Back in 2019, Keane released Cause and Effect, their first album since reuniting after a split in 2013. Then in 2020, the band embarked on a North American tour — and they made the first few West Coast dates before the pandemic canceled shows around the world.

So, making up for lost time, Keane recently returned to DC and pulled out all the stops in an expansive show that reached deep into their catalog and had 6,000 concertgoers dancing in the aisles at The Anthem. 

Taking a breather in between songs on Sept. 26, singer Tom Chaplin marveled at the capacity crowd: “Apparently this show sold out in an hour, so we know we’re popular in this town.” 

As Chaplin danced across the stage from one side of the massive stage to the next, fans — who had been seated moments before — clamored to get close to the front. The power and range of Chaplin’s voice was as strong as ever, soaring above the very loud cheers of the crowd. 

The other band members — principal songwriter and keyboardist Tim Rice-Oxley, bassist Jesse Quin, and drummer Richard Hughes — were incredibly tight and seemed to be having the time of their lives. Although their Cause and Effect Tour never made it to DC, Keane largely ignored the album and instead celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut record, Hopes and Fears.

Keane went through all of Hopes and Fears, but they also played a great deal of other songs — like the ever-popular single “Crystal Ball” and “Nothing In My Way” from Under the Iron Sea — as well as quite a few from their 2012 album, Strangeland.

Watch the official music video for “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane on YouTube:

Keane performed only one song from Cause and Effect, “The Way I Feel,” which was a powerful number with a driving beat and that trademark anthemic chorus that we’ve all come to expect from the band. Introducing the number, Chaplin said it’s ”a song about knowing you’re not alone in the world when you have days when you feel like shit… you’ve got to keep on going.”

The night was certainly a participatory experience, and even though Chaplin told the crowd early on in the set that he wanted people dancing, clapping, and “singing their hearts out,” he and the band had little to worry about as the whole place seemed to be taking that sentiment to, well, heart. 

“This is what happens when you don’t come to a place in 12 years,” Tom Chaplin told the crowd, taking in the response. ”I think it was the 9:30 Club [that] was the first place we played [in the USA] in 2004.”  And they’ve certainly come a long way since then. 

Leaving arguably their biggest hit, “Somewhere Only We Know” for the end of the regular set, Keane quickly returned to the stage for an extra special encore. Clearly moved by the enormous outpouring, Chaplin looked to his bandmates and out into the crowd — seemingly at a loss for words.

But that didn’t last too long as the band reintroduced openers, Everything Everything who joined Keane for a fantastic version of the Queen and David Bowie classic “Under Pressure.” Things didn’t end there as Keane went on to play a few more songs before the night was over. 

Although Keane have wrapped up their USA tour with this visit to The Anthem, I’m certainly hoping to see them again soon. 

The setlist included:

Can’t Stop Now
Silenced by the Night
Bend and Break
Your Eyes Open
Nothing in My Way
We Might as Well Be Strangers
The Way I Feel
You Are Young
Everybody’s Changing
Hamburg Song
Untitled 1
A Bad Dream
Perfect Symmetry
Is It Any Wonder?
She Has No Time
This Is the Last Time
Crystal Ball
Somewhere Only We Know

Encore:
Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover) (with Everything Everything)
Disconnected
Sovereign Light Café
Bedshaped

Here are more photos of Keane performing at The Anthem on Sept. 26, 2024. All photos copyright and courtesy of David LaMason.

And here are photos of Everything Everything opening for Keane at The Anthem on Sept. 26, 2024.