Keane's magic formula for reaching such a wide crowd goes something like: Write impossibly catchy pop songs that possess a timeless quality, give them kick with an aggressive piano player who rocks harder than any guitarist, and top the whole thing with cherub-faced lead singer who's voice captures more angst than a high-school drama club. Of all the much-ballyhooed bands that have arrived from Britain in recent years, it appears that what the masses were looking for was straight-ahead, dewy-eyed pop, and not another group that sounds like the Cure.
Opening with ''Can't Stop Now," lead singer Tom Chaplin gripped the mic stand and began an amazing evening of vocal calisthenics. It's no small feat that Chaplin is able to get through an entire show where he belts out numbers such as ''Bend and Break." He also had his subtle moments, such as the lovely ''Everybody's Changing." Remarkably he was able to carry off the full range with the same precision as on the band's debut, ''Hopes and Fears."
Chaplin and rangy piano player Tim Rice-Oxley appeared to fuel each other's musical passion. The more Chaplin restlessly prowled the stage in his hip huggers and white belt, the more Rice-Oxley resembled a Muppet on caffeine. Given that this is a trio with no guitarist, there was no one onstage to offer windmills and pogos. But Keane wisely used lighting and head bobbing to create the illusion of kinetic energy.
''Only last year we were playing in a much smaller venue in Boston," Chaplin told the crowd, brushing his mop out of his eyes. ''I could only have dreamed that we'd be playing in a place like this."
Openers Longwave and the Redwalls started the night with guitar-heavy alternative pop. The Redwalls, a band that barely looked out of high school in form-fitting mod suits, sounded like a combination of Elvis Costello and a pop-punk Buddy Holly. The quartet's set was a pleasant distraction, which, come to think of it, is exactly what good pop music should be.
Christopher Muther can be reached at muther@globe.com.
