Keane: Hopes and Fears 20th Anniversary Tour 10/05/2024

Rating: ★★★★★

The O2 Arena: ★★★★★

Where we stayed: Thames View House Surrey Quays Hotel London

SETLIST:

Can’t Stop Now
Silenced By The Night
Bend And Break
Your Eyes Open
Nothing In My Way
The Way I Feel
Sunshine
You Are Young
Everybody’s Changing
On A Day Like Today
Perfect Symmetry
A Bad Dream
Untitled 1
Spiralling
Is It Any Wonder?
She Has No Time
This Is The Last Time (B Stage)
Crystal Ball (B Stage)
Somewhere Only We Know (B Stage)
We Might As Well Be Strangers (Encore)
Sovereign Light Café (Encore)
Bedshaped (Encore)

It’s no secret that I am a huge Keane fan. Paul and I first saw them a couple of summers ago at The Mouth Of The Tyne Festival, which seemed like a dream and is an experience I will never forget. Although I have been a fan of their music for years, I hadn’t been to many concerts before starting these blogs, which is one of my biggest regrets. I am doing a good job of making up for lost time though, seeing Tom Chaplin, lead singer, several times on his 2022 solo tour and Keane at least twice on this one, for the 20th anniversary of their debut album, ‘Hopes and Fears’, which took the world by storm after its release. Sometimes I forget how many giant hits are on that album, such as ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ (of course), ‘Bend And Break’, ‘Everybody’s Changing’ and ‘Bedshaped’. We were promised the album in its entirety but not in order, as ‘SOWK’ is the first track and that would be a very strange song to kick the show off with, as it is by far their most famous. It is constantly resurfacing, with the Lily Allen cover for the John Lewis Christmas advert in 2013 and its recent surge in popularity after being featured in TikTok videos, which I can’t fully explain because I don’t use the app. I am sure some people were worried the concert might be a bit sleepy, as a few of the numbers are quite slow, but I was more excited for the rarities and the enthusiasm throughout the whole arena was clear as soon as we arrived. I knew it could only get better as the night progressed. Paul got our tickets while he was at work and struggled to gain access as the O2 Priority app kept suspecting he was a robot. He managed to secure seats in Block 103 in the end, which gave us an impressive view of the stage and walkway. We travelled down to London from Inverness the day before to give us extra time to deal with potential travel issues but we were lucky not to encounter any. This specific concert was our first choice, as no Scottish dates had been announced yet (they are now performing in Edinburgh on August 1st) and May 10th marked the exact anniversary of when the album hit the shelves.

We reached the venue reasonably early and visited the merch shop at the entrance, buying a couple of tour t-shirts and a sweatband which piqued my interest because it had no price or description and was just sitting there by itself, looking mysterious. I was tempted to get the red hoodie with the piano design but decided against it, as I have more than enough at home and my backpack was already bulging before we even got to London. The black tour t-shirt has all of the places where the band are performing on the back and we noticed they left off the dates, which was a smart move because of inevitable changes, such as the Manchester concert unfortunately getting rescheduled after The Co-op Live not being completed in time. I am fond of The O2, as it was a concert here in 2021 which kick-started my addiction. I found the queuing system a little confusing since the gates were on opposite sides of the building but security was a breeze, as they must have updated their technology to x-ray our belongings as we walked through. I liked not having to interact with anyone, though they still have strict limitations in place, such as not taking in bags larger than an A4 piece of paper. The food and drink prices are steep (we paid £4.10 for a bottle of water), though I wouldn’t expect anything different from a venue of this size. The Lathums came on at 7:30pm and had a forty-five minute slot, which shocked me when I realised, as it seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. They are an indie rock group from Wigan and have had huge success already, with two chart-topping albums, ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be’ (2021) and ‘From Nothing To A Little Bit More’ (2023). Alex Moore has a powerful voice and the band has a bold and attention-grabbing sound. I only knew ‘Lucky Bean’ out of all the songs in their set and wished I had dedicated more time to listening to them before this tour rolled around. I have seen their name pop up a few times and will make sure to follow them on Spotify. Their gratitude for opening the concert seemed sincere and it looked like they were having a lot of fun on stage, which made the atmosphere even better. I felt restless during the interval and got carried away shining my phone torch at fans on the other side of the arena. The shapes we were making with the lights got crazier and crazier and I couldn’t stop giggling.

Keane came out at 8:45pm after a short medley of their songs from ‘Hopes and Fears’ and a spectacular light show. The stage was minimalistic, with a T-shaped walkway and a large screen which changed colour to make a simple backdrop. I thought this set-up worked well, as they don’t need fancy aesthetics and gimmicks to impress us. Images and videos showed on the screen during a few of the songs to mix things up, inspired by some of the music videos and album artworks. They made excellent use of the walkway, with TC and Jesse Quin (bass/keyboards) constantly parading around it, delighting fans around them. The band uploaded a video of them opening the anniversary merch and discussed JQ being featured in the artwork, even though he wasn’t an original member of the band, which was quite funny. He definitely gets his share of love, anyway! ‘Can’t Stop Now’ was a great choice for the opening song, as it is upbeat and well-known enough to get people on their feet. TC stepped back to take in the atmosphere of the 20,000 capacity arena before announcing this was the 20th anniversary of the album that changed their lives forever, to the day, which received thunderous applause. The majority of the crowd were already clapping along by the second song and dancing energetically to ‘Bend And Break’. I think ‘Everybody’s Changing’ might have had the most positive reaction out of all the songs, except for maybe ‘Somewhere Only We Know’, but, to my horror, lots of people went for a toilet break during the lesser-known ballad, ‘On A Day Like Today’, after it. My favourite songs from the night were the ones I had never heard live before – especially ‘Perfect Symmetry’, which made me feel really emotional, and ‘Sunshine’, kindly dedicated to a fan from Greece since Keane has never played a show there. There was a singalong for ‘You Are Young’, like in Tynemouth, and Richard Hughes (drums) usually counts the seconds on his fingers how long TC can hold the long note for when he is channelling his “inner Freddie”. This was a good opportunity for him to really show off his vocal ability but we all already knew his singing is mind-blowing. Instead of just being the loudest, we were instructed to sing in tune. He was much more demanding than Ed Sheeran. Everyone booed Cardiff for being the “current winners” of the singing competition, and, predictably, we ended up stealing the crown from them. The B Stage was a wonderful idea and I loved it when Tim Rice-Oxley (primary songwriter/keyboards) mesmerised everyone by performing there, right in the centre of the walkway. The interactions between him and TC were heart-warming and it’s brilliant to see the band back together and thriving. ‘Sovereign Light Café’ was dedicated to their families and we were told this is the first time their children will have seen them perform in large arenas like this, even if TC’s daughter had probably fallen asleep.

‘Bedshaped’ is one of my all-time favourite songs and ended the night on a bittersweet note. I was quieter than usual on the way back to the hotel, as the songs are profound and put me in a reflective mood. TC’s voice is magical and all of the band members have incredible energy on stage. They were in top form and I am so happy I got to be there. I had successfully avoided videos of the tour, as I wanted to be surprised when our turn came, but they are all I have been watching since I came home. I didn’t have the willpower to ignore the setlist, though it was a while ago and I couldn’t remember the order of the songs. Fans have been pressuring them to perform ‘Snowed Under’, a B-side from ‘Hopes and Fears’, with the title of the album in the lyrics. I heard the band improvised a song request for a fan after suffering from technical difficulties, so that might have encouraged people to keep asking for it. I saw people posting photos of the setlists after the show and one or two had ‘Snowed Under’ references on them. If the band really wrote it on there, I think it was probably just a prank, or they hadn’t fully rehearsed it in time. Although it would have been amazing to hear, and even I was caught up in the will they/won’t they aspect of it all, I don’t think its absence was a great loss. They were on stage for nearly two hours, which can’t be easy. Getting to hear the album in full was a dream come true for me. TC ended the night by thanking us for singing, dancing and crying along, just like he had asked us to. He also thanked the crew for making everything possible and said he hopes they will get to perform for us all in another twenty years. It was a very sentimental and memorable night. It was really lovely to see so many people enjoying the music after all of this time, as the beloved album has obviously made a lasting impression. To top it all off, the Northern Lights were shining brightly over most of the UK by the time the concert came to a close. Coincidentally, it was the first time in twenty years it could be seen so brightly throughout the entire country.

GALLERY