Keane

Best gig this year. :)



And a nice start to "concert week" (trying to stay occupied while D is on the West Coast visiting J1 and old friends. A concert every other night is... just about right.)

It was raining buckets when I got there, 15 min before doors opened, and the huge line outside was all in rain slickers and umbrellas, so... just stayed in the car and read, listening to Over The Rhine (a new band fave) for 45 minutes until the rain and the line had moved on.



Later on, the night cleared up and the back porch (for smokers and people like me wanting some fresh air) was pleasant.



The openers were Helio Sequence, a band from Portland,



and Mat Kearney, a singer/songwriter best known for "Nothing Left To Lose" and "Breathe In Breathe Out".



Both were solid warm-up acts, enjoyable and unremarkable. So I managed to use that time to knock off one of the books I'm using as research for my HS502 paper, and visit the merch table. Nice.





But from the audience's perspective (and mine!) Keane was the raison d'etre for the evening and for being there, and the crowd response made that clear. They are not a guitar-heavy band, much more keyboard driven. In fact, they had stretches with two sets of keys, drums and nothing else. Also it's a band with a lead singer who simply sings, playing guitar only occasionally. But he sings so well! What a great clear voice. Full but not overwhelming sound, happy & sunny stage presence, a cool backdrop (like a great big quilt that matches their lastest album cover). They opened with The Lovers Are Losing, then did Everybody's Changing to extended cheers. The third song in was Bend and Break, and by that time the crowd was dialed in.

When they hit the opening chords of Somewhere Only We Know, the place went nuts. (As did I. During that number, I had one of those rare moments at a concert where I actually close my eyes and let the whole experience wash over me, disconnecting briefly from the cares of life, thinking of happier things. I rarely do that, and when it happens it's marvelous.) Such good music. Even their darker songs like We Might As Well Be Strangers are in major keys and end hopefully. My kind of band. :)

Very cool club, love the decor.





It was not nearly as crowded as I would have thought, and quite a bit of seating available (away from the viewing rails) if you got sick of standing. There was lots (and I mean lots) of security, as they have a bit of a reputation that they are trying to overcome. But with this crowd and lineup, I can't imagine there being trouble. Yes, it was a young crowd, relatively speaking, but past their rowdy years. I would guess the mode of the age distribution to be about 31.

And it was definitely date night. :) Many, many couples in evidence and not as many singles trolling for opportunities. It's the kind of music that appeals well to both male and female tastes, especially post-college. But while both the men and women were rocking out to the music of Keane, I really became aware of the gender difference in how they moved (danced-in-place) to the music. It was obvious.

The men tended to bounce at the knees in time to the beat, and nod their heads as well. Very much a straight up and down motion. The women, though... they rotated hips and shoulders around the spinal column. Where the men would pulse on each beat, the women would oscillate on every two beats: two beats to rotate the left hip out, two beats to rotate back to the right hip, shoulders lightly following. And in the meantime, one hand went to the hair (two hands if they were really into it) and with their fingers they would either stroke their head or run fingers through their hair. I had the feeling watching this that they might have preferred someone else's hands in their hair, but.. their own would do in a pinch. ;) Anyway, the basic theme was: men - linear and focused, women - circular and intimate. And I won't begin to get into describing the gender-specific behavior of couples moving to the music. Decorum suggests silence on the matter.

My personal style of moving to music in a concert, however, is a blend of sorts. No standard male bouncing for me, just minor knee bending, and that only in support of a back-and-forth sway akin to the black gospel choir model. No female rotation of the hips, either, but rather only of the shoulders (as befits a male), in a 2-beats-left-shoulder-open, 2-beats-square-to-center, 2-beats-right, 2-beats-center style. It's that squaring up to center for 2 beats in between that keeps it from being a feminine oscillation like a sine wave. And absolutely NO hands to the hair. Aaack. Waaaay too girly. They stay safely tucked away, thumbs hooked in jean pockets. :)