On another glorious summers day in Dublin, most music fans had a choice between the notorious punk rockers Green Day and Paramore in Marlay Park or the alternative of Keane in The Olympia. Having chosen the latter, I was not disappointed as Keane put on a great show in front of a packed and incredibly vociferous Dublin crowd.
The night began on quite a surreal note. On arrival, I was informed that the box I was meant to be in had been taken by Paramore after they had supported Green Day earlier the same day and, as a result, we were given standing tickets. So, observing from ground level, support band The Helio Sequence took to the stage.
In what seems to be a trend in gigs I have been going to lately, The Helio Sequence were a two-piece band, with drummer Benjamin Weikel and acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals by Brandon Summers along with a laptop providing a backing track. Having a backing track on stage has always annoyed me as you can never be sure what you are hearing live and what is just coming straight out of the laptop. It almost defeats the point of playing live if you have to rely on most of your music coming from pressing play on a computer. Having said that, the music was still enjoyable without there being too much going on to keep your eyes fixed on the stage. They definitely enjoyed themselves on stage too and said this was their second time supporting Keane on tour and that it was a privilege to do so.
With the crowd sufficiently warmed up, Keane took to the stage. The first thing that was instantly noticeable was how well lead singer Tom Chaplin was looking. Having gone through a lot of well publicised trouble, it was great to see him looking fit and healthy on stage. What followed for the next 90 minutes was a perfect mix of old songs and new. Playing classics such as ‘Bend and Break’, ‘This is the Last Time’, and ‘Nothing in my Way’ all in the first half of the set along with later tracks and songs off their new EP entitled ‘Night Train’. Between each song the crowd erupted into rapturous applause and chants of ‘Keano, Keano’. The band could not keep the smiles off their faces and lead singer Tom exclaimed “You just can’t beat a Dublin crowd!” He went on the explain that they had a great night out in Dublin the night before and that the city will always hold a special place in their hearts.
After a slow song where all 4 band members took to the front of the stage with a piano, tambourine and bongos, the backdrop which initially read ‘Keane’ dropped to the floor to reveal the image on the cover of their new EP. One of their biggest hits, ‘Everybody’s Changing’ was dedicated to the crowd followed by new song ‘Your Love’ which was sung by the multi-instrumental Tim Rice-Oxley.
When ‘Bedshaped’ was played during the encore, I ended up being thankful for Paramore stealing my box. During the quite part in this song with the lyrics ‘What do I know? What do I know?’ the crowd sang as loud as I have ever heard at a gig. Keane left the stage looking genuinely thrilled to have played in such an amazing venue and to what was an amazing crowd.