Snow Patrol are only one song into their show at the
Manchester Evening News Arena, and already, misfortune has befallen
post-Britpop pin-up Gary Lightbody, though thankfully not of a particularly
serious nature. “I just spent that entire first song with my flies undone,” he
quips cheekily, a touch of self-deprecating embarrassment to his tone. “I hope
you didn’t notice. If you did, ladies, I hope you enjoyed it.”
It’s a cheeky-chappie line perhaps more accustomed to the
Robbie Williams brand of pop than, say, a Northern Irish six-piece whose
commercial success is built upon a serious of soaring lovelorn ballads, all
weepy lyrics and epic, lush arrangements. But it suits the cheery Lightbody, a
man who seems possessed of not. Snow Patrol are touring behind 2011’s Fallen Empires – a stylistic left-turn
into indietronica and power pop – and, judging by the near-sold-out crowd
packed around the venue, are still the commercial juggernaut who dominated
mid-noughties airwaves on both sides of the Atlantic with a cluster of
genre-defining hits.
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| Snow Patrol perform live on their Fallen Empires Tour in 2012. (Courtesy of livedesignonline.com) |
No expense has been wasted on their stage show either; five
large lighting rigs, shaped like eponymous snowflakes, hang from the rafters in
front of a twenty-five-foot high curving LED screen upon which pulsing graphics
of water drops periodically flash. Bathed in alternating icy blue, warm yellow
and fiery orange, Snow Patrol enter to the shuddering electronic-bass of I’ll
Never Let Go, and subsequently waste no time flying through a ninety-minute
show in a happy, messy clutter.
Happy, because there’s a deftness of touch to the heavy,
ponderous ballads and maximum-drive guitar anthems they populate their setlist
with – recent cut New York lifts with a nuanced grace on flashes of lighter
piano than on record, whilst the thumping alt-rock punch of Hands Open is rendered with a
surprisingly laddish charm. Messy, as the band often lack musical
sophistication; Crack the Shutters,
for all its anthemics, is disorganised and muddied in its keyboard and guitar
lines, both off the beat, though rousing regardless. And cluttered, for there
are eleven – count it, eleven –
players on stage; Lightbody, guitarists Nathan Connolly and Johnny McDaid,
drummer Jonny Quinn, bassist Paul Wilson and keyboard player Tom Simpson are
joined by five additional musicians, including two more guitarists and another
drummer. It’s very Wall of Sound in principle; in execution, it sounds
sometimes as everything and the kitchen sink has been thrown at the audience.
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| Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, performing live at Manchester Evening News Arena in 2012. (Courtesy of Getty) |
The mix isn’t terrible though, just overpoweringly primal in
prolonged flashes. In fact, it works to the advantage of some songs; Fallen Empires is rendered as a sensory
overload, all tribal rhythms that pound at the eardrums. Take Back the City struts with an urgent defiance, stirring and
strident. Lightbody delivers a braveau vocal performance, that peaks with a
spine-tingling rendition of their beautiful breakthrough power ballad Run, reclaimed from the hands of talent-show
contestants with a hauntingly desperate cry. It’s arguably their strongest song
of many; contrary to critical dismissal as a low-budget Coldplay, Snow Patrol
have some superb songs in their catalogue and the admiration of fellow
musicians such as Michael Stipe and Bono to boot. For relationship duet Set the Fire to the Fire Bar, he silkily
harmonises with the backing vocalist over twinkling, star-strewn melodies,
whilst the ubiquitous Chasing Cars is
dispatched to a mass singalong chorus with the requisite élan.
Others have moments in the spotlight too; Connolly’s
spiralling work on Chocolate is a
highlight, whilst Wilson propels the melancholy In The End forward on driving bass. They close out their main set
with the power-pop-rock of You’re All I
Have, before returning for a three song encore that opens with their most
serious misstep, the leaden drag of Lifening,
an insipid ballad that floats on the album but sinks in the arena. They rescue
momentum with panache though; the slow-build surge of Open Your Eyes notches up the tension before bursting into joyous,
life-affirming melody. They roll out one final song – the floor-filling
electropop of Just Say Yes, their
singular dance anthem and party closer originally penned for Gwen Stefani. It’s
loud, bubbly and a surprisingly tight performance. Snow Patrol clearly know how
to play then; but with a touch of refinement, they could become all-time live greats.
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