Snow Patrol

Make sure to see the review I wrote for Fallen Empires at: http://wp.me/p1Jn8q-b3

The band from Ireland Snow Patrol stopped by Bayou Music Center on May 18^th to promote their latest album, Fallen Empires.  Snow Patrol reached the international market with their album Final Straw which came out in 2003 with the famous single, “Somewhere a Clock is Ticking.” Though they were only still some band from the UK at that time, they finally hit the radio waves and became a more household name with, “Run,” which is on their album Final Straw.

When the lights dimmed at the venue, the restless crowd headed towards the stage and filled in any small gaps between the as Gary Go took the stage. Though he is currently working on mellower piano based tracks, this artist grew to his fame for being the vocals behind the international hit by Benny Benassi, “Cinema.” As he began playing his tracks off of a few pieces of equipment on the stage which were mainly used to loop and a piano, there was a realization that this show will only be the solo work he has been working on. His set lasted only a half an hour with some audience participation ending it the final track to his set list.

A half an hour later that Gary Go left the stage, Snow Patrol emerged from the side of the stage as the loops for the first song they were going to play began. The audience screamed and applauded as the main acts began playing their tracks.

The majority of the tracks were from their album Eyes Open such as, “Chasing Cars, Make This Go On Forever, Set the Fire to the Third Bar, Open Your Eyes,” and finally a track which called for the audience participation, “Shut Your Eyes.” During that track, lead singer Gary Lightbody asked for complete silence from the audience not continuing the track until the audience ceased to talk. He claimed that a silent audience gave him, “a hard on.” Then the audience was told to whisper, “Shut your eyes and sing to me,” taking turns with him singing and then the audience. The intensity built as he began to sing louder and the audience following his lead ending with the crowd screaming the lyrics.

Since they were on tour promoting Fallen Empires they played the radio hit songs from that album, “This Isn’t Everything You Are, Called Out In the Dark, Fallen Empires,” and finally “New York.”

The live performance of this group does not even resemble a fraction of energy and power that is established on their album. The show its self was only a large sheet behind the band showing projections which were always on during the entirety of the show. Though this band has been around for nearly a decade, the audience consisted of people of all different kinds varying in ages listening for their one favorite track.

The last time the band came to Houston was at Warehouse Live on October 5^th 2009, with the band then having released, A Hundred Million Suns. With the lack of an intimate venue the audience lacked the energy and enthusiasm that the one from their previous stop by Houston had.

With such intricate architecture and lyrically driven tracks, there was somewhat of a lack of appreciation felt towards the band from the crowd.  Overall Snow Patrol can always put on an amazing show that held a touching moment to fans of the band. They played everyone’s favorite song making sure to entice the new and old fans alike allowing them to keep the audience entertained through this nearly two hour set. Snow Patrol has grown to become more than just a concert but an actual experience.