Keane - Live at Vic Theatre (Chicago)

Date: June 22 2012
Venue: Vic Theatre (Lakeview, Chicago)
Tour: Strangeland

There is a warm, fuzzy, and proud feeling when you walk into a live music venue knowing that everyone around you has impeccable taste in music. More importantly, you know that these folks are discerning and can objectively distill quality from the rest of what people consider “pop music”. I can vouch for the superior musical tastes of the audience since they are here to enjoy and support a band that has been routinely ignored by terrestrial radio in the US despite being Grammy nominated and selling out arenas in Europe and South America. The audience clearly does not limit their musical spectrum to the monotonous garbage that corporate-controlled radio has subjected us to since the passing of the Telecommunications Deregulation Act back in 1996. It is a privilege to be a part of a 1400-strong crowd that has come together to enjoy the purest interaction they can have with a rock band – and that is the live music experience. These were some of the thoughts that rushed through my head as my business school buddy and I walked into the Vic Theatre in Chicago on Friday evening (June 22) to watch Keane – one of my favorite bands of all time.