under the iron fist of keane's perfect symmetry.

it's times and concerts like this when i know that music has saved, made, and changed a lot of me over the years.

and KEANE was one of the BEST demonstrations of this.

(The day pre-concert was beyond gutter horrible. but let's not take away from the magic, shall we?)

I arrive at Metropolis as the line was going in and thank god for my good friend Brandae who was already in line. We piled in, got bag check, as i leaped towards the front of the stage and landed fourth row.

MUSIC LESSON

KEANE: a band that consists of the composer, bassist, but more formally known by his magic fingers on the piano Mr. Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes on guitar (whom I made eye contact with more than one but we will get to that) and of course the oh-so-talented and oh-so-handsome lead singer Tom Chaplin (I'd Chap that Lin if you catch my drift). To make things better (y'know... their fantastic music, etc, etc.) they have accents. BRITISH accents.

So you can understand the excitement.

So by now I had gone to the merch corner and picked from the leftovers of the tour and ended up with the official Keane World Tour booklet and an organic oversized (but not really) tshirt (i will keep the price tags to myself).

so now we found ourselves playing "catch up" as we were waiting for the show to begin. almost right on time, it did.

First opening act: Lindi Ortega.

this girl was just a doll. she was talking about how she wanted crazy fans like keane (who wouldn't really) and how she wishes she could influence a bunch of people to eventually wear red cowboy boots and flowers in their hair like she was wearing that night. in between her soulful country accoustic mixes (more dolly parton possibilities here), she also invited the entire metropolis for burriots and free hugs. so i can't argue there. on any other night where my excitement couldn't be distracted, i may have just hoe-downed. i resorted to severe swaying and she didn't seen to complain when me made i contact a couple of times (and a smile. ka-ching!) i just have one favour to ask of you, lindi...

once that was done, brandae & i continued with the tales of our lives as i was threatnening to kill people who were trying to cut in line at the concert (a no-no to me.). after the homicides receded, the next act arrived on stage.

round 2: LIGHTS.

or as her mom calls her when she is mad, Valerie Poxleitner accompanied by adam and a drummer named ed who has odd drumming faces (blowing out a candle, chewing gum, head tilt, etc.) I know what you are thinking: YOUTUBE SENSATION. yup. that she is. but, i knew saviour by heart. so i can't say anything. she is a pretty girl who gets my addiction to the fringe. besides her relentless self promotion with her upcoming album, it was a fine performance. the lil' kiddies that came with glow sticks and their adult sibling or guardian were very pleased with it. she did have the pipes (which i was surprised) combined with her slighly lesbian stature that gave her an edge, it was fine.

BUT NOTHING COULD PREPARE THEM FOR WHAT WAS COMING NEXT.

killed time, blablabla.

AND THEN IT HAPPENED.

THE SECOND BEST THING THAT I HAVE SEEN IN MY LIFE HIT THE STAGE. WHAT YOU MAY ASK?

that's what!

can we just take a minute and look at my hunk chaplin?

from the kicks to the lips that it's a european delight.

(not to mention the french that he was talking the entire night. ladies? ya hurr me!)

*focusing away from mr.britain and back to keane's excellence*

They opened with The Lovers Are Losing which was the PERFECT way to start. waves of hands soaring in the sky just set us up for what we were about to see.

Everybody's Changing came next which is CLASSIC Keane therefor a classic all around.

BEND AND BREAK was next which is every true Keane fan's favourite song (which I can honestly say has been mine since the first album came out).

this was then led by five solid minutes of cheers, chants, and applause for the band.

We Might As Well Be Strangers was next. this was the band's attempt to calm the audience down a bit. MISSION FAILED! strobe lights and hearts were blown to shreds!

This Is The Last Time was when the entire floor practiced their trampoline, tom chaplin leaped on boxes on stage, and we died. right there.

Spiralling omgspiralling! HE HAD THE AUDIENCE JOIN IN FOR THE "OU!" PART. if i could have framed songs with such terrific experiences, that would me the cover of the album.

Playing Along was played by my sweetie on ACCOUSTIC GUITAR. the crowd went apeshit afterwards which lead the band to stand on stage for another five minutes as we gave a major dose of tlc. it came to the point where i was just smiling from ear to ear laughing out of amazement at what three boys can do to a crowd full of people.

Try Again was my sob song this time last year when i had left school leaving me broken and disfunctional. so when they played it, a little part of me shined seeing the person i was then and how this song wasn't gloom for me anymore. halmark moment if you will. to me love, me.

the tears were over and the party was on!

Again and Again could/would/probably did cause heart attacks left and right. THIS IS WHEN THE MAGIC WAS MADE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

Nothing In My Way was the first song i memorized off of their second album and the first one that reached to me in the dark times of way back when. if tears would have come at some point, it would have been here. this is also when chaplin pounded the air with fists leaving the air k-oed with us on his tail.

this was soon followed by soverignt line cafe which was introduced with soulamte #87 on the accoustic guitar once more. this is also a new song (meaning a fourth cd is coming out!). i love the taste of this next album. bravo.

Is It Any Wonder that Keane played this song and it was amazing? IT WAS EXPECTED AND DELIVERED.

You Don't See Me is my babe's favourite song as he declared last night. don't worry, pumpkin. we'll find a way to work around that.

my boii then talked about how much he loves canada's atmosphere and maple syrup (kidding. my man's got class.) which was followed by a segway tooooooooo

PERFECT SYMMETRY. it was everything and more than i expected out of the album titled track. this song ended with us singing along to the end chorus. the choir and my church was in session. and by god aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamen. this is MY new favourite song. (my tidbit here is that this song was one of the many times richie and i not only made i contact, BUT HE ACKNOWLEDGED MY BOUNCING AND DANCING WITH A SMILE AND HEAD NOD. COMBINATION POINTS!)

this was then tagged along bu the old school song that every person in pop culture and any culture knew BY HEART which was of course

Somewhere Only We Know.

he took the mic, stand, and all, stood on a box, and had the audience chant. that's my guy.

*sigh* now comes my FAVOURITE part in this entire thing.

Crystal Ball

strike everything i said about being able to provoke tears. THIS ONE PROVOKED, CALLED, AND GAINED THEM. i've always loved this song and chaplin did as well seeing as not only did he collapse on the stage TWICE because we are so great but... after all the praying and wishing and time he had spent staring at the front row, he glanced upwards. annnd.... looked. into. my. eyes.

the wedding is on, guys. i'm thinking summer or fall ceremony. tim, richie, play somethin' nice at the reception, will ya?

on a sane note, THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS SONG WAS ANYTHING BUT.

the boys then left, did the whole "oh there is no encore what are you talking about" thing.

but obviously, with more chants, foot stomping, and stripping (i kid you not), they came back, took a teddy bear and canadian flag from the audience, placed it on the mic stand, said "tabarnak", and we were set for encores.

Atlantic, UNDER PRESSURE A LA KEANE, another solid five minutes of praise, and signing and singing out with Bedshaped (MEMORY LANE: I actually remember when i was trying to be good as a music listener and went onto their website where they had the first 30 seconds of this song and i listened to it over and over again waiting for the two other minutes to show up.) i think it's fair to say that i found those two other minutes.

and just like that, the second best night of my life was over.

i think it's needness to say that i will do almost anything to go and see them again live because they were world-shattering. the floor shifted in my life a bit afterwards as it always does. and i only have them to turn to with grattitude.

thank you, sweetie. wifey loves you.

sweet dreams.

mtb