There is no way I could write a better review of Keane’s show at Bowery Ballroom on Friday night than what Chris has already written on MusicSnobbery.com, so I’m not even going to try.

What I will say is that the crowd was absolutely amazing and the band had so much energy. I’ve never seen Keane before, so I was quite intrigued with lead singer Tom Chaplin’s impassioned stage roaming. (We’re talking deep knee bends, hoisting up the mic stand so that the audience could sing into the microphone, running from one side of the stage to the other, etc.)

The audience waved their arms in the air, Tom touched shook and touched so many hands in the front row I thought he was a Presidential nominee, he sung directly to people at the front of the stage (see photo below), and there was NON-STOP cheering between the time when the lads got off the stage and when they came back for an encore.

So beloved were Keane at this show that no one seemed to be bothered by Tom’s often awkward stage banter where he rattled off babbling, detailed descriptions of the songs they are about to play as if he was giving a book report. (Sorry Tom, I don’t need to know that “A Bad Dream” is the number one song off the album that people tell you that they “connect with”…let the songs speak and connect for themselves!) There was SUCH a bond between the trio and the audience members that Tom thanked the crowd for giving the band the “perfect night in New York City.” Aw shucks, I bet you tell that to all the sold out venues!

Also, you may remember that I wrote about how my mom loves Keane and that I really wanted her to go to the show. Well as luck had it, I managed to get a ticket for her and my mom was SO PSYCHED. I was amazed as I watched my mom sing along to so many of the songs during the show. I was like, “how does my mom know all the lyrics?!!?” When I went home this weekend I opened the CD player to pop something in, and what was in there? Keane’s new album, Under the Iron Sea. My mom knew that they played a free show at Borders earlier in the day, and my mom was also the one who first spotted the guys on the street as they got out of their car and piled into Bowery.

MY MOM LOVES KEANE x 100000!

I’m so happy she got to go. They are her favorite band since…you guessed it…Coldplay.

Celebs who also were there to see Keane: Zach Braff (sans Mandy Moore) and Donald Faison of “Scrubs”, Fran Healy of Travis, Mike Myers, Amy Sedaris, and (allegedly) members of Snow Patrol.

Here was the setlist, according to the kids on the Keane BB:

The Iron Sea / Put It Behind You/ Nothing In My Way/ Bend and Break/ We Might as Well Be Strangers/ Everybody’s Changing/ Try Again/ Leaving So Soon/ Hamburg Song/ Can’t Stop Now/ Somewhere Only We Know/ A Bad Dream/ This Is the Last Time/ Is It Any Wonder? ENCORE: Atlantic/ Crystal Ball/ Bedshaped

More Keane photos on Flickr.

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