Everybody's Changing...but they still stay the same

Keane have played a lot in Manchester over the years.
We actually played our first gig after our guitarist left at the
Night And Day. That would've been something like September 2002, before we
got a record deal or anything. I remember there was virtually nobody there,
but two of the only people were Mark and Lard, which was very nice. We slept
on the floor of a friend of a friend of Richard's that night. Those days are
very precious. It seemed like a spectacular achievement just to have got
someone to allow you to get up on stage, even if it was for no money. Just
going to Picadilly Records, then playing at the Night & Day and sleeping on
somebody's floor felt amazing.

Did the first gig without a guitar go well?
I'd say it was pretty rough and ready to be quite honest. We hadn't quite
mastered how we were going to do things. But we were playing quite a few of
the songs that went on to become hits. In fact, I think that would've been
the first time that we ever played 'Everybody's Changing' and 'Bedshaped'
live. But we've gone on to play a lot of great gigs in Manchester. They
often say that towns like London and Manchester are quite hard to play
because they have so much music available to them. But Manchester has always
been really good to us, which is great because it's one of the world's great
music towns.

So this is Keane's biggest tour yet. 100,000 people in ten dates.
Yes. It's going to be wicked. It's the sort of tour we dreamed of when we
were kids watching videos of The Beatles playing the Budokan or U2 doing Zoo
TV or Queen at Wembley in '86. We've played a couple of arena shows in
Europe in the last few months and I think they showed us that we can fill
those sorts of places with our music.

Do you feel you can still make that personal connection at shows this big?
Well I've seen a few bands that I really like playing great shows in big
places. I think certain kinds of music are suited to filling up those big
places and really reaching the back rows and I think our music is that sort
of music. The other thing is that I genuinely believe Tom is one of the best
frontmen of our generation. It's still exciting for me to watch him pull
people in from all around those big places. It's not an easy thing to do,
but he's brilliant at it.

Presumably you'll put a bit more effort into your stage show too?
Yeah, it's really going to be quite a spectacular production. I think it's a
more ambitious show than any of our generation of bands is doing at the
moment. We're using video and lighting and every other trick we can think of
to reach people. In these big places you need to be imaginative and you need
variety. I think people are going to be pretty blown away by it. At least I
hope they are.

Are we talking rocket packs and the like?
Well, we're trying to remember where the line is between extremely cool rock
show and depressingly camp Spinal Tap parody! But we're pretty excited about
it. It really is going to look amazing, I think.

It seems like it's been a good few months for Keane after some difficult
times last year.
Yeah, it's been really good. I think we've all been pleasantly surprised by
how smooth it's been. In fact, I think it's been better than ever before,
which none of us dared to expect. We did have a very tough time in the
middle of last year, but I think coming so close to losing everything
actually made us appreciate that we've got something very special. Every
tour we've done since then has been better than anything we'd ever done
before it. We're playing better, the chemistry is better and Tom is really
performing out of his skin at the moment. So, yeah, it's an exciting time.

Tom's in a better place than he was, then?
Yeah, infinitely better I would say. He's been through a lot and it's not
something you can make light of at all, but he just seems to be very
inspired again. He knows that he's got a gift and he doesn't want to waste
I think we've always felt that people cherish us as being more than
just a fashion band that will be replaced by the next set of haircuts and
catch phrases. Maybe that's because we toured so much in the early days,
y'know we really got out there and did the groundwork. But especially since
coming back in October we've felt this incredible feeling of love and of
people wanting to let us know that we're valued. We've had that all over the
UK, Europe and on the other side of the Atlantic. It's great to feel that
people care that much.

Did you guys pick the support bands for this tour yourselves?
Yeah, we always do.

Tell us about The Dears?
We've played with them a few times in the States and they've got a great
sound. I like bands that have a bit of electronica and a bit of rock. Plus
they've got really epic, poetic lyrics. They're a great band.
And Polytechnic?
I think they're one of the hottest and best of the new bands around at the
moment. Despite being very hot property, they're also a great songwriting
band and those two things don't always seem to go together. They're young,
innovative and just write great songs. I've never actually seen them play
live, so I'm really looking forward to watching them.