Live

Snow Patrol, White Lies, Cashier No.9

Luke Hannaford 07/03/2009

After hearing Snow Patrol's new album I didn't really think much of it - so I wasn't expecting much at the gig. Manchester Arena was jam packed, although you'd expect that since tickets were sold out. White Lies and Cashier No.9 were supporting Snow Patrol. I haven't heard much of White Lies, the only song being Death, and I'm not so keen on the vocals, but musically I quite like them. They put on a good performance in front of a huge audience, building up the tension in the tense anticipation for Snow Patrol.

Cashier No.9 are a band I have never heard of before, so I was not sure what to expect when they came on. Cashier No.9 vocally sound folkish and musically indie/electro - quite strange to describe what genre they display really but definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Personally I'd give these a pass. By this time I think people were just wanting for Snow Patrol to turn up.

Snow Patrol were up next, Gary Lightbody came on to the stage as fans were gleaming up at him. Most of the songs they played were from the album Final Straw, with Run being the pinnacle of the night as Lightbody came into the audience with his acoustic guitar, handing over the microphone to a girl for her to hold while he sung in front of her. This must have been the highlight of the night since this was one of the only songs I like by Snow Patrol. The atmosphere was immense, it might have been even better if we were standing bunched up to the stage or if Martha Wainwright appeared and did a duet with Lightbody. Although Set The Fire To The Third Bar is a bit of a depressing song so not such a good one to get the crowd going. The crowd were shouting for them to sing Lightning Strike from their new album Hundred Million Suns - this arrived, accompanied by piano and subtle vocals calming the audience after such an energetic show.

After not liking much of the new Snow Patrol album, I must admit it was a pretty good encore, you could say I was blown away but not quite! Really I was just joining in so I didn't get beaten up by pro Snow Patrol fans. Closing the gig was the song You're all I have from the album Eyes Open. The new album was disappointing and snow patrol have only had a couple of songs to like such as Run or Chasing Cars, but they certainly know how to please the fans. And a very large fan base they have with gigs selling out everywhere. That really sums up the night. I don't know how they do it! If only I could make money off of so few good songs.