Review: Snow Patrol

Snow Patrol doesn't hide or deny its admiration or influences. Sometimes it even tours with them. After a summer of opening arena and stadium shows for U2 and Coldplay, the band is out on its own, playing theaters and concert halls. Tuesday night, they stopped at the Uptown Theater, where they drew nearly 1,000 devotees (the balcony was closed; the floor and seats were about 90 percent full).

Its music is all about size, melody and guitar textures. They write songs built for arenas and suitable for stadiums -- songs with titanium hooks and supernal choruses, with big waves and skyscraping crescendos. In theaters like the Uptown, those anthems are even more epic and anthemic.  But they'd be just another U.K./Brit-rock band if it weren't for Gary Lightbody, an Irishman with an sharp wit and dry sense of humility. 

Tuesday  night, he helped make sure the crowd before him didn't slip into any moments of stasis or ennui during a set that lasted 90 minutes, including a sing-along drill that went on too long. That would be the only smudge on an otherwise rousing and entertaining show.

As they took the stage, the screen behind the band showed the  band's itinerary up to Tuesday night -- in handwriting that looked like chalk on a blackboard. Then the screen broke into a valentine: "Tonight, Kansas City" with a red heart.

They opened with "If There's a Rocket, Tie Me To It," a track from last year's "A Hundred Million Stars" album and one of a few songs that visit the subject of space. From their the setlist visited other points in the band's discography. The crowd stayed engaged throughout, except maybe for "The Finish Line," the only lull of the night. The audience was evenly split between genders, but all over the age demographic (12 to 60); and there were a lot of couples present.

Things picked up when Lightbody stood on stage with a guitar and strummed the intro to "Run." He performed that solo for a while; then the full band joined him and ignited the first major explosion (and sing-along) of the night.

The band sustained that fever for several more songs. During "Shut Your Eyes," Lightbody orchestrated a sing-along that ended well but took too long getting there. They followed that with another grandiose ballad, "Chasing Cars," which ended in a sustained, volcanic eruption of crashing guitars -- the sound of release, liberation.

They ended with a two-song encore that included "The Lightning Strike," a 15-minute-plus trilogy that recalled the days when bands like Yes were making records like "Tales From Topographic Oceans. Excessive, yes; but not necessarily self-indulgent or gluttonous. (And some of the animation behind them vaguely recalled Roger Dean's).

They returned to earth for the closer, "You're All I Have," another groovy, well-crafted, love-lorn guitar anthem, the kind written for big rooms and wide open spaces.

Plain White T's: They seemed like an odd opener for a crowd whose demographic was weighted heavily in the late 20s to late 30s. They did that song ("Delilah") but proved with songs like "Meet Me in California" and "Someday" that their pony has more than one trick in its arsenal.

| Timothy Finn, The Star 

Setlist: If There's A Rocket, Tie Me To It; Chocolate; Hands Open; How To Be Dead; The Golden Floor; The Finish Line; Make This Go On Forever; Run; Shut Your Eyes; Chasing Cars; Crack the Shutters; Take Back The City; Open Your Eyes. Encore: The Lightning Strike; You're All I Have.

Comments

[TK]

Nice review, Tim. It was a good show, though I thought Plain White T's were a bit boring.

Saw Silversun Pickups open for Snow Patrol in St. Louis a couple of summers ago, and that show was quite a bit better all around, and even Snow Patrol's last show at the Uptown seemed a bit mroe raucous. For me, I just didn't get into their latest release as much as Final Straw and Eyes Open, so obviously some of the older songs made way for some of the new ones, but it was still a very good night.

[Nick]

That was a fun show, the pacing was excellent from Chasing Cars through Open Your Eyes...I was standing in about the 10th row center and the sound was fantastic...great night of anthemic pop for 30 bucks, totally worth it

[Derek Donovan]

I honestly simply forgot to attend the show -- and wish I had now. This is far from my kind of music normally, but "Take Back the City" has been one of my favorite mainstream singles in a while, and I wanted to check out what several friends have assured me is a very worthy live act. Oh well, next time.

[Amber Hawkins]

I thought they were great. I was a little apprehensive about Plain White T's, but they put on a decent show. I had seen Snow Patrol back in June when they were supporting Coldplay, so it was nice that they were headlining their own tour. I was about 3rd row back from stage and it was an amazing night. Can't wait until they come back.