UNION CHAPEL - LIVE BLOG (yesterday)

Live updates from Keane's last gig of 2007

10.54pm - Tom's back in the dressing room (he'd popped off somewhere). He says he enjoyed the gig "immensely", which seems a pretty fair summary. We're going to head off to catch our train home. Thanks for all your emails, it was lovely to hear from you folks all over the world. Hope you've enjoyed the blog.

We'll leave you with a picture we just took of a very happy band with their lighting director Rob (the chap who kindly takes ace pictures for this very site). Keep it locked to keanemusic.com - we've got some exciting stuff coming up in the next few weeks...



Cheerio!

10.52pm - Tim says he really enjoyed the gig - particularly playing a proper upright piano rather than his usual CP70. And, of course, the strings.

10.42pm - We're back in the dressing room. "That was a lot of fun," says Richard, who took his earpiece monitor thingy out to listen to the string quartet for the last song.

Richard tells us the band have recorded the show for their own use, but we're afraid there are no current plans to do anything with it. If we see a CD, we'll grab it and run...

10.35pm - 'Bedshaped' has just started. The last song of the last Keane gig of the entire 'Under The Iron Sea' era. And it still makes the hairs on the back of our neck stand up. Particularly when it's got added strings. Amazing.

Anyway, here's a pic of Tom down the front of the (teeny) stage. Spot anyone you know?




10.33pm - 'Somewhere Only We Know' and naturally everyone stood up again (including us).

10.24pm - That was the last song of the set. Hopefully Mr Swaying Sweater will sit down before the encore. Mart (who was the second person to get the Drum Challenge correct) has asked if this gig is being recorded. We don't know. But we're gonna find out.

The band are back on. They're playing 'Atlantic'. And EVERYONE JUST SAT DOWN AGAIN! Woot! Woot!

10.23pm - Dang, they're playing 'Is It Any Wonder?' and everyone has stood up. Laptops don't work so well when you're standing up and now all we can see is a man's back. He's dancing. And he's wearing a dark sweater, with a white T-shirt undernearth. And um...

10.16pm - We've been for a wander, so we have some pictures from different angles. Oh yes.







We also meant to say that The Feeling were the surprise special guests at 7.30pm tonight, but they'd finished by the time we got here.

Oh, and happy, happy, happy birthday to Yan - who's one today.

Wow, the band are now playing 'Early Winter' - the song Tim wrote for Gwen Stefani (and her next single). Works really well as a Keane song!

10.06pm - The band have been joined by a string quartet! It's their first gig ever with a string section. 'Try Again' sounded great with the strings sweeping all over it.



10.02pm - We can't see Rich, but we can see Jesse, who's guesting on acoustic bass. It's so quiet in here we're having to type really quietly. Shhhhhhhh...



9.58pm - Here's a pic of Tim and Tom. Unfortunately we can't see Richard because of a big speaker. Ooh, they're playing 'Under Pressure'.



9.53pm - The band are serving up a stormer. The crowd were a bit restrained at first - possibly because they're sitting in pews, in a church - but they're all bellowing along to 'Crystal Ball' as we type.

Hello to Helen who had a ticket for tonight but couldn't make it because she's ill and in bed. Poor Helen. But she sent perhaps the best limerick of the day...

I should be sitting in a pew
But I'm lying at home with the flu.
Please pity my plight -
name-check me tonight -
and the Live Blog might just see me through.

Bless.

9.48pm - We have a Drum Challenge winner!

"I couldn't help noticing (and I'm not sure if it's for sure the answer cause this challenge is a toughie) but Richard's drumming sounds a lot like the theme song to Only Fools and Horses :O
- Lindsay (Holland)"

Congrats Lindsay!

9.45pm - The band are all on now, just started playing 'Nothing In My Way'. Here's how Tom looked doing his solo spot...



Jo Whiley is sitting next to us in our pew. Before Keane came on, she spoke very eloquently about Mencap and what an important and worthwhile cause it is. If you've enjoyed this live blog, why not head to their website and give them a donation...

9.40pm - So we're out in the pews of the Chapel and - happily - the wireless works out here. Tom is just taking to the stage, it's just him and an acoustic guitar. He's playing 'This Is The Last Time' with just him and an acoustic. Wow. Sounds amazing.

By the way, the drum challenge isn't a Keane song...

9.29pm - 11 minutes til showtime, it's just us and the band in the dressing room and they've just run through 'Under Pressure'. Sounded grand. Anyway, here's a pic of Richard (lots of you have emailed ontour@keanemusic.com asking for one)...



9.22pm - It's the moment you've all been waiting for. Click here to take part in the third of Richard's Drum Challenges. You have to guess what tune he's playing. First person to email ontour@keanemusic.com with the correct answer gets, um, something (possibly just a mention, to be honest). It's a bit hard.

9.17pm - We're back in the dressing room having watched a teeny bit of Rilo Kiley. The band are currently running through a rendition of 'Early Winter' while we sit in the corner typing.

Here's how Rilo Kiley looked.



We heard the chap with the yellow sleeves telling singer Jenny Lewis that it was the :most fun gig of the tour so far". Which is nice.

8.53pm - Mr Richard Hughes is now in the building! Yay!

Oh, and sorry if it sounded like we were just showing off when we told you we'd heard the demo (Ale emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to tell us that in Argentina the saying is "don't count money in front of the poor!"). We just wanted to let you know that a) the demos are making real progress and b) they're really good. Moving swiftly on...

8.48pm - Ooh, we've been meaning to say all day - this gig is in aid of a very worthwhile charity called Mencap. Check out their website here.

8.40pm - An hour until show time. Richard isn't back at the venue yet. Presumably he will be soon. Tom just played us a demo of a new Keane track on his laptop. It sounded *proper* amazing. Genuinely. But, sadly, we can't tell you what it sounded like. You'll have to wait until next year for that.

8.26pm - Here are some pictures...


This is what the venue looks like as you walk in...


Here's opening act Duffy, who sounds a bit like Dusty Springfield and a bit like Amy Winehouse and a lot like someone who's going to be BIG in 2008.


Um, this one is pretty self-explanatory


Tom and those gas stoves Beth was talking about earlier.


Tim strumming his guitar. His swanky hooded top almost matches the ironing board, don't you think?

8.18pm - We're in the Union Chapel. In the dressing room. Give us a minute and we'll post some pictures and stuff.

6.54pm - Right, we're setting off for the venue. Should be back online in a bit over an hour (Keane are on at 9.40pm, by the way). The latest news from Beth is that the doors are open, the boardies are already at the front, Tim and Tom are "mooching about in the dressing room" and Richard's still at home.

See you when we're there. In the meantime, we'll leave you with this from Isabela in Brazil. "Hello. I would like to send a pic of my dog "Preta Gil". She really wants to go to the Union Chapel today with her "sister", me! Lol.."




How cute? Very, very cute.

6.08pm - Several people, from countries as far apart as America, Peru, Argentina and Italy have now emailed ontour@keanemusic.com to tell us that they're risking their jobs by looking at this live blog too much. If your boss asks, tell them you're researching the latest online interface web 2.0 customer marketing methods, which you feel could reap huge rewards for your company if they were to adopt. Or just smile and tell them how nice their outfit is today.

6.00pm - And another limerick, this time from Anne...

The young singer of Keane was quite tall
At every show he would give it his all
One night his trousers did rip
And he ended up doing an impromptu strip
Bet he wished he'd seen that in his Crystal Ball

Huzzah! Over at the venue, dinner was apparently "chicken, cauliflower cheese and salad".

The band have also confirmed what several of you emailed in to say, that they have played at Virgin Megastore in London (see below for full list of Keane London shows). The ICA and Backyard Club are still being verified, apparently. And the Monarch is the same thing as the Camden Barfly.

Shout out to "the Finnish massive" who've just emailed ontour@keanemusic.com. Big up the home of the Moomins!


The Moomins: queueing patiently for the Union Chapel earlier

We're setting off for the venue in about an hour (we only decided to do this live blog this morning, otherwise we'd have arranged to get there sooner).

5.28pm - Another good limerick has arrived at ontour@keanemusic.com, this time from Chris Dillon in Liverpool

Rice-Oxley and Chaplin and Hughes,
Play so loud that they wake up Shrews.
They've shared their hopes and their fears,
Reduced us to tears,
And they're millions times better than Muse.

Beth tells us Richard is still at home, while Tim and Tom are "discussing lyrics" in the dressing room. Ooooh, intriguing!

5.02pm - We have a photograph! Keane's tech dude and resident photographic hero, Rob, has just emailed us this...



Top pic, as ever. Verily, Rob rocks the party.

4.40pm - And so here is the first limerick which hit our ontour@keanemusic.com inbox. It's by Jane A from, um, somewhere (she didn't say). Take it away Jane...

There was a sex-bomb called Tom
Who was such a huge fan of Queen
So he joined a band
From the south of the land
And now he's the frontman of Keane

It doesn't quite follow the strict AABBA rhyming pattern of a limerick, but it's pretty good!

Email from Alejandra who says, "All the Mexican boardies at "El Mundo de Keane" are following the live blog.. it would be really nice if you send a big "HOLA" to us."

HOOOOOOOOLA!

4.17pm - Now the whole band have gone for a wander, so the confirmation of other London venues has been delayed slightly (though hopefully not as long as we delayed telling you the winner of the O2 banner competition, eh KWN readers?). We're getting far too many emails to ontour@keanemusic.com to say hello to everyone, so we've picked two at random. Shout out to Agatha in Brazil! And shout out to Roby & Ilaria from the marvellous keane.it fansite! And thanks to everyone who's emailing. First person to send us a Keane limerick gets it posted here...

4.01pm - Update of what the band are upto now:
Richard has gone home for a couple of hours. Handy living near the venue
Tom is fiddling with his iPhone in the dressing room
Tim is hanging shirts up in the dressing room.
You've emailed lots more suggestions of venues in London the band have played at. They're currently being checked by our official adjudicator (ie Beth is asking the band).
By the way, we're still not at the venue - pictures will follow when we are.

3.39pm - Well, that didn't take long - we've already had *lots* of emails, but the first person to correctly point out a missing venue was Demetria, who quickly noticed that Water Rats wasn't on the list. And here's the proof that Keane played there.

3.23pm - We've just received the following email from Beth (Keane's PA):

Hi Everybody

Keane have gone off to sound check now. I'd love to take a few photographs but it will spoil what promises to be an exciting night so I've stayed behind in the dressing room to write this on their behalf.

This morning, Richard has been reminiscing about the sheer amount of shows Keane have played in London since they were an unsigned, anonymous band.

So, for your pleasure, the boys have compiled a list. I couldn't actually keep up with everything that was being yelled at me so I'm hoping I've got it all.

Now the exciting bit; the first person to email ontour@keanemusic.com with a London gig that is not listed here will win a signed Keane gift!

Oh, Richard has just popped in with another one to add. I've never typed so fast in my life. Here we go....

Royal Albert Hall
ULU (three times we believe)
Apple Store
Gibson Guitar Studio
The Victoria Pub, Holloway Road
The Embassy Rooms (for War Child)
Astoria (twice)
LA2
Barfly (ooh, around three times)
The Hope & Anchor, Islington
12 Bar Club (twice?)
Gutteridge's Yard (twice)
Buffalo Bar, Islington (a meeting of minds took place here - the band met their tour manager Colin, and remember him wearing a beanie hat! Colin tells me it was a beige Carhartt beanie hat)
Spitz (twice)
The Garage
Upstairs at The Garage
Betsey Trotwood (twice)
Bull & Gate (about five times!)
Dublin Castle (twice)
Camden Falcon
Upstairs at Camden Market
100 Club
Metro Club, Oxford St
Carling Academy, Islington (at least twice)
Hammersmith Apollo (twice)
The Forum Kentish Town
Villiers Theatre
Brixton Academy (three times)
Wembley Arena (twice)
Wembley Stadium
Hyde Park (twice)
Alexandra Palace (twice)
The O2
The Union Chapel
Can't remember the name of this one but its in a downstairs bar on Great Portland Street
Can't remember the name of this one either but it was a theatre in Central London where they played with their old guitarist Dom.

And there you go.

It's sounding good out there so I'm off for a listen. Photos to come later.

Beth x

2.34pm - Nice to know that the newspapers are paying attention to km.com - Keane's Tom "Hacker" Chaplin.

2.10pm - Sorry, we were off having lunch. So.... the emails have been flooding in to ontour@keanemusic.com. Sarah and Scott are on their way to the show from Norfolk ("We are very excited"), Demetria is getting distracted by the blog in Colorado Springs, Vanessa and Maria both say "hi" from Spain, Denise does the same from Brazil and Angelique emailed from Holland to say how nice the venue looks on its website. Katia's asked us to say hello to Peru (HELLO PERU!) and Naily, funnyface and charlotteh have emailed from outside the venue to recommend the bacon and cheese sandwich from Harry's cafe. It is, we're told, "wicked".

In other news, the band have literally just started their soundcheck. We know this, because we spoke to the band's PA, Beth, who is currently sitting in the band's dressing room, which apparently is very nice and has lovely little gas stoves in it to keep it warm. Sounds like Beth wants to take one home. But stealing from a church would be BAD.

12.49pm - The Union Chapel is one of the loveliest venues in London, if not the UK (heck, if not the world). It's also still a proper working church. Click here to check out its website and have a look at some pictures.

This just in to ontour@keanemusic.com from Argentine Keane fan Gaby. "We are in the door of the chapel since 7.30am.with the funny keane boardies!...we are freezing..BUT HAPPY!!! we can't wait for tonight! cheers!!!!!" That is one excited lady...

12.19pm - We've just spoken to Mr Tim Rice-Oxley, who's in a taxi on his way to the venue, where he's meeting Tom and then going for a sandwich. When pressed, Tim revealed that he may plump for a bacon and avocado sandwich, on wholemeal bread. "But only if the bacon is from free range, organic pigs," he said. "Which actually shouldn't be too hard to find in Islington."

12.07pm - Big up Jeanet from Holland, the first person to email ontour@keanemusic.com. We should say we're not actually at the venue yet, but we're trying to get hold of various band and crew for updates.

12.01pm - Hello there. As you know, Keane are playing a special acoustic show at London's Union Chapel tonight, for the Little Noise Sessions in aid of Mencap. This is, officially, Keane's very last gig of 2007. From what we hear, it's going to be rather special.

So, what better time to unleash another live blog on you folks? Hopefully you know the drill by now - we bombard you with regular updates on what's happening, you keep us company by emailing any thoughts, greetings or queries to ontour@keanemusic.com. First person to email gets a "big up"....