Keane

Keane are one of my guilty pleasures. But why guilty? No I must be honest and come out of the closet. Yes I LOVE KEANE. There. I feel better for saying it. A wonderful band, now into their 4th album and so spoilt for choice when picking numbers to play at a gig, although since this was promoting their new album Strangeland there was a strong bias towards that one. Fortunately, its a strong album and so stands up to comparison with their existing work, although probably not to their debut album Hopes & Fears which I can play to death.

So why do I feel sheepish about coming out as a fan? Well they do lack a bit of credibility as an indie rock band. And in part I think its just that they don't really rock. They are too nice. Indeed opening act Zulu Winter (quite good in their own right) made a feature of how nice the main act were to their little support band.

Tom Chaplin just oozes niceness. Even when trying to be brash and arrogant it clearly doesn't sit easily on him. His cherubic looks - see below - (even though he must be in his thirties now) don't fit the rock band ethos either (although he did once have a coke habit so he has tried to do the rock god thing). And his voice, which is terrific, is terrific in the way, say, a good solo performer on the Voice or X Factor would be, not the gravelly rock 'n' roll sound one is used to fronting a band. He looks too neat on stage, and while he moves around and does all the rock posturing, it all feels, well, rehearsed rather than natural. Put it this way, I imagine he is the sort of chap a father would dream his daughter would bring home, rather than want to lock his daughter up on sight.

None of this is meant to detract from their quality as a band. Quite the opposite. They are very, very talented, have a fine back catalogue to their name now and while I have lost an exact count of the number of times I have seen them (must be edging towards double figures), I have no hesitation in going back for more. They never disappoint. Certainly we weren't disappointed. And when Tom fulsomely thanked us for our support, you felt he really meant it.

He did say he would be really screwed if he wasn't doing this for a living, and you could believe that. You can see how it might beat say, being a pension lawyer; singing and bouncing around in front of thousands of adoring fans. (Chris Martin of Coldplay the previous Friday was much the same, but playing to around 50,000 at the Emirates rather than 5,000 at Brixton, although the enclosed nature of a theatre gives a different, more intimate atmosphere). And trust me, we were adoring. I guess every single one of us left the place feeling much happier than when we arrived. Which is probably the reason we all come. Again and again. Worth missing the opening games of the Euros, and the trauma of my team in the sweepstake, Greece, sneaking a draw against all the odds when down to 10 men against the hosts.