Snow Patrol, Camden Roundhouse, July 5th
Snow Patrol played at the Camden Roundhouse on July 5th
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Tuesday, 07, Jul 2009 12:35
Chris Jefferies finds there's more to the chart-friendly quintet than just Leona covers and big-chorused singalongs.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly when Snow Patrol lost their indie kudos.
Maybe the tipping point was when Leona Lewis covered Run, or maybe it came when Chasing Cars was used in the season finale of cheesy sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Either way, they took a strong step to regaining the respect of the NME-crowd at the Camden Roundhouse as part of the bizarrely organised iTunes festival. A month-long music festival with free tickets allocated by lottery was inevitably going to attract some lukewarm, fickle viewers. Those who stuck it out to the end of this mammoth 100-minute set were well and truly rewarded, however.
The graceful, sweeping tones of Animal Kingdom kicked off the evening and elicited a strong response from the half-capacity crowd. Silversun Pickups raised the tempo with a thunderous set which made a good case for them being called the new Smashing Pumpkins - they even have the female bassist!
With uncharacteristic tardiness, Snow Patrol took the stage ten minutes late and launched into If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It, from their latest record A Hundred Million Suns. The formula of slow-building songs which gloriously burst into life halfway through has long been established by the band, and it never seems to get old. From here on in the set had a beefed up feel to it, with a heavily distorted Chocolate and Hands Open both making a real impact. Gary Lightbody is becoming quite the front man, delving into the audience and maintaining a respectable level of banter with the front row. The screaming girls who greeted his forays into the audience underlined how much of a pop success this band have become, which Lightbody casually summed up, saying: "You're a wee bit grabby."
The big hits were there in force, with Run keeping its grace and beauty despite several boneheads breaking the mood during the verses, shouting inanities such as "C'mon Gazza!" Chasing Cars did not disappoint, but the main problem was the timing: a good half an hour before the close. As the non-paying audience drifted home, the band was left to play their 16-minute epic The Lightning Strike to a half-empty crowd. This seemed incredibly harsh, but if Snow Patrol want to recapture their alternative credentials, they would do well to keep prioritising the more experimental tracks over heart-wrenching chart-friendly singalongs.
Open Your Eyes brought the set to a triumphant close, and you could tell the band were enjoying themselves immensely, caring little for the fickle 'fans' who only knew them from that song Leona Lewis covered and that one off of Gavin & Stacey. There is much, much more to this band - don't write off Snow Patrol just yet.
Chris Jefferies