Snow Patrol - live at Newcastle Arena - March 2009 (Snow Patrol Live)

Member Name: jeffjen

Product:	Snow Patrol Live
Date:	12/03/09 (172 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great night out and great value for money

Disadvantages: None

I was lucky enough to have a ticket to see Snow patrol on Tuesday night at Newcastle Arena, and must admit this gig surpassed all my expectations! I have liked Snow Patrol for a few years, but have never seen them live, until now.

I have attended a lot of live gigs over the years, but only ever been to one other concert at the Arena which was last year, and the overall sound and acoustics were terrible for the first half of the concert. Although it improved half-way through, it was not as loud or clear as I expected. Nor was the atmosphere all that good, and I had found myself recalling memories of all the gigs back in the 80's I had attended at Newcastle City Hall, where you were always assured of great sound and even greater atmosphere!

So. it was with some trepidation that I booked tickets again to return to the Arena again last night. My expectations were not high this time, but I was hoping to have a half-decent night at least.

My first surprise was the support act, a band named 'Fanfarlo' who were actually very good, and the sound/ acoustics also very good. I immediately became quite excited at the prospect of how good Snow Patrol may sound.
When Fanfarlo finshed their set, (which I really enjoyed and have in fact looked them up on MySpace today) my second surprise was we werethen treated to another support band 'Animal Kingdom' who were just as good as Fanfarlo, and I also have been playing their music today from their website 'WeAreAnimalKingdom.com'. They played a great set, which included two songs I fell in love with immediately - 'Tin Man' and the excellent 'Chalk Stars'. I have a feeling these guys will be huge, I hope I am right!

When Snow Patrol finally took to the stage, I was not disappointed at all as they truly sounded fantastic! Singer Gary Lightbody has really grown in confidence these last 2 or 3 years and it showed, as he delivered faultless vocals and seemed totally at ease in front of the sell-out crowd.

Snow Patrol performed songs from their new album, such as Crack The Shutters,and If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It, as well as the old favourites, such as Chocolate, Shut Your Eyes ( where Gary involved the audience for a sing along ), You Could Be Happy, Set Fire To The 3rd Bar, and the two BIG numbers, Run and Chasing Cars, both of which had the crowd singing all the way through.
There was a lot of interaction as Gary laughed and joked with the crowd, which added to the fantastic atmosphere.

The finale was the three-part 'Lightening Strike', which was accompanied by an amazing projected light show. However, I feel for most of us the stand-out song of the night would have to be Chasing Cars.

All too soon it was over and I left the Arena very happy, my faith restored and also feeling I'd had real value for money, having seen three great bands.
I would definately go to see Snow Patrol again.

Summary: Excellent live act