top one. He keeps his vegan candy in there.

7.47PM - T-SHIRTS SELLING WELL, SHOWER CURTAIN LESS SO

We've just been for a bit of a wander around the venue, which is now open and getting busy. We saw a couple of songs from opening act John Roderick, who was going down pretty well. And then we wandered past the large queue for the Concert Live CDs and went to the merch stand. The chap on the stall - who is from Brighton and is only working this show - told us the T-shirt he is modelling in the picture is the best seller so far tonight. However they haven't sold any of the Keane shower curtains yet. This may well be because they're not displaying them on the stall. We told him this, but he said that's because it's too big. We suggested he wore one like a cape, but he didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

7.50PM - WHAT IS BANOFFEE PIE?
For those of you who've emailed, banoffee pie is a pie that mixes banana and toffee flavoured filling into one pie. They could've called it toffeeana pie, but that's not as catchy. It's very nice. Beth - the band's assistant - has just had seconds.

7.52PM - BAND UPDATE
Tim and Richard are currently rehearsing some songs in the music room - which is attached to the band's dressing room and has equipment in there - while Tom is having a sleep. Apparently they're going to wake him up in about 15 minutes.

8.05PM - THE ATMOSPHERE
Emma Gray has written to ask what the atmosphere is like backstage, if everyone seems hectic or relaxed or bored. We'd say that people seem busy, professional and focused, like they all know what they've got to do and they're getting on with it. But everyone is very friendly too and up for having a laugh. Actually, we were very impressed to meet a man who works for the promoters called Graham. We had a poster of him on our wall years ago, when he was in a marvellous band called Inspiral Carpets.

8.10PM - SANNA IN THE HOUSE
Bridget has emailed to ask if Sanna Annukka - who did the artwork for 'Under The Iron Sea' - has been to any of the shows on this tour yet. Good question - turns out she's coming tonight. If we spot her perhaps we'll march her over to the merch stand to take a picture of her in front of her masterpieces...

8.19PM - BETH SEWS BUTTONS

Beth - the band's assistant - has just been in the production office sewing a button onto Richard's shirt. "It's a glamourous job, as you can see," she says. Oh, and talking of famous people on the guestlist (see below) a Premiership player who scored at the World Cup has asked to be put on the guestlist for tomorrow's Ally Pally show...

8.34PM - TIM "NOT FEELING TOO NERVOUS"
We've just bumped into Tim in a corridor (there's lot of corridors here) and asked him the question many of you have been emailing to ontour@keanemusic.com; do the band get nervous before the show? "You always get a bit nervous before a show," says Tim. "And it's worse as the venue's get bigger, because you feel a bit like there's nowhere to hide. But I'm feeling pretty good about tonight's show." This could be because of all the family members that are here tonight. Tom's dad has, we're told, arrived and turned down one of the best seats in the house so that he can go and stand at the front. Bless. Another question lots of you have asked is whether the band have any pre-gig rituals. "Come to the dressing room in ten minutes and find out," says Tim...

9.06PM - THE BAND ARE ONSTAGE
Yes, the band have now taken to the stage. They're about 6 metres in front of us, playing 'Everybody's Changing' and 4,500 Brightonians are bellowing along to the chorus. Pictures of the both the pre-gig ritual and the show will be coming up soon (ah, the joys of wireless internet)...

9.17PM - THIS IS HOW THEY GOT READY

So this is how the band got ready for the show which they are currently playing ('We Might As Well Be Strangers' at the moment). The lads have a little room next to their dressing room with music equipment in and they ran through some very playful renditions of several songs, including "Everybody's Changing" and "Somewhere Only We Know", with Tom playing some pretty darned impressive piano (we didn't realise he was so good). While they were doing this, Tim was stretching and warming up his voice, until Tom let Tim have a go on the piano and he and Richard ran through a couple more songs, including 'Leaving So Soon'. Please excuse any spelling mistakes at this point, it feels very odd (and slightly off-putting) to be sitting right next to the stage at a rock gig typing to you folks...

9.24PM - PUTTING ON THEIR MONITORS

So, after warming up the songs, this is when they put their monitors on in the dressing room. They were taking their time, seeming nice and relaxed and excited, when they were suddenly told that stage time was 10 minutes earlier than they thought. At least that stopped them having too long to think about it - it was straight down the stairs and onto the stage. They're playing "Bend And Break" now, and we're beginning to understand why Andy the security guy wears ear protection...

9.32PM - TIM TAKES TO THE STAGE

This is the moment when Tim came on stage to play 'The Iron Sea' and we were allowed into the pit with the proper photographers. The band are now on their eighth song, 'Try Again'. They seem to be going down very well indeed. So we're cracking open a can of ginger beer to celebrate. Ah, the rock n roll lifestyle...

9.36PM - THE CROWD, A BIT BLURRED

Um, you get the idea...

9.40PM - THE SETLIST SO FAR
The Iron Sea
Put It Behind You
Everybody's Changing
Leaving So Soon?
We Might As Well Be Strangers
Bend And Break
Try Again
Your Eyes Open
Hamburg Song (which they're playing right now)
Tom has been telling the Brighton crowd that this feels like a homecoming gig to the band as they all grew up nearby. There's a very nice atmosphere. Seems like the band are loving it as much as the crowd. But it's quite tricky to type in the dark.

9.45PM - TOM, ON STAGE

We can exclusively reveal that he took this jacket off a few songs ago. George emailed in to say that ginger beer is "minging". We disagree. In our opinion it's mightily refreshing.

9.53PM - THE YEATS POEM
As you may know, throughout this tour, Keane have preceded 'A Bad Dream' with a reading of the Yeats poem 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death'. Well, we can reveal that the chap reading it is none other than Neil Hannon from the Divine Comedy. Fancy.

10.01PM - THE OFFICE

This is what it looks like from where we're sitting. That big light thing is the stage. We're to the right of it. It's singalong time again (aka 'This Is The Last Time'). Ace.

10.10PM - SNEAKY PIANO SHOT

Taken from the back of the stage during Broken Toy. They've just started Somewhere Only We Know...

10.16PM - GINGER BEER, NOT ALCOHOLIC
Amy from Nebraska is worried that ginger beer might be alcholic and that may put us off our typing. No Amy, it's just a ginger flavoured soft drink (a bit like ginger ale, but more ginger-y). Meanwhile Josephine in Holland is wondering if we're drinking ginger beer because alcohol is banned. No Josephine, it's because it's mightily refreshing. Ooh, 'Is It Any Wonder'. Tuuuuune.

10.21PM - BETWEEN MAIN SET AND ENCORE

So this is what bands do between playing their main set and the encore. The lads seem really pleased with how the show's going so far. They're also panting. A lot. (And although this picture may look posed, it genuinely wasn't.)

10.27PM - DRAMA!
One of the giant lights has collapsed during Atlantic and the band have had to come off. Nobody was hurt. But after a few minutes discussion (with the band safely backstage) they've been forced to pull the show. Tom was incredibly keen to go back on anyway, but there's nothing to be done. Apparently it's a safety issue. "I hope you got a picture of it collapsing," said Tim. Um, no. We were busy typing. The show has been forced to end with what would've been two songs remaining.

10.35PM - THE BROKEN LIGHT

Here's a picture of the light that broke on stage - it's like a giant hydraulic thing that lifts up about 20ft high. And it's now well and truly buckled. A real shame to have to stop the show two songs before the end - and Tom really was keen to just go back on - but it's better to be safe than sorry. If the light had tipped further it could've smacked into the drums. Besides, 18 out of 20 songs isn't too bad. So let's not get too down about it (although the band are as disappointed as anyone). Ginger beer anyone?

10.46PM - WE'RE OFF TO INVESTIGATE
Right. We've put our digital camera on charge and we're off to find out how the band are feeling. Somebody's emailed calling us a chav for saying "tuuuune". Which seems a little harsh. But thanks to all of you who've emailed saying how much you're enjoying all this coverage. We've been at it for nearly 8 hours now and we're still raring to go. Stay tuuuuned for the tourbus trip to London.

11.01 - WE JUST MET TIM'S DAD!
Yes, we just met Tim's dad outside the dressing room. He's a doctor, and we recounted to him a story which John emailed us earlier about him. According to John's tale, a patient went to see Doctor Rice-Oxley and told him they were having real problems with their 5-year-old crawling into their bed every night and wanting to sleep with them. They were, of course, hoping the doc might have some wise medical advise for them to sort their problem. Dr Rice-Oxley thought about this for a few moments and then said, "You need to get a bigger bed."
When we told him this story a few minutes ago, the doctor fell about laughing. "Yes! That's absolutely true! Ha ha ha!"
Legend.

11.07PM - WITTY
"I guess there's a light that has broken, I guess the gig's over now?" emails Lorie Liebig, wittily reworking the 'Broken Toy' lyrics. We'll try that one on the band, to see if it makes them chuckle too...

11.16PM - THE AFTERSHOW

So, this is what the band are upto now, chatting with friends and family at the aftershow (you should be able to spot all three of them if you look closely enough). It doesn't look very glamourous, but then after show parties never really do. The band seem to be in good spirits despite an annoying end to the show (Tim, like us, is relieved it happened after 18 songs rather than 3 or 4).
Right. We're going to take a wee break and go and have a chat too. Thanks to all of you who've been emailing in saying how much you're enjoying this.

11.34PM - TEARING DOWN

We had a wander down to the auditorium where they're currently "tearing down" (as Colin tour manager tells us it's called). They've done it pretty darn quickly too. We haven't mentioned the email address for a while (though we've still had several hundred) - it's ontour@keanemusic.com. Thanks to everyone who's emailed in.

JULY 29TH UPDATE: Due to unprecedented demand, we have now sold out of the pillowcases. However, we have already put in an order for another batch, so you can continue to purchase them from the Keane store and they'll be dispatched as soon as we take delivery (mid-August). Anyone who orders before midnight (UK time) on Monday, August 3rd will still be entered for the handwritten lyrics draw.

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We're very pleased to announce that the legendary A Bad Dream pillowcase is back in the Keane online shop, featuring Tim's hand-written lyrics to the song on a crisp 100% cotton pillowcase. It's also joined by a new pillowcase featuring the Bedshaped lyrics (do you see what we've done there?!). You can buy one for £10 or both for £15. Click here to check them out in the Keane Store.

What's more, if you buy either pillowcase before midnight (UK time) on Monday, August 3rd, you'll be entered into a draw to win Tim's hand-written lyrics, as used for the pillowcase designs. (If you buy the A Bad Dream pillowcase, you'll be entered into the draw to win those lyrics; if you buy Bedshaped, you'll be entered into the draw to win those lyrics; and if you buy both, you'll be entered into both draws.)

Like everything in the Keane store, you can buy the pillowcases wherever in the world you live (and the lyrics draw will be open to purchasers wherever they are).