Saturday, July 28, 2007


If you want to win 2 tickets for the next Keane's Concert,in Portugal

You have to enter the portuguese official website http://www.keaneportugal.com/

and you have to write 2 quotes or a small text of Keane in Oporto.. Then will be selected the two best quotes of all. The email is keaneportugal@gmail.com with your completly name,your email and your phone contact and of course your quote.

Rules of it:

-The challenge starts in 25th July and the end in 30th July,at 11 am (Portugal time)
-The results will be published in 31st July.
-The winners will be contacted by email in the date of results' apresentation in Keane Portugal.
-The tickets will be sending bu CTT in the same day in the address you said before by the winners and gave in hand in concert's day.
-The answers only will be valide when all the things were correct.
-The member (of keane portugal) can participate only 1 time. More than 1 asnwer will be desqualificate.
-The challenge is only for Keane Portugal members.

(sorry the english)
Tim answer to our questions (part 1 & 2)

If you want to make any question you gave to enter in www.keanemusic.com and enter in the ezine

"I love the sound of Tim's piano. And I want to buy me the same one. Tell me please what piano does Tim use to play 'Bend and Break'? Thanks..."
Leo
Tim replies: It's a Yamaha CP70. Sadly they don't make them anymore, but you can get them second-hand. They're very cool.

"Hey! I just want to know what were u thinking about or what was going on when u wrote 'Hamburg Song'. It's the most beautiful song from u guys..."
Jennifer
Tim replies: It's a complicated story. I actually started writing the song about my wife. It was during the height of the touring for 'Hopes & Fears' and I knew she was finding it difficult with me being away all the time and so many people other than her demanding my attention. She was always great about it, but I guess I was trying to say how grateful I was that all she
asked was to be the person that I returned to each time all the chaos died down. I was trying to write it from her point of view, and that's what the first verse is about. However, when it came to doing B-sides for 'This Is The Last Time', I suggested doing 'Hamburg Song' even though it wasn't finished. That meant that I had to finish the lyrics very quickly in the studio, and when I sat down to write them, what came out was a kind of an outpouring of emotions about my friendship with Tom. I think it was the first time any of us had really articulated the negative effects that all the fame and touring was having on our friendships - I don't think we'd even thought about it very much before that point.

Anyway, I was really proud of the lyrics, and when Tom started singing them it was really electrifying and powerful. As soon as we heard it we knew we had to save it for the next album. Unfortunately we'd also already decided to save the other B-side we had planned, which was 'Thin Air'. So, with our one day of studio time rapidly disappearing, we had to rush to get another song together. We chose to do 'Atlantic'. So we recorded a version of that, but a couple of days later when we were listening back to it in Germany we realised it sounded like an amazing song to open the next album with, so we had to pull that from the b-side of 'TITLT' as well! So we rushed into a studio in Stuttgart and did 'She Opens Her Eyes', which turned out really beautifully. That was all we had time for before the deadline, so we had to use the demo of 'TITLT' as the other b-side. So... that's the full history of that little episode!

"Can you tell me, why Keane put a figure of a bull fight (or something like that) on the former site? What do you think about killing animals just for fun? Sorry if my English grammar is hopeless. Gracias."
Sunset
Tim replies: Your grammar is excellent. I have to say I think bull-fighting is pretty repulsive, and the baying crowds with their snacks and Coca-Cola make it even less attractive. It was an incredibly simple and powerful image - the great, dignified beast being brought down to satisfy the whim of the mob. It seemed to say something about love being stupidly destroyed as well, but it's hard to put my finger on that exactly.

"Do you ever become frustrated because people accuse you that you copy Coldplay?"
Megan
Tim replies: My honest answer is that I think anyone who really thinks that is an ignorant fool. And therefore by extension I don't pay much attention to what they think!

"What's the story/the meaning of the song 'The Way You Want It'?"
Anna
Tim replies: It's about almost enjoying the feeling of being heartbroken, or even just generally despondent, and wallowing in the self-pity a little bit. I think there were rainy days in London when I felt a bit like that back in the day, and I guess it's a bit of a slap in the face to myself.

"Hello. Tim, have you ever written a song about/to your wife?"
Mathilde
Tim replies: 'Sunshine' was about her. And see my answer about 'Hamburg Song' above.

"Seen any good movies lately?"
Vanessa Panopoulos
Tim replies: I finally got round to watching 'The Last King Of Scotland' the other day - that was fairly gruelling but Forest Whitaker is brilliant in it. And speaking of gruelling, I watched 'Downfall' again a few days ago. That's an amazing film. It's so depressing witnessing what feels like documentary evidence (because it's so well cast and acted) of how people were hypnotised by Hitler's charisma into doing crazy things, even after he was dead.

"Does someone pick out your clothes for you or do you get to follow your own fashion sense?"
Poetess
Tim replies: We follow our own fashion sense, as you kindly put it. Although we do get given a huge amount of clothes, often by very posh brands. I generally find that the trousers are far too small for me, which is annoying. Probably something to do with me not being a whippet-thin Italian model. I know, it's hard to believe.


->Part 1

"Please let me know what you think of Blair & his 10 years as PM at 10 Downing St. Thanks so much!!! "
Anne
Tim replies: I feel incredibly sad about it. Blair should have been the greatest Prime Minister Britain's ever had. People were overjoyed when he came to power, as if it was a new dawn for the country. He did achieve some very important things, but his career will always be overshadowed by his having dragged Britain into the fiasco of Iraq. Sometimes I just imagine that all the money we've spent in Iraq had been pumped into the NHS - what was once Labour's proudest achievement could have been revived, and instead we've got car bombs in London and people dying in hospital corridors for want of a bed. Thanks for that.

"Do you make it a point to watch the films or TV shows that feature your music?"
Mikaela
Tim replies: If we're considering allowing a film or TV show to use one of our songs, then we either watch it or read the script. We're generally pretty fussy about where our music gets used, although a lot of the time we don't have any choice in the matter because a TV station like the BBC will simply pay our record company or publishing company a huge amount of money to use anything by any of their artists. Which can be quite annoying!

"Did you ever play 'Untitled 1' live? It's my favourite."
Sjoerd Postma
Tim replies: We've never played it, I'm not sure why. Certain songs just work better on record. 'Fly To Me' is a favourite of mine, and we could just never get it to flow when we rehearsed it. Still, we've managed to sneak a bit of it in lately...

"How long does it take to write the lyrics/music of a song?"
Katie
Tim replies: Sometimes it takes about 5 minutes, sometimes it takes months and months! You just have to wait for things to fall into place. It drives me absolutely mad, but the thrill of completing a song and knowing it's good makes the whole grizzly process worthwhile!

"Tim, is there a chance that Keane could play Early Winter [the song Tim wrote for Gwen Stefani]?"
Emily
Tim replies: We'd really like to, especially if it gets any radio play later in the year. (That will be up to Gwen, of course.) When I started writing the song I intended it to be a Keane song, and then Gwen and I changed it around to suit her. I think it turned out really beautifully with her singing it, but I think it is a very Keane-esque song deep down, and I'd love to hear a Keane version as I think it would sound very different. There were also some different lyrics that Gwen and I changed for her version, and I'd quite like to do a version with the alternative lyrics. We'll see...!

"Hi Tim. will you be going any festivals this year apart from the ones you're playing?"
Sarah J
Tim replies: I'd really like to, so maybe in August I will. Until then it's going to be very busy. I wanted to go to Latitude, but we were away doing festivals of our own. Mind you, we can't complain - we're headlined at Werchter in Belgium and before we played we got to watch Razorlight, Amy Winehouse, The Killers, Klaxons and Snow Patrol. So even when you're playing it's an amazing opportunity to catch up on live shows.

"Mr. Rice-Oxley - is it true you are singing the main vocals for 'Sunshine' on 'Hopes And Fears', whilst Mr. Chaplin takes over for the chorus?"
Ashley
Tim replies: That is true, yes. It's very nice being addressed as Mr Rice-Oxley and Mr Chaplin. I think we should make it a rule in the future.

->Part 2

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

ROB'S O2 PHOTOS

The band's tech guru sends his pics from The O2

Hello again. How can that be over? Months of endless meetings, drawings, emails and other nonsense and now it's done and off to the edit suite. Hurrah!

It's been a busy few days so I've not taken too many pics and, I have to admit, the ones I have aren't really up to scratch. But why should that stop me sending 'em over? Here's some soundcheckky stuff from the O2.


Drum tech Scott and Richard. I can guarantee that the conversation is about drums, drum sticks, drum heads and cars.


Tim adjusting his mic stand.


Tom + piano.


One of a series of 'Hello Mum' shots I've taken of Richard. See also Las Vegas and Buenos Aires.


Tom + O2.


Watching the camera watching Tom.


The many shoes of Tim. Don't his insoles match the carpet? Hats off to tour manager Colin for organising that small detail.


Tom tips me the wink.

I'll try to take some good ones in Potrugal.

Rob

Some videos of O2 Concert, on saturday...

Only 30 seconds..
You can buy it for download..
But we'll wait for the dvd..

http://blueroom.o2.co.uk/2007/the-o2/keane-video-1.jsp
-Crystal Ball

http://blueroom.o2.co.uk/2007/the-o2/keane-video-2.jsp
-Nothing In My Way

http://blueroom.o2.co.uk/2007/the-o2/keane-video-3.jsp
-This Is The Last Time

http://blueroom.o2.co.uk/2007/the-o2/keane-video-4.jsp
-Somewhere Only We Know

http://blueroom.o2.co.uk/2007/the-o2/keane-video-5.jsp
-The Frog Prince

http://blueroom.o2.co.uk/2007/the-o2/keane-video-6.jsp
-Atlantic

Sunday, July 22, 2007

THE END OF A BIG DAY!

11.06pm - Right, well it's cheerio time from us. The band are all having showers and getting changed, before heading up to see their friends and family at the after-show party.

All the tension and stress that was drifting around backstage before the show has lifted and there's a lot of smiley faces and laughter about now. Quite right too.

Thanks to the (literally) hundreds of you who emailed ontour@keanemusic.com during the day, keeping us company. We read all of them and it was really nice to hear from you. Also, thanks to the commenters and the folks on the message board too. Keane are very lucky to have fans like you lot.

We'll leave you with a picture of the setlist, to give you a little bit more of an idea of what you've got to look forward to when the DVD hits the shelves. It'll certainly bring back some good memories.



Night night. Thanks for reading. It's been a blast

Saturday, July 21, 2007

ALL FROM THE CONCERT BY KEANEMUSIC.COM
(this post was actualize in minute)

10.45pm - Hello again. We're really making the most of the wireless tonight, as we're now blogging direct from band's dressing room.

Tim, Tom and Richard are all very happy with how the gig went. "There's a lot of pressure on for a gig like that," says Tim, "particularly when you know it's being filmed. But it was amazing." Tom's just been talking about the adrenaline that hits you when you go onstage in front of that many people. "There's really nothing like it". Meanwhile, Richard's telling everyone about an idea he had for a video during 'Bend And Break'. "I thought, I've got to remember this, but I should really concentrate..." His idea for a video is indeed rather good too.


The crowd, during 'Bedshaped'.









Three very exhausted, happy and relieved bunnies.

10.18pm - Wow, confetti canons!



And now we're onto 'Bedshaped' - the last song of the evening. We'd better leave our comfy seat to go and get some pics of the band as they leave the stage. All feels rather emotional here.

10.09pm - The band are playing a mighty-sounding 'Atlantic'. We've been meaning to tell you all day, but keep forgetting - the plan is for the DVD to come out before Christmas.

10.03pm - There are soldiers marching around the arena!





How cool is that?! For 'Is It Any Wonder', as you may have guessed.

The band finished the main set with that song. Now Tom's back on playing 'Broken Toy' on his acoustic.

9.58pm - The roof in the O2 is very high. Very high indeed. But the crowd just blew it off when the band started 'Somewhere Only We Know'. 17,000+ people are bellowing every word.

Don't be sad if you're not here. It's gonna make a stonking DVD. Let's just hope the cameraman don't point in the direction of the chap with the laptop on his (increasingly warm) legs.

9.54pm - If you've seen Keane on any tour since the one in the UK before Christmas last year, then you'll have heard a recording of Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy reading the poem 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death' by WB Yeats before 'A Bad Dream'. Well, tonight (as in Dublin) he read it live. That man must have balls of titanium to have stood up there in front of all those people and read a poem. He nailed it too.



This laptop is making our thighs warm.

9.43pm - We're quite proud of this one...



9.40pm - Happy days, we've found a seat right in the corner where people don't keep turning around and asking how tall Tom Chaplin is ("um, quite tall").

Tom's belting through the 'Leaving So Soon' and The O2 is waving its hands in the air like it really doesn't care.

Ooooh, 'This Is The Last Time'...

9.37pm - This is how it's looking from our (excedingly comfy) seat.



9.33pm - Thankfully they're leaving us alone now. The band are still on the B-stage playing 'Hamburg Song'. It's pretty mad looking out at this many people, all giving the band their undivided attention. You could hear a pin drop. Well you could if the band weren't playing.

9.28pm - Someone's just asked us if we're the ones who write the KWN. Oh dear, cover blown.

Now they're trying to take our picture. We may have to move.

9.26pm - Wow. Amazingly the wireless does work out here. We're sitting in a very comfy seat watching the band play 'Frog Prince' on the B-stage. People are looking at us a bit funny because we've got a laptop on our knee, but that's a small price to pay.

9.15pm - Before we go to check out the wireless situation, here's some pics from just before and just after the band went on. (By the way, we're sitting in the pitch dark back here, so do forgive any typing errors.)













9.09pm - "I can't stop now, I've got troubles of my own...". Actually, do you think the wireless internet might work out there in the arena? It might you know.

9.07pm - Lots of you have got Richard's drum challenge correct. Congrats to Ana, Melissa, Alicia, Luly and many others. Your knowledge of Keane beats is impressive!

9.02pm - We thought we should move across to another thread as that last one was getting very slow. "We might as well, we might as well..." rings out across The O2...

8.58pm: Way to go Martin McDonald with the correct answer! Very impressive.

And, no Mary-Ann, we won't get to see all that much of the gig, because we've got to keep you folks up to date. Selfless, we know.

We're sitting right behind the stage, though, so we can hear it pretty well from here. They're playing Nothing In My Way at the moment. Actually, it's just finished. Big cheer!

8.52pm: They're on! And the whole place is going crazy!

Tim admitted to being slightly terrified about 20 seconds before he went on, but from the minute they hit the stage, it clicked into place. Really, it did.

Now, who's up for a Richard drum challenge?Click here to view the video. First person to email the correct song title to us at ontour@keanemusic.com gets the glory.

Hello to everyone emailing from Mexico, by the way.
All the news before tonight's big show
9.01pm - we're moving to a new thread, cos this one is getting slow.

8.58pm: Way to go Martin McDonald with the correct answer! Very impressive.

And, no Mary-Ann, we won't get to see all that much of the gig, because we've got to keep you folks up to date. Selfless, we know.

We're sitting right behind the stage, though, so we can hear it pretty well from here. They're playing Nothing In My Way at the moment. Actually, it's just finished. Big cheer!

8.52pm: They're on! And the whole place is going crazy!

Tim admitted to being slightly terrified about 20 seconds before he went on, but from the minute they hit the stage, it clicked into place. Really, it did.

Now, who's up for a Richard drum challenge? Click here to view the video. First person to email the correct song title to us at ontour@keanemusic.com gets the glory.

Hello to everyone emailing from Mexico, by the way.

8.36pm: Nine minutes until stage time and our laptop has decided now would be a good time to go *really* slow. Arrrrgh! Anyway, the band are in their warm-up room and everyone is ready and raring to go. Richard has done another drum challenge video, which we'll upload once they're on (it's that that's got our laptop in a tizz). We've got butterflies. The band must have a whole swarm of them.

7.54pm: Hello to fans to Thailand, Spain, France and Peru who've emailed. Lots of you have also asked if Tom really went out to the queue earlier to play 'Vienna' by Ultravox. So we asked Tom. He laughed for about 10 seconds and said, "No, but what a great idea". Maybe next time then!

7.51pm: Ghosts were good - clearly quite nervous to be playing such a big venue (their biggest gig yet, apparently) but they sounded great.

7.35pm: We've just been in the dressing room. Richard's concerned that his hands are flaking because of the climbing (and drumming) he's been doing.





They looked fine to us.

We're off to watch a bit of Ghosts.

7.04pm: Wow, we're getting lots of emails to ontour@keanemusic.com at the moment - loads of you in America, plus folks in Holland, Belgium, France and, of course, Latin America. Like Matheus (and his aunt Sandra) in Sao Paulo, Brazil...



We just showed this pic to Richard. He said, "Awww, that's really nice". Which is pretty much what we thought too.

SAT 6.59pm: Blimey, is it 6.59pm already? We've just been for a spot of dinner and then popped into the dressing room to see what the band were upto. Alex Lake was in there, showing Richard his website (http://www.twoshortdays.com/). Meanwhile, Tim was putting in his contact lenses and Tom was sitting there "having a think about the show". How's he feeling about it? "A bit nervous, but really excited. It should be great". It should indeed. Just 106 minutes until stage time...

SAT 6.01pm: We've just been for a wander around outside the arena. It's massive out there, with loads of restaurants and bars - in fact there's even a beach! There's an awful lot of people out there too. Here's some pics...











Don't they all look cheery! Great display of impromptu waving and smiling!

Lots of you from Argentina have been emailing to ask us whether Gaby (who's over here from over there) will be able to present your gifts to the band. Sorry, but we honestly don't know. We're not even sitting with Beth and Colin today, we're in an office on our lonesome, with only your emails for company! But we're sure that your gifts will get to the band one way or another.

SAT 5.29pm: We just sat in on the band's post-soundcheck meeting. They were talking about things like what to do if a piano string breaks or the lighting stops working. Even just being there made us feel really nervous - goodness only knows how the band and the crew felt.

Happily, though, Tim told us he was very pleased with how the soundcheck went and the band all seem to be in cheery moods.







Yes, that's Richard checking out the Blackle.com website which we told you about earlier (he bookmarked it too).

SAT 5.03pm: Now in the soundcheck they're pretending that it's a full-on gig, with all the lights and proper run throughs of the songs for the DVD crew. It's quite odd seeing the band belting through the songs as if there are 17,000 people there, when actually there are more like 17. More pics...











This last one is Tom watching Tim and Rich belting through 'Crystal Ball'. It was pretty darned loud (to paraphrase Huey Lewis in 'Back To The Future').

SAT 4.46pm: This morning at 11.01am we asked for a review of the new Harry Potter book. To be honest, we'd long ago given up hope of getting one - but then this turned up at ontour@keanemusic.com a second ago (don't worry, there are no spoilers)

Since getting the book right at the 'stroke of midnight', as Jim Dale's automated voice message put it, I have not been able to put it down (although my mom had to pry the book out of my hands in order to make me go to bed). I'm not going to give away anything, but I will say that from the getgo, I was scared out of my pants. Rowling sure knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat! I give this book (so far) 11 out of 10!
Melani

Thanks Melani!

SAT 4.39pm: Here's some pictures from the soundcheck, in artistic black and white (the black saves power, the white less so).















With Alex Lake in the building, we'd like to think we upped our game.

SAT 4.36pm: Soundcheck pics on their way. In the meantime...

Hello blog.
Please could you deliver a namecheck to those reading in the queue by the wonder of wireless communications! In particular - Jen from Taunton, Nicky from Horsham, Em from Battle, Kara from Reading, Rihannon from Crystal Palace, and the huge crowd from America who have come all this way with banners in tow...! They're all listening intently to the soundcheck as I tap.
Andrew

Consider it done Andrew. We'll head out there to take a picture in a minute, too.

SAT 4.08pm: Jennifer has written to ontour@keanemusic.com to tell us that black-coloured internet pages, like km.com, use 20% less energy than bright white-coloured pages like google.com (she has the stats to back it up too). Interesting stuff. Apparently Google have set up a black page in direct response to this discovery. Check it out at http://www.blackle.com/ and do your bit to save some power.

SAT 3.53pm: Here's how it looks from the stage...







The band have just started their soundcheck, we can hear the distant strains of 'Nothing In My Way' from the office we're in, deep in the backstage area (this place is like a maze).

There's a definite buzz of nervous excitement about the band and the crew today. Not only is this Keane's biggest UK headline show yet, it's also being filmed for the DVD. Everyone looks very purposeful and focused, as if Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' is playing in their minds...

"Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?"

Um, we'll capture it please Mr Mathers.
SAT 3.26pm: Wow, did it really only take us 14 minutes to find catering and then eat beef stroganoff and a piece of cheesecake? Hmm, we'll probably get indegestion now.

For those of you after stage times, Ghosts are on at 7.30pm (well worth getting here for), with Keane on at 8.45pm (they're ace too).

Anyway, here's a pic of Tim taken in the dressing room earlier...



The soundcheck is due to be starting in a minute, so we're off to have a look at that.

SAT 3.12pm: Right, we've just been out to look at the arena with Tom and Tim, who both seem in good spirits. It's HUGE! Mad to imagine that's going to be full of people in a few hours.

Click here to see a Video Blog we just made out there (we're putting links rather than embedding, because apparently that's helpful for those of you on dial-up).

And here's a picture of how it looks out there...



Right, we're off for some lunch...

SAT 2.16pm: Hello from The O2. Or the Millennium Dome. Or whatever you want to call it. It looks a little bit like this...



And we're pleased to say that the wireless internet speed is jolly quick.

Hello to Monica from Chile and Julie from Colombia, who both emailed ontour@keanemusic.com while we were on our way down here. Bet it's not raining there.

Now, time for a wander...


SAT 12.08PM: Right, we're off to catch the train to the venue. See you when we're there.

SAT 11.54AM: This just in to ontour@keanemusic.com...

Hello Keane 02 Blog, I have tickets for tonight, now going to waste as I'm trapped in my own town by flood waters, train tickets useless as the station is under water and the traffic around here is horrendous! Me and my friend (F'ran) were going to attempt going at 8am today but its just not possible, so very disappointed, had accommodation booked, and everything, I mentioned on the forum whether Tom, Tim or Richard could send us a helicopter but on second thought, realised that wouldn't fit their eco-friendly life style, still at least we can watch the dvd, Just means you're going to have 2 people minus the 20,000 odd singing along, also missing Ghosts to! They were ace when we watched them recently, look out for their cover of 'Don't Cha' if they do it, its very good!..

Pete and Fran (we're very depressed)

:-(


SAT 11.21AM: We've had a couple of emails from folks in the west of the UK who are struggling to make it up to London for the show because of the floods down there. Fingers crossed they can all make it. Be such a pity if they didn't.

SAT 11.01AM: Last night, Keane's manager Adam threw a party at his house in London, for the band and various of the people who work with them. The highlight for us was beating Adam and Tom at darts. Rock 'n' roll!

So, who's read the new Harry Potter book already then? Send your reviews to ontour@keanemusic.com and we'll post them up.

SAT 10.29AM: Here's that breakfast, in all its glory...



And, when we said tonight is Keane's last 'Under The Iron Sea' headline date, we meant in the UK. Don't worry, the Portugal and Spain shows are still very much on!

Sat 10.16AM: Hello again. The big news in our world is that we've just been presented with the most amazing breakfast by our missus (pancakes, maple syrup, strawberries and blueberries!).

Anyway, we thought it was about time we revealed the answer to the challenge set by Richard in the Dublin blog, to guess which song he was drumming along to. Well, the answer was 'Everybody's Changing'. Click here to see the video again...

And hello to Helen who's reading in Australia, Lindsay in Holland and Delora in Portugal.

Sat 9.15AM: Mornin'. We've just been ploughing through the 50+ emails you chaps sent yesterday, which we couldn't read while we were on the road. Thanks for all those - they came from as far apart as Finland and Brazil. Always nice to hear from you folks.

So, tonight is the last UK date of the 'Under The Iron Sea'. From having seen the news this morning, it seems like we were quite lucky to make it back to London at all yesterday - the floods have caused chaos in the UK, with thousands of people having to sleep in their cars, not far away from places we passed in the bus.

Anyway, quite a few of you have asked who tonight's support act is. It's a band called Ghosts, who we're quite big fans of here at km.com. Click here to check out their MySpace and hear four of their pleasingly peppy indie-pop tunes. We'll let you know what time they're on later.

We'll be heading down the The O2 at about 1.30pm today, but we'll try to keep you up to date with bits and bobs of news until then.

And if you want to say hello, drop us a line at ontour@keanemusic.com.