REVIEW: Keane at the Brighton Centre – December 2, 2012

I really can’t understand why Keane ever fell out of favour.

They write thoughtful, catchy, synth pop tunes, have a great stage presence and have an excellent back catalogue of well-loved material.

So, after a couple of years of being off the radar, relatively speaking, it was heartening to see them perform to a sold-out crowd at the Brighton Centre last night (Sunday, December 2).

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I wasn’t sure what I was going to make of the concert, having not heard the group’s fourth album Strangeland, but safe to say it was a triumph which I hope marks a return to popularity for the four-piece.

There was a welcome mix of old and new material, and the mixed-age crowd was loving every minute of it.

They opened with a new track – You are Young – a melodic number, followed by a popular oldie, This is the Last Time.

I felt there was a bit of a lull in the second quarter of the show, but the last half of the gig was fantastic.

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My favourite track was Spiralling, which if I hadn’t remembered already, reminded me just what fantastic songwriters they are.

Other highlights were the classic Somewhere Only We Know, the beautiful and haunting Hamberg Song and a rousing performance of their latest single, Sovereign Light Café.

With several more UK dates ahead of them, and a 17-date US tour coming up in the early part of 2013, I very much hope we’ll be hearing lots more from the boys from East Sussex.

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