Live - Snow Patrol

25/02/2009

Can Snow Patrol still challenge their audience in the super-sized SECC?

Snow Patrol SECC, Glasgow ****

Snow Patrol are a split personality of a band. First there’s the million selling, X-Factor blub-fest soundtracking side. They’re in full form tonight, hits like 'Chasing Cars' and 'Chocolate' are littered through the set sending the audience into, now customary, mass sing-a-longs.

On the other hand there’s the melodic, ‘we’re still like you’, indie band-made-good side evidenced as Gary Lightbody appears in the crowd to sing 'Run'. No one aside from those standing next to him can see anything (although the glow of mobile phones taking pictures give away his location) as he plays the song pared down to just his voice and acoustic guitar. It’s a refreshing take on the song after the orchestral battering it took at the hands of Leona Lewis.

The hits keep coming drawn from Eyes Open and Final Straw with a sprinkling of tracks from the new One Hundred Million Suns record. While there’s an obvious thinning of the audience during the new tracks these songs actually show Snow Patrol stretching themselves as a band. The extended post-rock extravaganza at the end of 'The Golden Floor' and their ambitious run through of 'The Lightening Strike' augmented with some impressive animated visuals suggest the band are more than happy to challenge their audience while, at the same time, giving them the big choruses they want to shout along to.

By Robbie Ireland