KEANE

V Festival live blog day 2 24 August 2009

10.57pm: We’re on our way home now, as are the band. Tim definitely spoke for the others when he told us tonight was "amazing". Thanks again for all your emails and comments – they’ve been great to read. Head back to km.com this week for more pics and vids from this weekend. And with that, we’ll bid you a weary but happy goodnight.

10.34pm: He did it! An acoustic cover of Oasis’s Cast No Shadow, with many thousand V folks as backing singers. Considering he only started practicing is earlier, we’re very impressed. Now it’s Under Pressure and then a quick dash away (to hopefully beat some of the departing traffic). We’ll try to post at least once more before we call it a day. It’s been fun hasn’t it?

10.26pm: The band are playing Bedshaped (don’t worry, one more to come…) and Tom’s just told the crowd this has been one of the most exhilerating Keane shows ever.

Now, will Tom play his cover before the final song…

10.22pm: The view from the other side, during a stomping Crystal Ball

10.13pm: They’re playing Perfect Symmetry as we type this. Still our favourite on the album. Such a tune.

10.07pm: We’re quite proud of this one…

That was during Is It Any Wonder, which "went off" (as they say). Tom is properly fired up this evening. ANd the crowd seem pretty darn excitable too.

9.54pm: And here’s how it was looking from out the front during Spiralling (ooh!)

MaryAnn asks if the set is shorter than the usual Keane gig. Yes, the band are doing 80 minutes tonight, which is a wee bit less than they would at their own show.

Oh, and nobody has guessed the cover yet – but some of you have got very close (right band, wrong song). We’ll definitely film a bit if Tom does it…

9.41pm: Here are some pics from the show so far. Cracking atmosphere out there. "Let me tell you, this is an immense feeling standing on this stage in front of you people tonight," says Tom, just before This Is The Last Time.

9.25pm: They’re on and the crowd are loving it. There’s always something special about the last show of a festival weekend and this looks like being no exception. We can hear the crowd screaming along to Everybody’s Changing from back here. It’s gonna be a good ‘un.

By the way, lots of you have been emailing to ask how many emails we’ve had this weekend. 534 at last count. Thanks for keeping us company.

9.10pm: Yes! We have wi-fi in a little room just behind the stage. Re-sult.

8.56pm: Quick one – Aline Shinzato has asked for a clue to the song Tom was practicing. OK, it’s by an English band and it was released in 1995…

8.54pm: Six minutes til we have to dash to the stage – and we’ve got to pack up all our stuff before then (having learnt last night’s lesson), so we’ll make these the last ones before stage time. By the way, thanks to all of you who’ve been emailing ontour@keanemusic.com saying how much you’ve enjoyed the live blog. We’re glad.

8.50pm: "Last live blogging, can’t remember when that was, you kept on telling us Keane are working on an 80’s cover and you told us to guess the artist… have you ever revealed the answer? I can’t remember!" Gita, Israel

Ah yes, that was Karma Chameleon. But, it’s a different one tonight.

8.45pm: The band are all now warming up. They just ran through Here Comes The Sun, which we’ve not heard them play before. Sounded grand. But that’s not the one Tom was practicing for tonight.

8.40pm: "It has just occured to me that there are more updates today than there were yesterday… Does this prove that the signal is a lot better today than yesterday?" writes Vanessa to ontour@keanemusic.com

Yes, yes and thrice yes.

8.39pm: 20 minutes until we head over to the stage by the way and they’re on at 9.20pm…

8.37pm: Here’s pointing at you folks…

8.34pm: Tom is still in the dressing room practicing a song. It’s a cover. And he might be playing it tonight. We won’t spoil the surprise, but we’ll let you know what it is if/when he does…

8.07pm: Here in the dressing rooms compound, the sun is setting on a lovely day…

8.05pm: Oh, by the way – check this out, the all-new Keane mug, coming to the online store tomorrow…

8.01pm: We’re back from dinner. We had a very nice roast beef thing with sweet potato mash. And a Portugese custard tart for pudding. Lovely. We got back to find Tom in the dressing room, practicing a song…

7.22pm: Right, we’re off to get some dinner. See you soon…

7.13pm: We’re just back from the acoustic Absolute show, which was really fun. It was in a tipi in Absolute radio’s hospitality area and the crowd got *so* into it that the band ended up doing an extra song (they did The Lovers Are Losing, Spiralling, Everybody’s Changing and a bonus Somewhere Only We Know). Here are some pics…

And here’s Tom and Richard chatting to Absolute’s Christian O’Connell afterwards…

6.17pm: "Question for you…are there any children at the V fest?"

Yeah, there are quite a few. Not as many as you’d get at Glastonbury or one of the really family-friendly festivals, but there are definitely some kids about.

6.16pm: "Oh, are we gonna be able to see the accoustic set?" Ema, Argentina

Not immediately, but it will apparently be online in the next few days. We’ll let you know when….

6.10pm: Here’s Jesse. A few of you have been emailing ontour@keanemusic.com to ask where he’s been this afternoon. "I met up with my mum and my friends Phil and Will and my goddaughter. We watched a bit of Iain Archer and a bit of Biffy Clyro. And I watched the Proclaimers! Best band of the whole festival."

He’s now doing a spot of last minute practice for the acoustic session, which the band are off to do soon for Absolute Radio (having just done an interview with GlobalCool.org)

5.59pm: Bet you thought we couldn’t top Katy Perry in a golf cart. Well you’re wrong. We’ve got a picture of Lady Gaga’s back (as she walked past the dressing room).

Needless to say, we won’t be giving up the day job.

5.55pm: We’ve got the final wicket and England have regained the Ashes from Australia. If you’re English, this is very good (and very big) news. Hurrah! "Renders my ticket for the fifth day tomorrow rather useless," says Tom, "but it’s fantastic."

5.43pm: We’re in the tourbus with Tom listening to the cricket. England are one wicket from an astonishing victory over Australia. Amazing. Tom’s hoping they can hurry up, as the band have an acoustic session to do soon…

5.18pm: Right, here are some pictures from our wander…

The V Stage – currently featuring Biffy Clyro

Rocking the tutu look

A bit hot for this weather

That black stuff on the floor is meant to prevent mud when it rains (as it often does at British festivals!). No such problems this year.

Three shots taken at the 4Music stage, where Keane are headlining later. Athlete were playing a very lovely set when we passed. For anyone who’s been to V in previous years, you might notice that this is where the V stage used to be – they’ve swapped things around. But it looks as packed as it ever did!

Afternoon tea anyone?

Not surprisingly, ice cream is rather more in demand at the moment…

5.05pm: Blimey, and here was us thinking yesterday’s site was big – this one is huge! Pics to follow shortly…

4.21pm: This just in to ontour@keanemusic.com from Charlotte, who is at the festival, in front of the 4Music stage, where Keane are playing:

"Much fun down here in the mosh pit. Still to survive the enemy. Wish up luck! Oasis cancellel. Shocker! X charlotte anna celine nicky.

And with that, we’re off to take some pictures of the site…

4.16pm: The band are outside chatting to some journalists. It’s actually cooler outside than it is in this dressing room, which seems to be slowly roasting us in time for dinner (with Yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings). Anyway, here are some more pics…

The band get ready for their podcast video interview

It’s Katy Perry being filmed in a golf buggy!

The fellas, chatting with some journalists outside the dressing room

4.05pm: Interview done – look out for the video of it on km.com at some point. It was very funny. A few of you have asked who Richard was cheering for in the grand prix – the answer is Jenson Button.

3.23pm: Andrew and Chris are here to do their podcast interview – the one you guys asked the questions for:

3.06pm: Richard’s back from watching the Grand Prix. Barrichello won it. Rich tells us it was "a good race". And now it’s his turn to do a Yamaha interview.

3.01pm: Tim is currently doing an interview for Yamaha’s website. So we’re trying to type this very quietly…

2.30pm: "How many people do you suppose are at the Festival today?" asks -L.

We just asked Colin and he says 85,000 people. Crikey.

2.26pm: The backstage area is abuzz with the news that Oasis have cancelled their slot tonight, as Liam Gallagher has laryngitis. Snow Patrol have taken their place. But, hey, you’d be better off watching Keane (who are on at the same time) anyway.

2.20pm: We made this little film during Bedshaped last night.

Mighty.

2.08pm: Here’s Keane’s production manager Ant, hard at work in the production room, which is in another portable office, next to Keane’s dressing room. Ant’s kids were up in Staffs yesterday. Impressive American Football skills.

2.05pm: "So you slept inside the bus, didn’t you? How comfortable is it?" asks Ana in Colombia.

Yes, we did. It’s very comfortable (if a little coffin-like), but we found it a bit hard to sleep when the bus was moving (it was properly rocking and rolling). Beth, though, is the other way around – she says that as soon as the bus reaches its destination she’s "wide awake".

2.00pm: Lunch was chili con carne. It was lovely, but the catering tent is very, very hot indeed. It really is baking hot here today. There will be a lot of lobster-red festival goers by the time Keane take to the stage.

1.36pm: And here’s Tim, struggling to get a mobile phone signal

Yes, that one will be in our arty gallery exhibition too. Right, we’re off to get some lunch…

1.24pm: Here’s Tommy!

1.05pm: Lali and Luli and Eve in Argentina ask if the internet connection is better here in Chelmsford than it was yesterday. Happily it is. Which means we’ve been able to download a picture of their natty Keane flag and post if here. We just showed Tim, who thinks it’s "cool!"

It’s Mama Mia now. You get the feeling Bjorn Again are helping to clear a lot of hangovers.

1.02pm: We’re back over by the dressing room, which is near enough to the V Stage to be able to hear Abba tribute act Bjorn Again belting out SOS. Here’s Richard, who’s just left the management meeting a bit early to catch the start of the grand prix on the tourbus TV.

"I have a huge question : Where did you sleep during the night ? on Bus in park at V festival ?"
asks Ana Catarina , Portugal
We all slept on the bus as it drove between the two V Festival sites, in Staffs and Chelmsford. But km.com certainly slept much better once it arrived and we stopped bouncing around in our bunk!

12.57pm: Oh, and here’s an amazing cross-stitch which was sent to us by Undral from Mongolia. We showed it to Tim last night just before the show and he was very impressed.

12.46pm: Right, let’s see if we can respond to some of your many emails.

Ana Lorena asks if we saw Oasis around yesterday – yes, we saw both Noel and Liam, even though the band had their own compound within the dressing rooms area.

Aleksandra from Toronto, Canada was the first of many to point out that avocado is a fruit which can work well with burgers. Fair point. Meanwhile Adriana from Monterrey makes a case for pineapple in a burger. We’re not so sure about that one. And Lara claims apple is nice with a burger, which is just wrong!

Jenni asks who woke up first (and guesses either Colin or Beth). We’re pretty sure it was Colin, who was in the bunk opposite us and got up at about 8.30am.

And lastly, here’s an amazing cross-stitch which was sent to us by Undral from Mongolia. We showed it to Tim last night just before the show and he was very impressed.

12.28pm: We’ve just been for a wee wander and the weather is even warmer than yesterday. It’s properly hot out there. Here’s the bus, lined up with lots of others…

Here’s the back of the V Stage (the first act of the day is due on anytime now)

And here’s Keane’s backstage HQ, where the band have gone straight into a management meeting to talk about, um, important management things.

11.58am: A new day deserves a new page…

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