Keane @ The Wellmont Theater

Last night we saw Keane at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. “We” meaning me, Lisa and Janet. We’d never been to this venue before and I really, really liked it. We’ll be going back soon, hopefully for Cyndi Lauper in August. But to the matter at hand — Keane was fantastic.

Before the show, Lisa and I strolled around Montclair a little bit in the rain. We stopped in at Gimmee Jimmy’s so I could see their cupcakes. We had a bite-sized sample of their amaretto cuppie, which seemed lovely. Their cookies, though, looked fantastic. Sadly, I didn’t buy any. We also popped into a small antique-y shop, where Lisa picked up some adorable earrings that perfectly matched her best costume for the day. Then we went to Cuban Pete’s (warning: site has obnoxious audio), where Janet met us for sangria and tapas. Nom!

We skipped the first opener, Helio Sequence, so we could finish our sangria and catch up on all our gossip. We took our seats in the balcony at the theater just as Mat Kearney (link has audio) took the stage. His voice reminded me of Chris Martin, and as we sat and listened to him, I started feeling angsty. Then I started to, for some reason, think about George and Izzie. I turned to Lisa and said, “Grey’s Anatomy?” She responded, “One Tree Hill?” So, during the break, I googled his ass and found this on Wikipedia, which made me laugh:

“All I Need” was featured on Grey’s Anatomy and began to chart on iTunes top 100 downloaded songs.It peaked at #94 on the Billboard Pop 100. It was also featured on NCIS. His song, “Where We Gonna Go From Here?”, was featured during the third season of Grey’s Anatomy and on the first season finale of ABC Family’s show Kyle XY. Most recently, the song was also featured in the Season 7 opener of NBC’s Scrubs.

“Nothing Left to Lose” was the title track and first single off Kearney’s second album. It peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100, week of February 10, 2007. It was also used in a 30 second trailer for the 2007 movie Catch and Release and a fragmented relationship in Dirty Sexy Money.

Kearney’s single, “Breathe In, Breathe Out”, debuted in September 2007, and marks the singer’s fourth and highest profile placement in Grey’s Anatomy. The song is currently used as the theme in television promotions for the series’ fourth season, including a music video that premiered on September 19 during the fourth season preview.

So, yeah, I guess the man’s music gets around. Also, when he greeted the crowd, he said, “Hello…Secaucus?” Which was a nice shout-out to Janet, but honestly, WTF?

Then Keane came out to a screaming crowd. There were a few girls in the front row, all the way to our left, who were obviously huge fans and just having the best time. The lead singer (Tom) paid special attention to them, which for some reason made me really happy. The entire band seemed genuinely happy, with Tom mentioning several times how much he was enjoying the venue and the crowd. And bonus — they busted out a Springsteen cover, “The River.” Tom’s voice is remarkable. Pitch perfect and strong. The band was tight, too. Great show.

They opened with one of my favorite songs right now, “The Lovers are Losing.” During the song, Lisa pointed out to me that instead of dancing, Tom was marching in place, with great vigor. And then I couldn’t NOT see it. I’m trying to find a live video so you can see him do it. It’s adorable.

Anyway, here’s the set list if that’s the sort of thing you’re into.

Setlist:

• The Lovers Are Losing
• Everybody’s Changing
• Bend and Break
• Nothing In My Way
• Again and Again
• This Is The Last Time
• Spiralling
• Playing Along
• Try Again
• Early Winter
• We Might As Well Be Strangers
• You Haven’t Told Me Anything
• The River (Springsteen cover)
• Leaving So Soon
• You Don’t See Me
• Perfect Symmetry
• Somewhere Only We Know
• Crystal Ball

ENCORE:

• My Shadow
• Is It Any Wonder?
• Bedshaped

Official video for “The Lovers are Losing”: