The Automatic's frontman Rob Hawkins has been telling NME about a mad dash his band recently made to London due to Keane singer Tom Chaplin getting a case of gastroenteritis. Nice. Keane were to play the 'Later... With Jools Holland' show on 13 Jun when Chaplin was struck down at the last minute and The Automatic were asked to fill in.
Hawkins said: "It was a mad day. One minute we're at Rockfield Studios recording some new tracks, the next we've had a phone call asking us to play 'Later... With Jools Holland' and we're desperately trying to find our drummer Iwan who's gone missing, fishing in the nearby river. We found him then strapped (keyboard player) Pennie into the passenger seat and bombed it down the M4. We managed to get to London in the nick of time."
The show is broadcast tonight. Keane are, quite appropriately 'gutted'. The band's Tim Rice-Oxley says: "When we were living in a bedsit in Stoke Newington we would dream of headlining 'Later...', suffice to say we are gutted. At least Tom is much better."