{"id":41194,"date":"2008-10-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/curate-a-night-for-war-child-dvd\/"},"modified":"2008-10-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-27T00:00:00","slug":"curate-a-night-for-war-child-dvd","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/curate-a-night-for-war-child-dvd\/","title":{"rendered":"Curate A Night For War Child (DVD)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m still trying to warm up to Keane\u2019s latest disc, Perfect Symmetry,<\/i> which sees the British threesome foraying into synthed-up \u201880s pop and lukewarm ballads in an attempt to put a Viva La Vida-<\/i>like spin on their now-signature sound. At least there\u2019s this DVD to tide me over while I wait for the thaw.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Keane Curate A Night For War Child <\/i>is a relatively no-frills, hour-long set filmed last fall at the Brixton<\/st1:placename> Academy<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> in London<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. It features a little bit of everything in easily digested two song offerings from each artist, with a culminating performance from headliners Keane. Since its founding in 1993, War Child has established a close relationship with international musicians. In 2005, they launched Help!: A Day In The Life, <\/i>a compilation featuring contributions from Radiohead, Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs, and numerous other British and Canadian bigshots (including Keane collaborating with Faultline on a lovely, crystal-clear cover of Elton John\u2019s \u201cGoodbye Yellow Brick Road<\/st1:address><\/st1:street>\u201d). <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The set starts off fairly slow and relaxed with opener Teddy Thompson, who flavors his swaying, country-hued songs with lush backing strings that complement his deep, competent vocals. Next up, Findlay Brown keeps things pretty muted with the downbeat, warm blues of \u201cNobody Cared,\u201d though his second cut \u201cDon\u2019t You Know\u201d is tighter and funkier, featuring an excellent full group jam that brings the song to its energetic close.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Next up, Keane appear with Brendon Benson (most recently of Raconteurs fame) on \u201cCool Hands (Warm Heart)\u201d and \u201cTiny Spark.\u201d It\u2019s a nice pairing, Benson\u2019s crisp vocals, warm acoustic strumming, and solid lyrics with Tim Rice-Oxley and Tom Chaplin on accompanying keyboards and Richard Hughes taking the tambourine (though the laid-back spaciousness of these songs is distinctly missing Jack White\u2019s chunky, crunchy guitars).\u00a0 It\u2019s a locked-in yet still mellow performance, a good lead-in for The Magic Numbers\u2019 \u201cLove Me Like You.\u201d <\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s synth-pop legends the Pet Shop Boys who finally get the show rocking and the audience up on its feet. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe launch things out with their most recent single, 2007\u2019s slickly listenable \u201cIntegral.\u201d For the clipped coolness of the lyrics (\u201cI\u2019m afraid it\u2019s too late \/ We\u2019re concerned you\u2019re a threat \/ You\u2019re not an integral part to the project \/ Sterile \/ Immaculate \/ Rational \/ Perfect\u201d) there\u2019s a nice lushness to this track, all blistering guitars and rising keyboard riffs. They follow this up with a look back at the \u201890s classic and fan-favorite \u201cBeing Boring,\u201d an atmospheric, nostalgic song that feels like a good fit for the night\u2019s proceedings.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Keane appear back onstage with pop chanteuse Lily Allen on her charming, effusive hit \u201cSmile\u201d and a cover of \u201cEverybody\u2019s Changing\u201d off of Keane\u2019s Under The <\/i>Iron<\/i><\/st1:placename> <\/i>Sea<\/i><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. <\/i>Allen\u2019s voice is sweetly tongue-in-cheek on \u201cSmile,\u201d while she brings a wistfulness to the once-bitter tones of \u201cEverybody\u2019s Changing,\u201d which finds itself lightened considerably here with rollicking acoustic guitars and keys, with Chaplin and crew looking like they\u2019re enjoying themselves throughout.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Finally comes the set we\u2019ve all been waiting for: Keane closing things out with a punchy, well-chosen roster of four songs. First there\u2019s \u201cCrystal Ball,\u201d a single when this was recorded in 2007, which despite being admittedly a little cheesy, has a nice sense of propulsion and Chaplin\u2019s warm, soaring vocals to keep things interesting. \u201cI haven\u2019t been very well recently, and I wasn\u2019t supposed to burn myself out in the first song, but you got me a bit overexcited,\u201d Chaplin says as he hands vocals over to the crowd on the band\u2019s breakthrough single \u201cSomewhere Only We Know,\u201d which is a gorgeous crowd-pleaser as always, though Chaplin does look weary (this was recorded in fall 2007, and Chaplin was treated for substance abuse problems starting August 2006). \u00a0Meanwhile, \u201cUnder Pressure\u201d is a valiant attempt at doing justice to the inimitable Queen\/David Bowie collaboration (though instrumentally it sounds a little flimsy and less urgent than its predecessor) and \u201cBedshaped\u201d sounds lovely as always, the band seeming relaxed and in sync after the turmoil of their Under The Iron Sea <\/i>tour and Chaplin\u2019s subsequent rehabilitation. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bonus material featured here includes the video of Keane\u2019s single \u201cThe Night Sky,\u201d in addition to The Guillemots performing \u201cTrain To Brazil,\u201d backstage interviews and footage, and a fascinating War Child section.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an excellent cause to support and a solid DVD in one — there\u2019s no reason not to go for this one. <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":29598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7752],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41194","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-keane","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41194"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}