Snow Patrol turn up the heat

Snow Patrol,

LG Arena, Birmingham

By James Watkins

Success has been a long time coming for Gary Lightbody and his band Snow Patrol. The Northern Ireland group have been plugging away in various guises for a decade and a half.

Their perseverance has paid dividends, however, and last night they enjoyed the acclaim of 12,000 Midlands fans during a hot, steamy night at Birmingham's LGArena.

The band are perennial underdogs, damned by some for their none-more-indie sound. Such criticism is bunkum, of course. Few bands offer songs as euphoric or elegiac as the 'Patrol.

Last night, their seismic, stadium-sized songs almost spilled out of the cavernous LG Arena as fans swooned to their upbeat melodies. The Patrol were built for nights like that where their anthemic, sing-a-long sound engages with the masses.

Snow Patrol took their fans through a greatest hits set with big tunes and supersized melodies generating rapturous applause.

But the Patrol were not just about broad brush strokes. There was subtlety and sensitivity, light and shade, warm emotion and tenderness. Lightbody's solo, acoustic numbers were deft and accomplished.

The long, hard struggle is starting to pay off for Lightbody and co. And last night was filled with such soaring, uplifting optimism that it made fans think they've still a long way to go.

They may now be filling the UK's largest arenas, but Snow Patrol have just reached the start line of what seems destined to be an epic adventure.