"EVERYONE WAS BALLROOM DANCING TO THIS IS THE LAST TIME"
Hello KWNers. We're back with more news on Battle's finest*.
TOM INTERVIEW ON KM.COM Just before the band flew out to Japan for their current Far East tour, keanemusic.com gave Tom a shout at the airport for a natter. Click here to read the first part of the interview, in which Tom chats about playing cricket, singing into hairbrushes and folks ballroom dancing to This Is The Last Time. Look out for part two later today.
KEANE ONLINE STORE UPDATE We've got some new lines in the Keane online store which you might like to check out. First up, are the Keane pillowcases featuring the lyrics to A Bad Dream and Bedshaped. The first batch sold out super-fast last week, but more will be in stock in the next few days. Click here to order some. We've also just taken delivery of the lovely, limited edition Fair Trade T-shirts and the new triangles sweatshirt. Click here for those.
Q AWARDS VOTING The voting is now open for the 2009 Q Awards - which is where Spiralling was awarded "Best Track" in 2008. You can vote for Keane in several of the categories at this year's awards. If you'd like to do, simply click here. Thanks very much.
See you next time. Oh, and look out for details of a special two-day liveblog on keanemusic.com soon...
Following yesterday's first part, here's the concluding half of our interview with Tom.
What's the latest on the tracks you chaps have made with [the rapper] K'naan? Everything's finished and we're all really excited about it. They sound great - really fresh and different, and I've really been enjoying listening to them at home. I think it really shows us in a different light, working with someone who I don't think anyone would've expected us to work with. It's great to have some new songs to feel excited about. I've been really enjoying listening to them at home, cranking up the speakers and annoying my neighbours!
Do you think any of the tracks could be a single? Yeah, I think so. There's definitely one particular track that stands out. So we'll just have to wait and see when it's all going to see the light of day.
Tim's Glastonbury blog said that you were at the festival too. How was that? I had a thoroughly brilliant time, as I'd expected to. Which is nice, because I think sometimes you can build something up in your mind and really look forward to it, but then it doesn't quite cut the mustard. But it was great. Seeing Ray Davies play was particularly amazing. He did all the Kinks songs, mixed up with new songs. When you go and see a hero like that, you do really want to hear the songs that made them who they are.
Something Bruce Springsteen didn't seem quite so aware of. Yeah, I was pretty upset about his set. We'd had the chance to go and see him in DC in America, but I thought I'd save the moment for Glastonbury. So I was building it up in my head, but then I got to the Pyramid field and, I dunno, unless you get really get right up the front you can lose a lot of energy from the stage. Where we were, it just didn't feel that atmospheric. I think his show would've looked a lot better in a smaller place.
But Blur managed to pull the whole Glastonbury crowd together. Yeah, it's odd. Maybe Glastonbury means a lot more to British bands. I think I lasted about six or seven songs for Springsteen and then we just decided to go elsewhere. I thought I might regret it, but I think the general consensus was that he wasn't quite as great as he could've been. But I do still love his albums and I'm sure I'll see him again.
Is it nice to go to something like Glastonbury as a punter rather than a performer? Yeah, absolutely. I actually bumped into a couple of the km.com boardies, which was very nice. I was on a mad dash from one of Glastonbury's many lavatories on my way to meet up with Nat. But apart from that I just felt very anonymous. I think everyone's too busy at Glastonbury doing great things to notice anyone. I love how it's like a small town which is put up for this one great weekend that's different every year. I just completely lose myself in it and love every minute. And it hardly rained at all, which was amazing.
So, after the Far East shows and V, you're off to Russia. Yes, another new experience for us. We seem to be doing a lot of things for the first time at the moment, which is crazy considering how much time we've spent on the road. And then it's back out to North America.
Yes, for the Canadian tour. It's nice for them to get you to themselves for a while. Yeah, I think we owe it to Canada too. They've always been really good to us and we seem to have a very dedicated following there. So it will be very cool to explore the central part of Canada. We've only ever really done Montreal, Toronto and then Vancouver on the other side. The road trips across the middle of the country are one of the great things about going to America, so it'll be good to do that in Canada.
It sounds like you're enjoying life in Keane right now. Very much so. We've been on the road quite a long time now with this record and it still feels exciting to play the songs. I think we've really come into our own since we've had more songs to play live and had more variation. It's certainly made a huge difference to the touring process. It doesn't feel so repetitive.
Obviously one of the main problems you guys said you had around Hopes and Fears was that you toured for too long. This time you're touring for a long time again, but you seem to still be enjoying it. Yeah. I think we're all aware of not doing too much, but then it's very hard to say no to stuff like going to Russia or South Korea for the first time, or even going back to places and playing to more people, where you created a buzz by going there the first time. It'd seem a shame not to try and do as much as possible. And being busy is a good problem for a band to have. Yeah, it definitely is. We are wary of keeping the balance between Keane and having a life outside of the band. But we love what we get to do and as long as people are turning out in their droves to watch us, then we're very, very happy to get out and do it.
Finally, the football team you support, Ipswich Town, is now managed by Roy Keane. Yes, it's a great synchronicity isn't it? I think he'll be good for us.
Have you ever been invited to go down and pick the raffle winner at half-time? Actually, I think I have been invited to go along as a guest, but I haven't done it yet. I intend to, though. And I'm hoping that having Keane as our manager could mean that this is our year. Fingers crossed, anyway.
Hello Tom, how are you? I'm good, thanks. I'm currently eating a pretzel in a lounge at Heathrow airport. I've just been to the seafood counter too.
Can seafood counters at airports be trusted? A plane would be a pretty bad place to get a dodgy tummy. Well, my theory is that it must all be pretty fresh. If they had constant problems with people getting ill on flights, they'd probably be closed down. But it was very nice.
So, you're on your way to Japan. Yeah, we are. Via Seoul.
You've just had a couple of weeks off. How was that? Great. And "how was that?" is an appropriate way of asking, because as most people know, I'm an enormous cricket fan, and I very much enjoyed the fact that there was a whole five day Test match wedged in the middle of the my time off. I sat at home and watched that on the TV. It was a good performance from England, again.
It's shaping up quite well for the Ashes. Well, my prediction is still that we'll sneak it, one way or the other. In fact, the way the weather's been going, the rest of it will probably be rained off, in which case we'll win! Mind you, Beth was saying the weather hasn't been much better in Japan.
Did you do anything more rewarding with your break than... ...sitting on my arse watching TV? Actually, yes, speaking of cricket [England player] Andrew Flintoff had a big launch for his charity foundation and he asked if I'd like to go along and play a few songs at it. It seemed like a good chance to hang out with some of my heroes. The others were away - Tim was in New York and Richard was off in the countryside somewhere - so I went along and played five songs on my own. I did a couple on the acoustic and then a few on piano. It was very strange: everyone was sort of ballroom dancing to This Is The Last Time! But it was great fun.
Is Andrew Flintoff a friend of yours? Not exactly a friend, although I suppose more of a friend now than he was before! I do know a few people in the world of cricket, though, and I heard on the grapevine that they were up for getting someone in to play some songs. He's good friends with Johnny Borrell, so he'd already got Razorlight in to play too.
Was it a big crowd? Yeah, about 800 people, I'd say. It was cool. And I had a nice chat with some of the England players.
Have you ever played cricket with any of them? Funnily enough, I have. I used to play when I was a kid. Up until under 15s I played for Sussex, so I used to play against people like Flintoff and Graeme Swann, who've now gone on to much greater things than myself.
Well, you've not done so badly. Haha! Yeah, I guess it's kind of worked out for me too!
Were you a batter or a bowler? I was a bit of both. I think at that age a lot of kids are. I was a jack of all trades and a master of none. I think by the time I was 15 or 16 that became apparent and it was the end of my cricket career.
Do you still play? I was actually out in the garden at home the other day with Nat. We were bowling at each other, but the only ball I could find was an actual cricket ball. They're pretty hard and heavy, so she's got a bruise on her ankle and I've got an enormous one on my foot!
It sounds like you had a good break. Yeah, it was very nice. Although I do find it quite hard to adjust to normality when I get back from tour. I always have trouble sleeping and generally getting back into the swing of things without feeling slightly uneasy, as if I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing! We'd done a lot of flying and a lot of time changes, so to just be sitting at home for a few days felt quite weird. It was the first time in a while I'd done that.
Do you find yourself making dramatic entrances into rooms at about 9pm? Exactly! In my dressing gown, singing into a hairbrush. But after the first week or so, I felt much more relaxed.
And now you're raring to go for a whole load of gigs all over the world. Yeah, we're really looking forward to it. It'll be great to be back in Japan and it's our first time in South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. It always makes a gig that much more exciting when you have a touch of the unknown, 'cause you don't really know how people are going to react. I'm really looking forward to it.
It was a similar situation with the Dubai and Beirut gigs - and it sounds like they were great. Yeah, absolutely. The Beirut one was particularly memorable, just 'cause of the setting and because there was such a young, vibrant crowd. It felt quite emotional, especially singing songs like Perfect Symmetry in the context of a place that's had its ups and downs, with lots of people together, all harmonious and happy. I think all of us felt quite touched by that particular moment. It was definitely one of the most memorable shows we've done in this last year and a half.
It must've been quite a contrast at Ibiza Rocks a few days later. Yeah, you couldn't really get a more different setting. But that was an extraordinary gig too. I'm not sure why, but it makes me giggle just to think about it. It was this mad hotel with us in the middle of it. They were saying that it wasn't that common for the actual islanders to come and see an Ibiza Rocks show, and it was a measure of our popularity in Spain that so many of the local people came out to watch it. It was them and a lot of young British holidaymakers, which all made for an amazing, and amazingly sweaty, atmosphere. I really hoped that we were just there to warm people up for what would be one of the biggest nights of their lives. I didn't actually go out in Ibiza that night, because I had to fly home, but I can imagine that you build up to a night in Ibiza for quite a while. I think everyone was very excited and we were just riding that wave.
You might remember that anyone who bought Keane lyric pillowcases last week was entered into a draw to win Tim's hand-written lyrics, as used for the pillowcase designs. We're pleased to announce that the randomly-picked winners are as follows:
A Bad Dream lyrics: Melissa H from Gloucestershire, UK Bedshaped lyrics: Rhonda S from New Jersey, US
Congrats guys - your lyrics will be sent out to you in the next day or two.
We're also pleased to report that the limited edition Keane Fair Trade T-shirts have arrived at Keane Store HQ, so if you've pre-ordered one, it'll be sent out to you this week. There are still a few remaining - click here if you'd like to snap one up.
The voting is now open for the 2009 Q Awards - which is where Spiralling was awarded "Best Track" in 2008. You can vote for Keane in several of the categories at this year's awards. If you'd like to do, simply click here.
As the Brighton liveblog seemed to go down so well with you folks, we thought we'd post the liveblog from the following day at London's Alexandra Palace. It begins with a post made from the tourbus shortly after we left Brighton...
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00.44AM - ON THE TOURBUS Yes, we've now left the Brighton Centre behind and are on the tourbus with Tom, Richard, Tim, Tim's wife and Colin the tour manager. We're heading to a hotel in London where we'll all get some much needed rest. The lads have just been looking at Wednesday's AAA for the pictures of the broken light - Richard was saying it gave quite a crack when it fell. Richard is now watching 'The West Wing' on his laptop, Tom is listening to music and Tim is sitting across from us reading Mojo. We've taken some pictures, but they're tricky to post on the road so we'll put them up in the morning. There's a calm after the storm vibe going down. "I think we all tend to feel quite wired after a show," says Tim. "It takes a while for the adrenaline to stop pumping." There's talk of watching Smiley's People on DVD now...
01.26AM - THE MISSING SONGS A few people have emailed ontour@keane music..com asking what two songs the band couldn't play because of the collapsed light. The penultimate song would've been Crystal Ball and the last song, as ever, Bedshaped. Everyone on the tourbus is now relaxing watching DVDs.
02.30AM - BEDTIME Right, we've checked in to our hotel and all the lads have gone straight to bed. Sounds like a grand idea to us. See you in the morning for more on-the-road insights. G'night folks.
10.51AM - GOOD MORNING! Morning folks. So where were we? There's a few queations you've emailed to ontour@keanemusic.com that we can answer from the comfort of our posh hotel bed. Isabel asked if the band snore. We only saw Tom asleep last night (he nodded off during the DVD we were watching) and, no, he doesn't. Nicola asked if Keane played Nothing In My Way last night. Yes they did and it sounded top. Yessi wanted to know what Mojo is. It's an English music magazine which, Tim tells us, has a great Paul Simon piece this month And lastly, a few people asked if the band signed autographs outside last night's show. Yes they did, for a fair ol' while. Right, we'd better get up out of this posh hotel bed and get ready for another day's reporting...
12.08PM - WHAT KEANE DID THIS MORNING We don't have too much to tell you but we've just found out from Beth that this morning, Tom went shopping, Tim chilled with his wife and Richard spent the morning at home (as he lives in London, he didn't stay at the hotel last night). We meet to board the tourbus to the venue in about half an hour.
12.45PM - ANOTHER BAND SPOTTED We're waiting outside the hotel for the tourbus to arrive and were wondering who the pale chaps waiting next to us were. Luckily Colin tour manager turned up and told us it was Jack White and his Raconteurs. Fancy.
1.10PM - COLIN BRIEFS THE BAND We're on the bus with Tim and Tom on the way to Ally Pally. Colin is briefing everyone on what's happening today, which includes some filming for Yahoo. Apparently some extra lighting is being brought in to replace the broken light. Tom is listening while attacking his new jacket with scissors, to take off the bits he doesn't like. Graham the bus driver tells us we should be at the venue in about an hour.
2.25PM - AT ALLY PALLY We've arrived at Ally Pally and Tim and Tom have come straight into the music room to practice the cover version which they're playing for the Yahoo thing later. We're sitting on a nasty blue sofa watching them. Oh, Richard has just arrived. He seems to be as chirpy as ever. He's wearing what he tells us is a Detroit Tigers cap. Now we just need to work out how to get our laptop connected so that we can post some pictures...
3.07PM - PICS FROM THE TOURBUS LAST NIGHT Right, we've got our desk for the day sorted. We're in the production office with Colin the tour manager who is, he tells us, 'not bad, but having printer problems'. We're not sure the wireless will stretch all the way out to the gig tonight (Ally Pally is a maze of corridors) but we'll do our best. Anyway, here are some pics from the tourbus last night. Tim, Tom and Tim's wife were watching 'Smiley's People' on DVD - a classic BBC show from the 80s, starring Alex Guiness (only Tim was awake by the end of the hour-long episode). Richard was in another area of the bus watching 'The West Wing' on his laptop. Check out the fetching orange and blue decor. Oh, and keep your questions and comments coming to ontour@keanemusic.com...
3.14PM - COLIN TOUR MANAGER HAS FIXED HIS PRINTER He seems very relieved.
3.23PM - BOARDING THE TOURBUS EARLIER
Don't they look cheery. Richard, you'll remember, came direct from his house in London, so didn't need to board the bus.
3.30PM - TOM FIXING HIS JACKET Tom, fixing his new jacket on the bus earlier, while a multipack of crisps (or 'chips' to US folks) attempts to put him off. Talking of snacks, we've just realised that all we've eaten all day is a croissant, so we're going to forage for some food...
3.45PM - BAND CHILLING IN THEIR DRESSING ROOM So the band are currently chilling in their dressing room, with Adam, their manager, who's just turned up (he wasn't with them last night in Brighton). They'll be filming the Yahoo thing in a bit (to be broadcast at a later date, not sure exactly when, but we'll let you know). Several people have emailed asking how dedicated to the Detroit Tigers Richard is (as we told you he was wearing a Tigers cap earlier). He says that he's aware they're in the World Series and that he'd be very happy if they win it, but he just checks their website every once in a while and can't claim to know too much about them. We still can't find the catering area. And our tummy is rumbling big styleeee. A-foraging we go..
4.15PM - BACK AT CATERING... Yes, we finally found our way to the catering area (this place is an absolute maze) and we've just had a plate of incredibly tasty chunky beef chili, which very much filled a hole. Dickie and Helena (the other chef) were very pleased to hear that their Banoffee Pie has gone down a storm with you folks on the website. In fact, Helena has texted her mum in New Zealand to tell her that her picture is going to appear on the site. So, hello Helena's mum! And here's a picture of today's lunch menu...
4.21PM - STAGE TIMES Here are tonight's stage times (doors open at 6pm) John Roderick - 6.45-7.15pm Captain - 7.30-8.15pm Keane - 8.45-10.30pm Cindy from NYC emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to ask how the support acts are chosen, so we asked Tim on the bus over here. "We picked both of them," he said. "We loved the Captain album, so we asked them and, happily, they said yes. They've been brilliant. And John is a good friend of ours. He's a great guitarist and a superb songwriter. They both seem to have gone down really well, which is great." We saw a bit of both of them last night, and we'd concur.
4.44PM - FILMING THE YAHOO SESSION We just took this through a window of the door of the room in which Keane are currently filming their session for Yahoo. Adam Worley has emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to ask what song they're covering, but unfortunately we're not allowed to tell you. We will tell you that it was a Top 10 hit in 1990 (and we'll probably get told off for even telling you that much). Oh, and stop emailing asking who 'we' are - it's not about us, it's about Keane! (But it's very kind of so many of you - from so many countries - to ask).
2009 ADDITION - THE COVER FILMED BACKSTAGE AT ALLY PALLY:
4.55PM - THE FANS QUEUEING OUTSIDE Yes, this was the queue outside the venue a few minutes ago. As you can see, Alexandra Palace is a very grand venue. It was built in 1873 as a "public entertainment centre" and transmitted the world's first regular television signal, in 1936. You can read more about it at Wikipedia and at the venue's own site. The capacity of the gig tonight is 8,000. Ally Pally (as everyone calls it) is a little bit dog-eared, but it's a beautiful building with amazing views over London. Well worth a visit if you're ever in town (and they have a great farmer's market in the carpark on a Sunday). Here endeth the tourist information bulletin...
5.04PM - DO THE BAND EVER WEAR KEANE T-SHIRTS? Bridget emailed to ask the above question. "No," Tim told us earlier, "I actually don't think I've ever worn one. But I do have a collection of quite a few of them from over the years." Ooh, soundcheck is about to start (with only 55 minutes till the doors open). We'll head down there...
5.39PM - SOUNDCHECK The band have just finished soundchecking, so we've whizzed back upstairs to post some pictures. This is obviously the biggest show on the tour yet, so there's a lot more rushing about backstage today, with people frantically sorting out the guestlist etc. But, from the sound of the soundcheck, it's shaping up to be a great gig (although the wireless doesn't stretch down there, so it's not going to be quite as easy as it was last night to keep you up to date during it...)
5.52PM - A GRAND ENTRANCE
This is the entrance hall that the fans will start streaming through in about 8 minutes when the doors open. Will they stop to admire the foilage as they rush through, hoping to get a spot right at the front? Probably not. 6.00PM - TOM'S WHITE BELT Rosemarie emailed to ask whether Tom has stopped wearing his famous white belt. "I have indeed," Tom told us. "I got a new one that's a different colour - black with silver studs - so I've been wearing that instead." Tom actually had a few of the white ones. They have, he tells us, been given to a charity shop near where he lives. Cue a stampede of eBay sellers to Sussex. Right, we're told catering has now opened for dinner (it was the lunch menu we showed you earlier), so we're off to grab some more grub...
6.20PM - TONIGHT'S MENU So we wandered down to catering - and tonight's menu is above. Unfortunately we realised we weren't hungry, probably because we only had lunch a couple of hours ago. So we came back up here to post the picture instead, in the hope of working up an appetite. We're thinking maybe the chicken balti? What would you choose? Email your suggestions to ontour@keanemusic.com
7.00PM - WHAT KEANE HAD FOR DINNER - AND WHAT THEY THOUGHT OF IT! We've just been up to the dressing room to see what the band had for their dinner. Tom had the chicken balti which he said was "excellent", Rich had the veggie curry which was "good" and Tim had the salmon which was "delicious". From the emails we've received to ontour@keanemusic.com, most of you folks would go for the rib eyed beef. We're still not feeling very peckish, but we might wander down there again in a bit. In the picture, Beth - Keane's assistant - is going through tonight's guestlist with the band, to check everyone they need is on there. With it being a London show, there's an awful lot of people on the list (including that Premiership footballer mentioned yesterday, who doesn't play for England, and various other famous folks. If we spot any, we'll take a picture of them). The band - none of whom have ever been to a gig at Ally Pally before - seem calm, excited and nervous about the biggest show on the tour so far. 105 minutes 'til they're on... 7.42PM - THE CROWD ARE IN... And they look a little bit like this. Captain are currently playing. We've just been to catering and had some chicken tikka. It was very nice. We chatted with Graham, the rep from the promoter. He used to be Inspiral Carpets - who played here in 1991. Wow, we wrote this whole entry in short sentences. Wonder why.
7.48PM - WE MET JOHN RODERICK John is the opening act on the tour and we just bumped into him in catering. He's already played his slot tonight - which he said went down well - and he was singing the praises of Keane for looking after him on this tour. "They've been great," he told us. "They've gone out of their way to make it as comfortable for me as possible." He seemed like a lovely chap. You can read about John and his band The Long Winters by clicking here.
7.55PM - WILL COLIN GIVE JULIE A JOB? Julie has just emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to ask if Keane will give her a job if she gets sacked for looking at this website too often at work. So we asked Colin the tour manager. "Unfortunately we have no vacancies at present" says Colin. "Besides, my dad used to tell me it 's always easier to get a job when you're in a job." Sorry Julie. Looks like you'd better not get caught.
8.03PM - CAPTAIN, LIVE ON STAGE A FEW SECONDS AGO...
We went in the pit with our little digital camera, on our own, in front of thousands of people. and got a bit shy. Which is why the shots may look slightly rushed...
8.05PM - THERE IS NO GINGER BEER An astonishing number of people have emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to ask if we're drinking ginger beer again tonight. Sadly no, as they don't have any today. This may be because we drank it all yesterday. So we're on water instead.
8.16PM - KEANE'S SPORTING EQUIPMENT Here's a picture we took earlier of Keane's sports gear - which was taken off the bus today (there's no more travelling on this tour, with the only remaining date being at Ally Pally again tomorrow, so the bus has gone wherever buses go when bands are finished with them). Beth - the band's assistant - tells us that the band always take tennis racquets on tour, and that they played in Brighton a couple of days ago. The golf clubs are Tom's, although Richard has his own set as well. Apparently they also played golf on their day off in Brighton. Sounds like a sporty day.
8.36PM - WARMING UP FOR THE SHOW... Nine minutes 'til showtime and the band are currently warming up, as you can see. Sorry for the slightly dodgy quality of this pic this is because a) we took it on our phone, cos our proper camera battery is recharging and b) we took it through the window of a door because we didn't want to disturb them. A few minutes earlier Richard told us he was feeling "averagely nervous", while Tom revealed he had a little nap again earlier and has since drunk a smoothie (same recipe as yesterday) to perk himself up.
8.50PM - THEY'RE ON THE STAGE! And the crowd went barmy. We can't even hear it from here, though. So we'll post some pictures and then go and watch a bit.
9.05PM - FROM THE DRESSING ROOM TO THE STAGE... So here they are, making their way from their dressing room to the stage. For the last five minutes before they go on, they have peope counting down every thirty seconds 'til stage time, which builds up the tension nicely. We were standing with Tim behind the stage on the left (where he comes on from, Tom and Rich come on from the right) and he was jigging about, hyping himself up. He said he was feeling quite nervous but really excited. As soon as he came on, 8.000 people erupted. There's a brilliant atmosphere down there, so we're heading down to have a look. In fact, our time as AAA reporter is almost up - once the show is over, we'll be saying our goodbyes to you and the band (although we're coming back as punters tomorrow night to actually watch the show properly rather than typing to you lot!). But we'll keep popping up during the show to let you know how it's going. Any last minute questions or comments to ontour@keanemusic.com...
9.35PM - WHAT A SHOW We've just watched our first full song on this two day trip - 'Hamburg Song' - from the sound desk. Before they played it, Tom was telling the crowd how while he was in therapy he could see Ally Pally from the place he was in. He said he'd look at it thinking, "In a couple of months, I'll be there and life will be great again. And it is." To then play a song as moving as 'Hamburg Song' must've put lumps in about 8,000 throats. Keane really are an amazing live band. Anyway, before we start blubbing onto the laptop, we'll get busy posting some more pictures up...
9.45PM - SOME MORE PICS OF THE SHOW... Some of which were taken at the sound desk (as you'd probably guess)
9.51PM - WHAT DO THE BAND SAY BEFORE GOING ON STAGE? Simona from Italy has emailed asking the above question. The answer is not much really. The nervous energy just fizzes out of them and they keep pretty quiet. It's almost like they're springs coiling up, ready to explode onto the stage. We just kind of stood there, trying not to get in the way (which is a little tricky when you're pointing a camera at them...)
10.04PM - A POUND COIN ON THE FLOOR We've just been into Keane's dressing room (to use the lavatory) and in there, we noticed a one pound coin on the bathroom floor. We were going to pick it up and give it to the band later, but then we thought, "What if it's a tradition? What if before every show they play they gather round in a circle and drop a pound coin on the floor?" Picking it up could lead to all kinds of problems. So we left it be. For the record, heads was facing up. 10.45PM - THIS IS THE LAST TIME So here we are at the very last post of Access All Areas. The end of the gig was amazing, proper hairs on the back of your neck stuff and we've just been up to the dressing room to see what the lads made of it (which is when we took the above picture). They all seem really, really tired but really, really pleased. Tom said it was a "dreamlike" show, while Richard said he got through 7 drumsticks, which means he was hitting the drums extra hard (he usually gets through 3 or 4). We also asked them if the pound on the bathroom floor was a tradition. Tim said it was a test to see if we pinched it, while Richard said, "It isn't a tradition, but maybe it should become one, we'll put it to a vote later." Which is nice. Right, after almost 32 hours of constant coverage (except for when we were asleep), we're going to pack up our laptop and catch the train home. Thanks to the hundreds and hundreds of you who've emailed ontour@keanemusic.com and kept us company during all this (sorry we couldn't namecheck all of you). Hope you've enjoyed reading all this as much as we've enjoyed doing it. We'll leave you with some more pictures of exhausted but happy members of Keane. Cheerio.
Yes, we finally found our way to the catering area (this place is an absolute maze) and we've just had a plate of incredibly tasty chunky beef chili, which very much filled a hole. Dickie and Helena (the other chef) were very pleased to hear that their Banoffee Pie has gone down a storm with you folks on the website. In fact, Helena has texted her mum in New Zealand to tell her that her picture is going to appear on the site. So, hello Helena's mum! And here's a picture of today's lunch menu...
