iPod song of the week – Keane
And now, a concert review disguised as an iPod Song of the Week. This past week I went to see Keane in Central Park with my friend Nicole who had invited me so very long ago I actually forgot about it until she e-mailed me three days before the show. Whoops. Nicole now goes to B-School, far, far away and so she is no longer around to remind me about tickets she purchased in February. But I digress. Onto the show review.
If you know Keane (or you know and avoid Keane) you know they are full of gushing sentimentality, but add to that the fact that it was the last night of their tour, the dude recently got out of rehab (Nicole and I spent plenty of time making heartless jokes about this during the show, I assure you), and that apparently he had grown up idolizing the iconic Simon & Garfunkle concert in the Park and dreaming of doing the same thing, well, you can just imagine in what kind of swoony form he was in.
I suppose it was a good thing that no one told him that S&G played the Great Lawn in front of like a million people and that Keane were playing Summerstage in front of a few thousand.
And I know it’s not every day a singer in performance sees this view whilst singing, but as a semi-frequent Summerstage attendant I have to say it’s becoming bit of a cliché to hear, “oh my God, look at this setting!” every time. (I know, I’m jaded.)
Still, it was a nice crowd, lots of Brits, including Brit kids. Luckily this one didn’t kick anyone in the groin.
And now, a rare J-Ball personal moment. I think what I had willfully forgotten was that I stopped listening to Keane because their first record got imprinted with the worry that my mother was about to die. In fact, two years after the actual occurrence rendered that feeling moot, I find they still remind me of that horrible feeling. And, Nicole told me that she invited me because she had asked me to the one a year and a half ago but I hadn’t been able to attend. That’s because I couldn’t go to concerts during the mourning period. I had forgotten about that too. But I find that once music has been imprinted with a feeling, it’s all over for that piece of music in your life. Still, it was good to hear Keane again. I may work on re-imprinting that album.
This weekend I’ll be seeing the Deftones, whose current album got imprinted with a ridiculous amount of sadness over a break-up that I’m no longer terribly upset about at all. Since the time I realized there wasn’t much to be sad about, I’ve stopped listening to that CD because the despair I honestly felt at the time is impossible to separate from the music. We’ll see what happens at the concert. It’s also a genius album, I hope I can re-imprint that one too.
And now the iPod Song of the Week which I can’t really rationally describe anymore since whatever it’s really about has been obscured. But it’s quite emotional, just like all Keane songs. Either you’ll vomit at it or find something there for yourself. Here’s a short snippet of jerky video I took of Keane performing it:
[flv width=”320″ height=”240″]http://www.magicjewball.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/keane.flv[/flv]
Keane – Somewhere Only We Know
Streaming audio available on iPod Song of the Week page.
