Keiko

Keiko are known as Britain’s best kept secret and judging by the turn out at the Barfly that may not be too far from the truth. A warm welcome was given by the small crowd as the band members climbed the stage, the applause increasing as they saw that the lead singer/guitarist Tom, who is renowned for wearing a hat, was still... wearing a hat. When the band started with a song the crowd appeared to know well it was instantly noticeable that they were enjoying themselves. The bassist, Nick, in particular was so exited he couldn’t keep from catapulting himself round the stage in violent spasms of joy. The more passion the band showed for their music, the more passion the crowd seemed to show about it too and soon enough the they, however few they were, were all bopping along in their own way to the energetic, punchy riffs of Keiko.

One thing that makes Keiko stand out from other punk rock bands is their progressive element that allows a certain amount of contrast within certain songs. This makes them an interesting band to listen to, but an even more interesting band to see live. One minute the music is energetic enough to almost justify the fits of elation experienced by the bassist, and the next it’s calm enough to almost justify lighters and swaying (not that any occurred that night).

Most of the songs they played were from their fist full album ‘The Rorschach Test’ and they played them well, while communicating in between songs, and keeping up a good, friendly rapport with the audience. They did that in such a way so that they appeared much more human than other bands whose silence creates a sometimes-alienating mystique and barrier between themselves and their fans. This, and their obvious enjoyment of their music; and the ability to inspire the same enjoyment from the crowd, makes Keiko a joy from beginning to end.



The one thing that marred the whole experience was the amount of people present. Literally a handful of people came to the show and so, despite the amount of energy pouring out the people that were there, the atmosphere was no where near as potent as it would have been if there were more tickets sold. The small amount of people present could have been a good thing for other, softer bands, because it made the whole experience very intimate, but intimacy seemed quite inappropriate for Keiko. A band’s performance cannot be judged on their popularity, though, and in this case the quality was by no means proportional to the amount of tickets sold. Keiko played brilliantly and hopefully will be playing to bigger crowds in Birmingham soon.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.