Keane

Cardiff International Arena

26th February, 2007

/ 04 September 2007

Having tested the post-rehab
atmosphere with medium-sized
shows last October, Keane again
took to the glare of a packed arena.
Rising to the occasion, Tom Chaplin
and co started with a storming The
Iron Sea, opening one hour and 40
minutes of rapturously received
songs. There was enthusiastic
audience participation during
Nothing In My Way and, mid-set,
Chaplin took to the guitar as the
threesome had a short acoustic
breather on the delicate Your Eyes
Open. There was even a brief poetry
recital before spirit-lifting versions of
A Bad Dream and Somewhere Only
We Know. The electric atmosphere
was heightened during a three-song
encore featuring favourites Atlantic,
Crystal Ball and Bedshaped.

Reviewed by Ian Templeton
Back to Issue 336

Brother

18 July 2012

Deserving of special mention
in the Apple label’s pantheon
of albums that were released
without trace is Brother,
the brainchild of multi-instrumentalists
Lon and
Derrek Van Eaton. Recorded
in 1971 but not available in
the UK until February 1973,
Brother not only lures Apple’s
core collectors with its Abbey
Road-vinta…

Threshold

23 December 2014

Showcasing their recent, impressive For The Journey, the sextet led by the all-action Damian Wilson blitzed through a 14-song, 100-minute set of recent and vintage highlights, opening with the syncopated Slipstream and closing with the fiery March Of Progress. In between, displays of garrotte-tight musicianship were interspersed with their frontman…

The Crow Club

14 February 2008

The reassessment of all things
loosely folk-related have thrown up
a string of intriguing lost curiosities
in recent years, from Vashti
Bunyan to Karen Dalton. This
seemingly random, unhinged
collection has the hallmark of an
obscure box of treasures from a
bygone age, though many of the
tracks are quite new and would
struggle to meet mos…

Set List: The Anthology

23 April 2013

As recently as 2011,
Spectrum released the self-explanatory
If The Kids Are
United: The Best Of Sham 69.
Featuring the cream of the
scarf-waving street punk
anthems (and, naturally, all
the hits) from the original
Sham’s four LPs, released
during 1978-80, it was a
30-track, 2-CD compendium
worthy of the Hersham heroes
– an…