We'll publish some news from this two weeks until today
(texts by keanemusic.com)

Photos from LA
Fans' photos from the LA show

Thanks to all of you folks in the US of A who emailed your one best pic from the LA show to ontour@keanemusic.com - we'd be very grateful if those of you going to the other dates would follow suit. Here's a selection of some of our favourites from the Gibson Amphitheatre gig...


Picture by Emily


Picture by Jenn


Picture by Lisa


Picture by Marcia


Picture by Mari, showing the audience holding aloft their mobile phones during 'Hamburg Song'. Very arty, no?


Picture by Michelle


Picture by Yessi

More pictures - and blogs - to follow jolly soon...

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USA BLOG #2

Tim writes blog, you write comments!

Words by Mr Tim Rice-Oxley, pictures by Mr Rob Sinclair.
UPDATE: You can now add comments to this and any other story if you're registered with this website!

Hello

Yesterday was the VH1 Rock Honors ceremony in Las Vegas. Quite an occasion. Host Bam Margera set the tone by kicking things off with the inevitable, "Those who are about to rock, we salute you," which was met with much devil's horning of fingers and general rawk-ness. It was a major honour to be on the same stage as Ozzy, ZZ Top (it was a day of many Zs), Genesis, Heart, QOTSA and so on. We were the only band of our generation chosen to perform - presumably because of our impeccable heavy rock credentials - and we endeavoured to hold our own amongst badass rock's finest.



Big TV shows like that are always pretty nerve-wracking for everyone, but we had a lot of fun bashing through our cover of Genesis' 1983 ridiculously catchy classic 'That's All', Tom strutting up and down the ego ramp with his suitably black guitar and looking thoroughly Brando-esque in his leathers. Several women (and a couple of meaty men) swooned and had to be carried out.



We hung out a bit with the guys from Genesis - always good to get the inside knowledge from people who've been doing this for thirty-odd years - plus, Phil Collins soundtracked my first torrid love affair (aged 11) so I had a nostalgic curiosity to meet the great man. All in all, it was a very pleasant evening - we did what we came to do, drank mojitos and contributed generously to the Mandalay Bay Hotel's casino takings.

But perhaps the highlight of the day came just before we went on stage. We were sitting around chatting and grabbing a bite in the dressing room when we became aware that two almost-naked women had shimmied into our midst. What little these bronzed supermodel types were wearing consisted of garters, leather tassles, fishnets and other trimmings unlikely to have come from the Littlewoods catalogue.

Richard was the first to retrieve his jaw from the floor and question the intruders - it turned out they were two of ZZ Top's pole dancers, who would shortly be lowered from the arena's ceiling in cages, writhing and generally looking wonderful, while the copiously bearded brothers traded what felt like very long guitar solos. Anyway, turned out the girls were insanely huge Keane fans who wanted to say hi, so we chatted and did photos and so on. It was odd that during those few minutes most of our crew suddenly remembered that they had burning questions for the band that required them to come into the dressing room.



Geoff (hi-tech wizard) in particular seemed suddenly to have become a huge fan of ZZ Top and was consequently very eager to converse with our visitors. Adam Wakeman (Rick's son, Ozzy's keyboard player, and a friend since we met him playing keys for Travis back in 2004) was hanging out at the time and was clearly impressed. "Blimey," he commented, "I like your rider. We're lucky if we get a piece of sliced mango in our dressing room."

So it was a fun night all round. We felt very privileged to be welcomed into the bosom of American rock, and left Vegas with synapses appropriately frazzled by the glittering lights, and pockets suitably emptied by the surly croupiers.

Tonight is a night off, so it's a nice opportunity for a big dinner with the whole touring party, out on the balcony overlooking the gorgeous Colorado River as it passes through the red rocks of Utah. Then the high-brow film buffs among us will retire to the tourbus for a viewing of the greatest film ever made. "Broadsword calling Danny Boy. Father McCree is waiting." Anyone recognise those immortal lines...?

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USA BLOG #3

Tech hero Rob's first blog of the tour - add your comments below it...

Hello everyone. Here's a bumper crop of pictures from the weekend's VH1 Rock Honors show in fabulous Las Vegas. I'm sure you all know that 'what goes in Vegas, stays in Vegas', but I'll let you know that some things that you'll not see any pictures of include: Tom playing Blackjack with Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age; Richard, handsome soundman Ant and I shooting craps with Ozzy's band (we all lost - send us any spare cash) and stage management hero Mickey fending off the amorous advances of a local lady who seemed to think that, "I've got a wife and a daughter, please leave me alone" is some sort of a chat up line.


Soundcheck


Tom in soundcheck


Richard and his new Nikon F6


Tim concentrating


Richard, immediately before being told not to take pictures of Police motorcycles by one of Las Vegas' finest. A small argument followed although luckily neither of us were hauled off to the brig.



Those 'cycles in full


Tom backstage, pre-show


"Tommy Cash" running through the words one last time


Tom backstage


Richard looking a little nervous


Tim warms up pre show


Tom and Richard on the stage as it revolved round to face the audience


Drummer's view of that Vegas crowd


Tom listening to Robin Williams' introduction (that's him on the bridge to the right of the picture)


Geoff, Tim's mouse, Tim. I got chased off the stage right after this and the band went on to storm through their cover of 'That's All'. Which is stupidly catchy, we're thinking of instigating fines for anyone caught humming it.

More when I can,

Rob

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Photos from Denver

Fans' photos from the Denver show

Hello again. We're back with the best of the pictures that you folks kindly emailed to ontour@keanemusic.com from Monday night's show at The Ogden in Denver. If you're off to any of the other shows on this tour, please send us your ONE best pic to that address. (You may notice that we've used two of Karen's pictures this time; that's because a) not many people sent pics and b) Karen's pictures were ace).


Picture by Demetria


Picture by Lucia


Picture by Karen


Picture also by Karen

By the way, we're very pleased to see how much you're all liking the new commenting facility on the site - we hoped you would. Feel free to leave your thoughts on the pictures too...

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Keane have choose who will suport the Dublin Act

Findlay Brown to open at Dublin show in July

We're pleased to confirm that the support act for Keane's gig at The Point in Dublin on July 19th will be Findlay Brown, who'll be appearing with a full band. Click here to check out Findlay's MySpace and hear some of his lovely, folky songs.

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USA BLOG #4

Richard sends a blog from Chicago...

Hello from sunny Chicago (or "Hog-Butcher to the World" according to Wikipedia). I fell asleep on the bus last night to the dulcit tones of Bill Hicks, and slept like a blog. We got here around 9am and Scott and I headed straight off to one of the best vintage drum stores on the planet (Steve Maxwell's). Chicago is the home of Ludwig drums, as played by Ringo Starr (though the factory is now condos).

Anyway, we had a look at some great old kits (it's half museum, half shop) and I went for a wander down the Magnificent Mile as Scott had to get back to the theatre to get to work setting up for tonight's gig. I ended up in a Borders store which seemed very familiar, in fact I think we might have done an in-store there a while back. We've been here so many times it feels like a home from home. We all went to see the Cubs play on a previous visit, and Scott and I went up the Sears Tower, so it's somewhere we have been tourists as well as playing shows.

It's great getting to travel so far and wide - we've seen more of America than most Americans will see, not to mention Europe, Asia, South America, Australia... it's days like this, when you see a train go past on one of the elevated railways, or drive up Lakeshore and see Lake Michigan, that you realise how cool it is being in a touring band, and how far from home you really are.

The last couple of shows have been great - proper sweaty rock shows - my favourite kind of show, and tonight's should be just as much fun.

I'll try to post some photos soon - I have 38 rolls of film to get developed, so if anyone can recommend a good place to take them in Detroit I'd be very grateful.

Richard

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USA BLOG #5

Keane's tech dude Rob writes (and sends pics) from Chicago...

Hello from the Windy City

We're still having fun, the shows have been great and yesterday, at The Myth in St Paul, we discovered the world's cleanest club. Not having your feet stick to the floor all day makes a big difference, let me tell you.

(Non geeks skip this paragraph) To mix things up a bit I decided to only use my new lensbaby 2.0 today. This is a, frankly, bendy lens that gives everything an oddly focussed, analogue feel. Or something.

Anyway, here are some pictures from soundcheck at the Riviera Theatre...


Slightly blurry Tim


Richard in shades


This is Richard's new Lugwig Black Beauty snare drum. From the '30s I hear. I'm a drum luddite but this boy looks and sounds fabulous.


Not sure what's so funny


Richard in soundcheck


Tom eyes right


Tom soundcheck


Everyone's laughing today. Not sure why.


Marquee sign. They need an M.

More soon, Rob

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YOUR MINNEAPOLIS PICS

Fans' pictures from the Myth show

Thanks to everyone who emailed their ONE best picture from Wednesday's Minneapolis gig to ontour@keanemusic.com. We were going to put pics from the Chicago and Detroit gigs in this post too, but we've not had many of those yet - so if you have a good one from either of those shows, please send it in!

Now, onto those Minneapolis shots...


Picture by Aaron Teskey


Picture by Derek Jevens


Picture by Erica Anderson


Picture by Krissandra


Picture by Melanie Schwartz


Picture by Sam

Top work, folks.

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BUMPER CROP OF YOUR PICS

Fans' shots from Chicago, Detroit and Toronto

Hello again. Thanks to everyone who sent in their pictures from the gigs in Chicago, Detroit and Toronto - we had loads to choose from (as always, priority was given to those who sent in just one pic as requested). If you're off to any of the remaining gigs, please do email your favourite pic to ontour@keanemusic.com. Thanks.

17.05.07 - Chicago, The Riviera


Picture by Andres


Picture by Caroline Wen


Picture by Denise Halcomb


Picture by Jody


Picture by Joyful


19.05.07 - Detroit, State Theater


Picture by Alexis Alt


Picture by Allison Frantz


Picture by Jamie H


Picture by Katie Borkowski


Picture by Michele Swihart


Picture by Zack Herman


20.05.07 - Toronto, Kool Haus


Picture by Feri Forough


Picture by Leah Salt


Picture by Linda L


Picture by Lisa Anuen (this pic is schpoooky)


Picture by Michelle M (this one is too!)


Picture by Richard Moor (this one less so)


More of your pics in the next few days...