Snow Patrol Live at The Hollywood Palladium 5/8/12

Irish/Scottish quintet alternative rock band, Snow Patrol, played a sold out show at the Hollywood Palladium this past week. Frontman, Gary Lightbody, lead the show with his resonating voice and tremendous energy. A band I once saw back in England playing massive arenas, summer shows at Somerset House, they were going to be the next U2 or Coldplay. Their first U.S. album “Final Straw” released back in 2004 sold well, and they played big outdoor venues such like Stubbs at SXSW. The band has had great success with mega-hits like “Chasing Cars”, which was one of my favorite songs until every commercial and radio station played it on repeat. Fast forward to now, you would think they would be playing big arenas like the Hollywood Bowl or the Greek. Seeing them now at the Palladium,  a 3,500 capacity venue, not only felt intimate but also felt like a complete arena show with full light show and visuals. Lightbody commanding the crowd with his beautiful Irish accent and everyone singing to their songs was an inspiring experience. Snow Patrol, known for their anthems, are what arena rock is all about.

While the anthems felt large in this space, the smaller, quieter songs felt all the more intimate and vulnerable. Lightbody- dedicating a song to his god-daughters, family and friends in the crowd- sang a beautiful track that was absolutely heart warming. Lightbody commanded the crowd in silence as he sang “Shut Your Eyes” quietly and slowly increasing the volume with each line until the entire room was singing at the top of their lungs. I found myself singing out loud as if I was singing to Lightbody “Shut your eyes and sing to me!” The sheer volume of people joining in made the experience all the more fun.

Opener Ed Sheeran joined Lightbody for “New York” from the band’s current album “Fallen Empires,” while Queens of the Stone Age guitarist, Troy Van Leeuwen, came on stage for “Called Out In The Dark,” which he plays on “Empires.” Minneapolis-based artist/Snow Patrol touring member Tony Stewart played along on “Set The Fire To The Third Bar,” which was missing the haunting counterpoint Martha Wainwright provides to Lightbody’s vocals on record.

After the 90-minute main show, the band opened its encore with “Life-ning,” a simple song from “Empires” that consists of nothing more (or less) than what amounts to a laundry list of what Lightbody wants from life: From “waking up in your arms” and “a place to call my own” to “Ireland in the World Cup.”  The evening closed with “Just Say Yes,” a fun track that got everyone dancing and jumping and it was a fantastic end to the night.

Set List:

Berlin (Remix)

Hands Open

Take Back The City

Crack The Shutters

This Isn’t Everything You Are

The Garden Rules

Run

In The End

New York (with Ed Sheeran)

Set The Fire To The Third Bar

Make This Go On Forever

Shut Your Eyes

Called Out In The Dark (with Troy Van Leeuwen)

Chasing Cars

Chocolate

Fallen Empires

You’re All I Have

Encore:

Lifening

Just Say Yes