Exclusive: Snow Patrol - Metro, Melbourne
By
Sean Lynch
Photos: www.snowpatrol.com
First
things first. Tuesday nights in winter are simply not made for Rock and
Roll. The crowd is grumpy from either finishing work a few hours prior,
grumpy that they have to get up early for work the next day, or simply
cold with a side dish of grumpy.
Walking into the recently
renovated Metro I had only one thought (besides the fact that the new
Metro setup reminded me of 'The Bronze' from Buffy) - I can't be
stuffed! The halls were chilly, and the lineup was a tad tedious - not
to mention my girlfriend was harping on about being hungry (it's 8pm,
you've been home all day - eat dinner early!).
The crowd slowly
began to converge to the stage, trying to suss out the best of the many
vantage points. From behind the glass windows on the second level bar?
Up the front? On the ramp? Up the stairs? So many choices. Eventually
we chose the floor, scooting in behind three of the tallest humans that
have ever been created. Either that, or they had recently robbed a
'Spice Girls Platform Shoe' factory.
Support act, aussie band Starky, entered the stage to the chilling score from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange
- sadly, this was the highlight of their set. The reception to their
first few songs were ten degrees colder than the weather outside, and
it only seemed to get worse, with the "Get off the stage" heckling
beginning to over-take the amount of applause. Starky, overall, could have been a good band had the Kaiser Chiefs not done it before them - and better.
The
relief ridden roar of the crowd as Gary Lightbody (Vocals and Guitar),
Nathan Connolly (Guitar and Backing Vocals), Paul Wilson (Bass and
Backing Vocals), Tom Simpson (Samples and Keys), Jonny Quinn (Drums)
confidently strolled onto the stage proved why the packed house had
turned up to the "Giant Wedding Cake", as lead singer Lightbody
described it.
Opening with "How To Be Dead" from their "Final Straw" album, the audience was immediately transfixed. Much like Coldplay, of whom paved the way for the likes of Snow Patrol and Keane, SP
have a knack of creating epically simple songs. The crowd rocked to
hits "Wow", "Chocolate" and "Spitting Games" while standing in awe to
the tranquil power of "Chasing Cars", "Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking"
and their breakout hit "Run".
However, the highlight of the night
would have to have been the charming nature of frontman Gary Lightbody.
Often using the breaks in between songs to test out stand-up material,
he immediately had the audience on side despite recovering from the flu
which had caused cancellations of several shows. From complaining about
spiders and his "allergy to Sharks, particularly when they bite" to
numerous self depreciating comments regarding "how annoying it is that
all our songs just end suddenly, we really should try and at least
pretend to jam or something".
The crowd literally was on the edge
of euphoria, until several technical glitches caused two of the
speakers to stop working mid song, and the band's earpieces going hay
wire - leading to Lightbody uncharacteristically forgetting several
potions of the lyrics and ultimately cutting the encore short. During
the epic finale of "Open Your Eyes" the band was left without the
"oomf" which often takes SP's songs to the next level.
Ultimately, it felt much like watching the popular bully at school who
had been dacked in the corridor - an awkward helplessness.
None the less, for SP
to bring an audience to the boil on one of Melbourne's coldest weekday
evenings - and following one of the most disliked support bands I've
ever seen - proves that Snow Patrol are simply more than a Coldplay carbon copy. They deservedly hold the right to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the greats.
Set-List: 3.5 out of 5
A
fantastic set list comprising of mostly songs from their "Final Straw"
and "Open Your Eyes" albums. The crowd was taken on a fantastic ride of
bouncy rock of the likes of their latest radio hit "You're All I Have"
and the melancholy of "Make This Go On Forever". Sadly, the technical
glitches blue-balled the audience, leaving them anticipating the next
step up - which never came.
Lighting & Visual: 2 out of 5
For
fans who are fond of taking photos (as my girlfriend and her buddy seem
to be) The Metro was a nightmare. Even those up close to the front
would have trouble seeing any distinguishing features of the band. The
endless amount of back lighting threw the entire band into a silohette
for almost the entire show. You would have better luck getting photos
of the fictional Gorillaz!
Overall: 70%
Snow Patrol are currently touring Australia, their latest Album 'Eyes Open' is in stores now.
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