BERKELEY, Calif.--Either Tom Chaplin's recent rehab stint has done wonders for his outlook on life, or he plays a good game of make-believe on stage.

Chaplin, lead singer of the Britpop trio Keane, led his band through a rousing set of heartfelt, piano-laden Britpop Saturday night at the Berkeley Community Theatre--think Coldplay without a guitar or bass in sight.

But in a series of monologues between songs, he seemed to be making his pitch for rock star you'd most like to bring home to mom, exhorting fans to get fired up, but doing so with a politeness that belied the band's recent history.

"Please, if you can possibly make more noise, then do so," he said at one point.

Chaplin referred to that history several times throughout the 90-minute set, alluding to his decision to enter rehab last fall just as the band was set to embark on a US tour in support of its multiplatinum sophomore album, Under the Iron Sea. Several times Saturday night, Chaplin referred to last year as a "very dark period" for himself and the band.

At least on this night, that turmoil seemed to be a distant memory, with Chaplin bounding about the stage and leading the band's rabid fans through lengthy sing-alongs. Kicking off the 90-minute set with "Put It Behind You" from Iron Sea, Chaplin belted out earnest lyrics over drummer Richard Hughes' steady beats and keyboardist Tim Rice-Oxley's multipronged melodies.

In front of a spare-but-compelling backdrop of flat panel TVs and street lights of varying shapes and heights, the band occasionally ventured into melancholy but never seemed to stray far from the sweet and amiable.

Even in introducing the somber antiwar track "A Bad Dream," which was prefaced by a recorded reading of the W.B. Yeats poem, "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death," Chaplin was ultrapolite in his criticism of the Iraq War.

"These days your country and my country are off bombing other countries...I know that this part of the country has always generally been peace-oriented." "A Bad Dream" proved to be the most compelling song of the night, with Chaplin singing lines like, "I'm too tired to be fighting, guess I'm not the fighting kind" as vintage footage of a couple slow dancing while wearing gas masks played behind him.

The set closed with engaging versions of "This Is the Last Time" and the hit singles "Is It Any Wonder" and "Crystal Ball."

Overall, it was a night of sweet, melodious pop--the kind that makes for great date music but not much else.