BOYS KEANE

It appears an error on my part is turning out rather fortuitous. I had thought I had the untranslated manga for Ai Yori Aoshi vol. 8, but it turns out I was wrong. So, rather than switch gears from the novel this week, while I wait for the book to arrive, I have been chugging along at full steam and am about to finish up the part II of The Everlasting.

Part III opens with a quote from Tender is the Night: "All my beautiful lovely safe world blew itself up here with a great gust of high explosive love."

Last night I went out to see Keane at Berbati's Pan. It had been long enough that I had forgotten what a sweaty, dank pit the club is, and how unpleasant people can be at shows. I don't understand the social aspect of listening to music. If I want to hear some stupid person talk, I don't need to pay $15 for it. Stupid people are everywhere for free.

Keane were excellent, however. Even with only three guys (and a laptop filling in here and there), there was a lot of power onstage. Lead singer Tom Chaplin puts a lot of work in, having to make up for his cohorts both sitting down through the set (on drums and keyboard, though keysman Tim Rice-Oxley is terribly spastic). Chaplin never stayed still, and yet his voice was always spot-on and beautiful. Some of his poses were a little too Pop Idol, but it's to be forgiven. He's got a lot of space to occupy.

The set lasted about an hour, and covered most of the album Hopes & Fears and a couple of B-sides. Well worth it.

Opening band The French Kicks were as unimpressive as the last time I saw them, but a lot more cocky about it. They have an "anything goes" approach to songwriting that means most of their tunes have no focus, and their we're-not-very-good-at-this attempts at charm are utterly charmless. I sense a bit of a Beck influence, which the decent folk among you will know is a bad, bad thing.

On the way home, I discovered that two of my favorite things have gotten married. Yoo-Hoo and mocha. They make a terrible couple. Why didn't their friends and family tell them they were so ugly together?

Amazon has fixed their listing for the Queen & Country collection I wrote the intro for. Go forth and shop!

And this new Elvis Costello record looks to be a winner. A strong rock album in the tradition of his more recent band efforts like When I Was Cruel and Brutal Youth. I recognize the title track from the last couple of concerts I saw of his, too. I remember the Jesus/Elvis lines.

Current Soundtrack: Elvis Costello & the Imposters, Delivery Man

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2004 Jamie S. Rich