Ciaran Gilligan (gig: 18/10/06) So then, Keane have returned. After a tough time recording Under The Iron Sea - reportedly the sessions almost broke up the band – Tom Chaplin and co have brought their self descried 'darker' effort to the live arena.
The trouble is that Keane are a band of extremes, both on record and as a live ensemble. When they're good, they're very, very good. But when they get it wrong, they become self absorbed and boring.
Unfortunately the latter is more often than not the case tonight. In between their cracking three minute pop songs - and there are a few on both albums - the band churn out non-descript dirges and Chaplin lets his ego and recent Priory troubles get in the way of things.
They also can't make it any more obvious how much influence touring with rock juggernaut U2 has had on them, using the same video screen ideas and doing an acoustic bit - with a guitar! - just to show how much they're 'a real band'.
It doesn't seem cool when they do it though, and (as with the whole show) just a little bit too contrived. For such a hyped band, they’re still a bit too patchy.
