“We’ve done very well in Britain and now we’re trying to make that connection over here,” Rice-Oxley told Pollstar. “People have been really incredible and very open with their enthusiasm and opinions.

“People [in the U.S.] are very vocal, which you really want as a performer, because you get up there when you’re in a strange country and you really don’t know what people are thinking.”

In prior visits to the States, Keane did great selling out New York’s Irving Plaza, Avalon clubs in Boston and Los Angeles, the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., and The Fillmore in San Francisco.

Following the band’s major label debut, Hopes and Fears, hitting No. 2 on the U.K.’s best selling record of 2004, the English trio decided to test the waters Stateside.

On April 30, Keane will play the first day of Indio, Calif.’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. From there, the trio will Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington.

After touring the Midwest, East and various Canadian dates throughout May, Keane will head to Atlanta June 11 to play the Music Midtown Festival. Other performers at the fest include Pixies, Bloc Party, Louis XIV, The Killers, and others.

Later that month, the trio will travel back home playing several dates in the U.K. and Europe. On July 9, they’ll play T In The Park, along with Ireland’s Oxygen Festival the following day. August will find Keane supporting U2 on dates including Germany, France, Spain and Portugal.

Not bad for a few guys who started out as a cover band.

“We wanted to be The Beatles, but didn’t really have the wherewithal with the instruments, you know?” Rice-Oxley said, laughing. “We had the will but not the talent.”