Live Review: Snow Patrol bring anthemic indie anthems to Birmingham

On a bitterly cold February evening Gary Lightbody and his band warmed the hearts of the packed-to-the-rafters Birmingham crowd playing a mix of hits from their three-decade strong back catalogue.

As the sole remaining original member of the band, Lightbody is very much the face of Snow Patrol and it was left to him to take centre stage and make jokes and introductions between songs during the gig.

The ease of performing these kinds of shows for so long shows in his laidback style, happily poking fun at himself while talking up other people and how they have contributed to his success.

One person who came in for particular praise was guitarist and pianist Johnny McDaid, who has continued to play every night of the tour despite damaging his hand shutting it in a train door in Dusseldorf earlier in the month.

As one would expect, the set is littered with anthems from throughout Snow Patrol’s history.

Set opener ‘Take Back the City’ from the 2008 album ‘Hundred Million Suns’ set the tone for the evening with the crowd readily joining in singing when asked, while ‘All’ from last year’s ‘The Forest is the Path’ was enjoyed with equal gusto.

‘Set the Fire to the Third Bar’ was introduced by Lightbody talking about his admiration for Martha Wainwright, who features on the track.

He explained how he wrote the song with her in mind and how she nailed her part of the song in one single vocal take, confessing that he had taken more.

Wainwright was projected onto the screen at the back of the stage, ensuring the band could properly show off those one take vocals.

As the crowd sang the anthemic 2004 hit ‘Run’ without backing - phone lights twinkling in response to the songs refrain of ‘light up, light up’ - Lightbody appeared to become very emotional on stage.

Whether that emotion was due to hearing 15,000 voices singing his words back to him or because he almost ‘ruined’ the guitar solo as he jokingly confessed two songs later, we will never know.

There is an almost cinematic feel to the band’s performance, as showcased during ‘Open Your Eyes’.

The song had a quietly poignant section when the band paused playing as the crowd continued singing the lyrics, before coming back in with a crescendo of sound complimented by confetti dropping from the ceiling.

Following song ‘Make This Go On Forever’ continued in this vein, with lights solely from the back of the stage creating a moody feel as the song built to a climax, ending with Lightbody kneeling on stage almost whispering the final words.

The main show ended with two of the band’s biggest hits ‘Chasing Cars’ and ‘You’re All I Have’, both taken from their 2006 album ‘Eyes Open’.

Both songs were clearly crowd favourites and little encouragement was needed to get the arena to put their hands up and sing in unison.

For the encore, Snow Patrol played ‘But I’ll Keep Trying’ from the recently released extended edition of ‘The Forest is the Path’ before closing with ‘Just Say Yes’.

Snow Patrol were ably supported by Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, who played a selection of tracks from her 2024 release ‘Mountain Music’.

After 30 years it would be easy for Snow Patrol to play a standard ‘greatest hits’ show with minimal new material, but it’s clear that Lightbody and his band still have very much to give musically.

In an era of ‘90s and ‘00s bands solely playing money spinning tours to refill depleted coffers, Snow Patrol’s continued songwriting craft should be welcomed.

Snow Patrol played:

Take Back the City

Chocolate

Called Out in the Dark

All

Crack the Shutters

Set the Fire to the Third Bar

Run

The Beginning

The Lightning Strike (What If This Storm Ends?)

Talking About Hope

Open Your Eyes

Make This Go on Forever

Shut Your Eyes

Heal Me

Chasing Cars

You’re All I Have

But I’ll Keep Trying

Just Say Yes