2011年4月21日环球时报评论：“仅限邀请”遭猛击，Keane期待能在中国开演

China concerts planned after disappointment at Brits’ invite-only bashes
[22:50 April 21 2011] By Jiang Wanjuan
来源：http://life.globaltimes.cn/entertainment/2011-04/647375.html

From the Great Wall to the Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square, British band Keane checked the capital out like most other foreigners who had just arrived to a new country – but when they played at two performances in Beijing last week, the Chinese audiences singing along reminded them that they were no strangers here.

It was the first time that the popular rock band had set foot on the Chinese mainland, where thousands of fans had listened to their music since middle school and were keen to see them live – but oddly they chose to do so only at invitation-only performances. The band played a brief set at the exclusive (and much-vaunted) Burberry launch party before playing a second, weekend gig at Beijing’s Tango-Star Live club, yet another private party; this time to celebrate the eighth birthday of local radio show Hit FM.

“I was surprised when I heard of Keane’s performance in China. I started to listen to their music five or six years ago,” said 25-year-old Su Lang, who was fortunate enough to win tickets to the event from the popular CRI channel. “If you listen to British pop, or British rock, there is no way you can skip Keane.”

Although the band has definitely won mainstream success with sales STET 10 million, their piano-led melodies and resistance to the traditional electric guitar sound has set them apart from other commercial bands and perhaps, to some extent, explains their success.

“Music is what’s most important and everything else take second place. If the music is good, then you can do whatever you want,” drummer Richard Hughes told the Global Times, before making a pointed reference to Lady Gaga. “You can be very creative, getting carried into a ceremony in an egg or wearing ridiculous clothing. [But] if you can bring some originality into it, then fashion or whatever can [go] along with it too.”

It’s been two years since their last studio album, Perfect Symmetry – not counting 2010 EP Night Train – and Hughes suggested it might be another year’s wait hence for their fourth.

“We don’t think it will come out this year… maybe next year,” said Hughes.

“As soon as you have a deadline, you start to make mistakes. We are just trying to get the music finished first and then worry about the release.”

Keane performed most of their hit songs at Hit FM’s party, such as “Everybody’s Changing” and “Somewhere Only We Know” in an otherwise short 40-minute performance. The fully packed club saw around 1,000 fans singing, cheering, screaming and sweating in the relatively small venue. The fans consisted of an almost equal mix of female and male youngsters, but also spotted among the crowd was a middle-aged Chinese man losing himself in the music.

Lead singer Tom Chaplin expressed surprise to find so many fans in China, unaware of the thousands more, perhaps, watching over the Web and blogging about how excited and disappointed they were. But maybe Chaplin’s informal promise of a future concert served as a comfort for them.

“This will be the first of many, many visits to this amazing country,” Chapman told the audience. “We have had an incredible treat in China. We hope to come back and play some more next time.”

2011年4月19日中国日报现场回顾：Keane歌迷爱现场演出

Keane fans love it live
Updated: 2011-04-19 08:47 By Chen Nan (China Daily)
来源：http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2011-04/19/content_12352015.htm

Keane is a band to watch – as was evident at its debut show in Beijing on Saturday night.

Pointing a finger toward the crowd at Starlive, the lead vocalist Tom Chaplin sang, “But everybody’s changing. And I don’t feel the same”, as more than 1,000 fans sang and chanted. It was a moment of mutual affirmation.

“We didn’t expect you would sing along with us,” Chaplin said, addressing the crowd. During the one-and-a-half-hour performance, he sang nearly 20 songs from their previous massively successful albums. Some of the standout moments of the night were heart-tugging anthems, including This is the Last Time, She has No Time and Bend and Break.

Keyboardist, pianist Tim Rice, drummer Richard Hughes, bassist Jesse Quin, and Chaplin closed the night with the hit song, Somewhere Only We Know.

“We will come back soon,” Chaplin said, waving goodbye to fans.

“If U2′s Bono is a spiritual hero like God in heaven, then Keane are angels. Their music is so British and the singer’s voice is so beautiful,” said Liu Bo, 25, a fan.

Compared with the band’s first show in Beijing a week ago, a commercial event for Burberry, its performance on April 16 was “much more musical, which allowed us to feel the crowds and do the music”, said Rice, who is the band’s main songwriter.

“We hadn’t done a live show for four months and it was really exciting to see the crowds here in Beijing.”

The trio – Rice, Chaplin and Hughes – began making music together as teenagers. They were found by Fierce Panda Records’ founder, Simon Williams (who also discovered Coldplay), in 2003 and offered a contract. That led to the debut album Hopes and Fears, in 2004, which catapulted Keane to world fame, selling almost 6 million copies and picking up many awards.

“We didn’t expect all this success. For us, it was great enough to put our first album out and release it,” Rice said.

The second album, Under the Iron Sea, topped the UK’s album charts. The third album, Perfect Symmetry and fourth, Night Train, are loaded with songs the four musicians from Battle, East Sussex, created between gigs, showing yet another sonic swerve, but staying close to the heavily piano-based sound which has earned them the name “the band with no guitars”.

“It was an accidental success in some ways. Because we didn’t have a guitarist at the beginning and I am good at piano,” Rice said. “It was a surprise to find that things work out without guitar.”

The band played in 28 countries and regions in 2010, from Russia, Australia and Columbia, to South Korea and Lebanon.

“We are always absorbing the influences from all around,” Rice said. “We would head to studios and work on tracks any time there was a gap in our schedule. That’s what we love.”

2010年2月Arjan Writes逐首点评《Night Train》

Keane “Night Train” Track by Track Album Review
http://www.arjanwrites.com/arjanwrites/2010/02/keane-night-train-track-by-track-review.html

February 28, 2010
Arjan Writes

Keane’s “Night Train” sounds like a record the British trio had to make to get some musical urges out of their system. Listening to this album, it seems that after producing some of pop’s most gorgeous ballads ever, the group wanted to let loose, let their hair down and have some fun with it.

The result is a very diverse pop record that is a classy, accomplished blend of musical styles, global rhythms and exciting new soundscapes – ranging from ’80s flavored electro-pop to energetic acoustic rock to their signature pop balladry. Following the excellent “Perfect Symmetry,” this new effort demonstrates once again that Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice Oxley and Richard Hughes are able to keep their new music fresh and invigorated while always presenting a sound that is undeniable their own.

To be released in the U.S. on May 11, the album also includes Somali rapper K’Naan and Japanese baile funk emcee Tigarah who add a distinct global flavor to “Night Train.” Pretty fitting as most of this record was written and recorded while the group was touring across the globe last year. Here a quick run-down of the album’s 8 tracks that make up Keane’s fourth studio album:

Your Love
A throbbing, mid-tempo ’80s flavored synth-pop gem that features the rare lead vocals of Tim Rice-Oxley. At first his voice took me off guard as his style and vocal inflection is very similar to Tom Chaplin’s, but his vocals are smoother, slicker. Reminiscent of A-ha’s Morten Harket. Gorgeous, sparkly chorus and an epic middle eight that sent chills up my spine. Very good and a track that clearly echoes the melodic sentiments of “Hopes & Fears.” This is one of my favorite tracks on “Night Train” and will certainly be a fan favorite as well.

Stop For Minute
This celebratory track features the much-anticipated collaboration with Somali rapper K’Naan. The song is unmistakable a Keane production though with its instantly catchy piano-driven melody. K’Naan duets with Tom in the verses and chorus of the song, and lays down some rhymes during the bridge towards the end of the song. “Stop For Minute” packs a powerful, positive message and has a great singalong chorus.

My Shadow
Third track on the album is a signature Keane ballad that primarily relies on Tim’s pacing piano work and Tom’s angelic vocals. A great reminder of why Keane is a world-class band. So beautiful. “Shine a light on me and you will see my shadow on every wall,” Tom sings.

Looking Back
Fun, brassy tune with a stomping horn section. Has a bit of bossa nova flavor to it. Would not be surprised if the guys wrote this during their South American tour dates. K’Naan adds a few of his raps, which is unexpected but totally works.

Ishin Denshin (You’ve Got To Help Yourself)
A very joyous electro-pop cover of the Yellow Magic Orchestra song that features Japanese baile funk MC Tigarah. This song was a truly international endeavor. Tim worked on the original idea on a plane, Richard recorded the drums in D.C., Tom did his vocals in Copenhagen, Tigarah did hers in L.A. and the group finished it off on a tour bus. I must say that the result feels a little disjointed – Tigarah’s vocals don’t gel all that well with Tom’s.

House Lights
Brief atmospheric interlude without vocals. Has a great cinematic quality to it.

Clear Skies
This song features Keane like you rarely hear them. Song starts off acoustically with handclaps, guitars and Tom’s vocals, which gradually build to the chorus when drums, bass and xylophone are added. This is a really fun experimentation with different instruments that works well and continues to grow on me the more I hear it. You can hear how bands like Radiohead and Blur inspired this track.

Back In Time
The tracks opens with frantic, jagged synths much like the opening of “Is It Any Wonder” that is repeated in the chorus. “Back In Time” is how Keane does rock and roll.

2010年2月Popjustice率先点评《Night Train》: 八大看点

Eight important factlets about the new Keane ‘EP’
http://www.popjustice.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4425&Itemid=206

Story filed Wednesday, 10 February 2010

1. They’re calling it an EP but it’s got eight tracks (EIGHT TRACKS) on it and three of them could be obvious singles so let’s be honest here, it’s an album. Full tracklisting: ‘House Lights’, ‘Back In Time’, ‘Stop For A Minute’ (feat K’Naan), ‘Clear Skies’, ‘Ishin Denshin (You’ve Got To Help Yourself)’ (feat Tigarah), ‘Your Love’, ‘Looking Back’ (feat K’Naan), ‘My Shadow’. We had a bit of a chit-chat with the band last week and put forward our ‘it’s clearly an album what are you talking about’ opinion; Tim from the band mentioned that he agreed with something Liam Gallager recently said about the constraints of the modern music industry meaning that bands don’t really get to release enough music. Keane’s point regarding this EP is that the songs – recorded on the road – are so diverse that they don’t really make sense as a ‘proper album’, but at the same time they’re good enough to be released. So that is why they’re calling it an EP.

2. It’s an album.

3. The artwork is boring but don’t let this fool you – there’s some exciting stuff on ‘Night Train’. Some of the songs continue in the trajectory of the last Keane album, so ‘Your Love’ (which has touches of ‘Early Winter’) is quite electrical and ‘Stop For A Minute’ (featuring a rap from K’Naan who manages to rhyme ‘females’ with ‘e-mails’ thus putting this song on a level with Pixie Lott’s ‘Cry Me Out’ in that respect and that respect alone) sits well alongside something like ‘Spiralling’.

4. If you fear the modern world don’t worry. ‘My Shadow’ is a proper ‘Bedshaped’-shaped Keane tearjerking piano ballad (a ‘piallad’, if you will). It is a lovely song about there being no need to feel alone because if you shine a light you “will see my shadow on every wall, and you will see my footprint on every floor”, offering the advice that “when your back’s against the wall that’s when you show no fear at all” and *breaks down uncontrollably as result of massive pop blubfest*

5. ‘Ishin Denshin (You’ve Got To Help Yourself)’ sounds like the theme from a long-forgotten early-90s Saturday morning kids TV show FROM SPAIN. Except the guest vocalist, Tigarah (very listenable MySpace tuneage here), is a Japanese Baile Funk expert so that’s a bit confusing. The main point here is that ‘Ishin Denshin (You’ve Got To Help Yourself)’ is on one hand amazing and on the other hand is the sort of thing that should never ever be heard by anybody at all, still less released as a single. It’s not an easy song to come to terms with, but we’ve given it four stars out of five in our iTunes library if that’s any help.

6. ‘Looking Back’ interpolates the Rocky theme (!) and ‘Clear Skies’ has a killer, ‘Call The Shots’-esque chorus, while ‘House Lights’ is the music they came onto on their last tour (hence the name etc).

7. This isn’t connected to the EP ‘per se’ but the Keane Website has a clip of Tom performing the Pet Shop Boys tune ‘Your Funny Uncle’, which is quite nice. *Breaks down uncontrollably for second time*

8. And there we have it. The new Keane ALBUM discussed in some vague waffle which while perhaps not particularly detailed or brilliantly written might lead you to be quite excited about this very good collection of tunes. ‘Stop For A Minute’ is the first single – Keanemusic have a behind the scenes report from the video shoot. The whole thing’s out in May. THERE YOU GO.

2009年3月伦敦O2表演评论

Keane, London O2 Arena
http://www.wessexscene.co.uk/the-edge/3229

WessexScene.co.uk
20th March 2009
Hayley Taulbut

How Keane managed to achieve a sell out show two nights in succession in the massive O2 arena was at first a complete mystery to me.

The first support act, four piece Norwegian band ‘Katzenjammer’ were like Gogol Bordello on steroids: which is fine if you like that kind of thing, but for me, it was like listening to all the discordant sounds in the world put together in a blender and whizzed without the lid on. It was atrocious. Thankfully, second support act ‘Frankmusic’ were much better: at least they had an understanding of harmony and how music actually worked. If their performance was anything to go by, they are likely to be quite big names for 2009.

But on to the main act. Keane exploded onto the stage with ‘The Lovers are losing’, amongst a cacophony of lights and sounds echoing the colour scheme and shapes of their latest album, ‘Perfect Symmetry’. This quickly gave way into hit single ‘Everybody’s Changing’, which Keane gave a facelift through the use of synthesizers, the addition of extra tracks, and through voice delay, which gave the song a feel not dissimilar to that of their latest album. It was at this point I sat up in my seat and paid attention: my low expectations were set to be destroyed over and over again by the three/four piece band from Sussex.

And I was not disappointed – Keane continued to impress me as the show went on. It is unquestionable that lead Tom Chaplin has been blessed with a fantastic voice, and despite struggling with a sore throat, he sung his heart out with an enthusiasm and perfection that belongs in a whole different league than many other leads of bands of as higher calibre as Keane. Other band members matched Tom’s enthusiasm expertly, with Tim playing the piano and keyboard like it would be the last time, and so-called fourth band member, bassist Jess Quin negotiated the stage with the star quality that bands four-times more successful cannot boast of.

For almost two hours, Keane occupied the stage with the air of a band who had been entertaining mass audiences for as long as they can remember, whilst retaining the feeling that they cannot quite believe their luck. Tom Chaplin must have thanked the audience, and told us he was overwhelmed with the show no less than ten times in such a short space of time. Equally as overwhelmed were the die-hard fans who filled the arena with a sound that Tom deemed “the choir of London”. But I daresay, those who were overwhelmed to the greatest degree, were the sceptics such as myself: Even up in the balconies, each audience member, myself included, was out of their seat, dancing singing and clapping along to almost every song.

Keane concluded the show with a four song encore, partially performed on an extended stage amongst the standing crowd, much to their excitement. Anthems ‘Is it any wonder?’ and ‘Bedshaped’ acted as the perfect finale for the perfect gig, with Keane making expert use of the huge screens and the lights to create an experience that the audience would find hard to forget: it was a complete overload of colour, visuals, and sound, yet somehow, what was most memorable was the way that Keane overshadowed all of this with their brilliance and enthusiasm.

So I confess: I am truly a converted citizen: I am now a Keane fan, and proud of it, despite my initial scepticism. And I believe that Keane shall continue ‘spiralling’ into the musical stratosphere for years to come.