Photo: Carsten Windhorst
My editor cheerfully relays to me that Lily Allen and the Pet Shop Boys are doing a gig. How lovely and an interesting combo all the same. Kidnapping a friend, we dawdle along to Brixton where we’re somehow sucked into the Keane fan convention, indeed the Warchild gig. A great fan of Warchild’s continued dazzling efforts in their work of helping kids affected by conflict (tonight included), I bravely continued into Brixton Academy.
And then I remembered why I was hesitant. Keane are shit. They’re boring. Comprised of a University Chess team they delight in marauding ballads that pains to listen to. While ‘Is it any Wonder’ was a fab example of concussed rock, most of their tracks are inane. However, our mood is immediately lifted when the Guillemots appear as one of the early acts. Dazzling as usual, the Guillemots do a brilliant acoustic session, twanging away, kindly choosing their biggest hits to satisfy the rather mixed audience. ‘Trains from Brazil’ cannot fail to lift even the grumpiest gig goer.
Yet the bulk of people who have shelved out to come to the gig are Keane fans who have no idea who the Guillemots are. They are similarly mystified by The Magic Numbers. The cuddly bears that are Abba in negative, are usually the Yogi bears of popular music, the dream band of weddings across the country. They are however, a little grumpy, a fact exacerbated by Romeo’s faulty guitar which he dumps unceremoniously on the floor after 30 seconds of the first track. Ooo-er. Not so happy clappy after all. Still they seem unphased and play a mix of tracks, although not ‘Forever Lost’, which might have flickered some recognition with the confused crowd.
Brendan Benson (of The Raconteurs fame) pops up out of nowhere, and Keane slop onto the stage to support him. He’s not bad. The Pet Shop Boys make a delicious entrance, clearly enjoying the hoopla they create. However, while our pre-gig excitement was created by naming Pet Shop Boy’s tracks we could remember, the reality was a little static. 'West End Girls' seems to last for close to 17 minutes. Okay, that’s not true, but it does seem a little slow. However the excitement creeps up a notch when the duo reveal a backing band. At first glance Gigwise think it's bloody Keane again, hanging round the stage like bad smells, however it is not. It is a skilled electro outfit. Despite this, it’s interesting that a band at the cutting edge of ‘eighties music who set the climate for the decade, now seem a little pedestrian. Maybe our attention spans are too short now. Nevertheless, they put on a good show and particularly shine on 'Being Boring'.
Lily Allen is a bit of a highlight, always coming forward with a very pure, precise live performance. She starts with ‘Smile’ (Keane are backing her too- do they not have to prepare for their set?) in a delicious reggae style similar to the live version she did for Radio One. Next up she confesses to have forgotten her words and brandishes a piece of paper for ‘Littlest Things’, a minor disappointment further marred by her incessant giggling throughout. She then covers Keane’s ‘Everybody’s Changing’, because since Keane are on after Lily, we may well want more Keane. By this stage Gigwise is Keaneed out. They run on and off the stage between sets, the other artists repeatedly tell us how great they are. Oh and Keane put on a pretty good effort, particularly when Brendan Benson joins them for a cover of Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’. ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ and ‘Is it Any Wonder’ are good fun too.~
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