not a member? click here to sign up

Super Fly Guys

Try to keep up in this review of the two-day, four-city Take Back the Cities tour through Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh and a big finale in London.

Olaf Tyaransen, 06 Nov 2008

It’s a truth Universally acknowledged (and probably by Polydor, too) that a band cannot make the transition from obscure indie no-hopers to multi-platinum-selling arena fillers without eventually provoking a backlash of serious proportions.

While the initial critical response to their new album, A Hundred Million Suns, has been begrudgingly muted, Snow Patrol obviously aren’t gonna let that bother them too much. Watching them playing four gigs in just two days, it’s plain that the Northern Irish act have both the songs and the showmanship to confound their critics.

Playing in front of a live audience for the first time in 12 months (not counting underwhelming performances on Later... With Jools and the Late Late Show), the band kicked off their whistlestop Take Back The Cities tour with an invite-only lunchtime show in Dublin’s Gate Theatre on October 26. It was an audience of two halves. Up front were their devoted fans. At the back sat a grumpier, arms-folded, just-outta-bed-on-a-Sunday-morning media posse. Here we are now, entertain us...

Snow Patrol did just that. Proceedings opened quietly, with Gary Lightbody and guitarist Nathan Connolly performing a well-received minimalist version of album opener ‘If There’s A Rocket, Tie Me To It’ (Connolly played keyboards). Then the rest of the band and Belle & Sebastian percussionist Richard Colburn joined them onstage, Lightbody strapped on a different guitar, and they launched into the far more familiar ‘Chocolate’. It was all up from there. The set that followed saw them perform a selection of tracks from A Hundred Million Suns, interspersed with reliable old crowd-pleasers like ‘Chasing Cars’, ‘Shut Your Eyes’ and, as an encore, their breakthrough hit ‘Run’.

While the rest of the band have their own signature moves, Lightbody’s always the focal point. Standing at well over six feet tall, and quite gangly with it, he used his awkward frame to his advantage, jerking erratically like a puppet on a string throughout, and veering between looking very odd and looking like a bona fide rock god. Not that he’s some kind of preening poseur. His inter-song banter was warm, funny and self-deprecating. Snow Patrol rely far more on friendly charm than on studied cool.



Page 1/4     <Previous 1 2 3 4 Next> 



Artist Related Content

Latest Related Articles For This Artist

Snow Patrol To Headline Tennent's Vital

Belfast natives Snow Patrol are announced as the headine act for the second night of Tennent's Vital.


News: 2013-05-13

Snow Patrol's Gary & Jonny Join Derry Celebration

Gary Lightbody and Jonny Quinn to appear at the City of Culture 2013 opening gig...


News: 2013-01-17

Snow Patrol for Belfast acoustic show

Frontman Gary Lightbody also reveals he's been working with an unlikely songwriting partner...


News: 2012-11-19

DOWNLOAD: Free Snow Patrol track

Snow Patrol free MP3 release is a 'thank-you' to fans.


News: 2012-07-04

New Additions to Snow Patrol gig

Bressie, We Are Augustines and Here We Go Magic will all be joining Gary Lightbody and co.


News: 2012-07-03

Latest Related Videos For This Artist

Contact Us

Hot Press,
13 Trinity Street,
Dublin 2.
Rep. Of Ireland
Tel: +353 (1) 241 1500

Email:info@hotpress.ie

Click here for more contact information.

Click here to find out more about Hot Press

Hot Press always welcomes feed back so if you've got something to tell us click here.

Advertise With Us

For more detail on how to advertise with Hot Press click here or call us on +353 (1) 241 1540