Snow Patrol
Royal Albert Hall, London
24/11/2009

Chances are, you’ll be surprised to find out that Snow Patrol have been around for 15 years now. To celebrate this fact the band have taken over London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall for 3 nights as part of their ‘Reworked’ tour, showcasing songs from earlier in their career as well as ‘the big ones’ in a way you’ve never heard them before. They’ve borrowed Elbow’s string section for the night, as well as harps and glockenspiels and even the famed Royal Albert Hall organ makes an appearance for ‘Dark Roman Wine’.

From the off, this is clearly the Gary Lightbody show, not one other member of the band speaks while onstage, and their front man is alone with outside musicians for the most part. This could come across as egotistical, but instead it makes a cavernous venue feel strangely intimate. Surprisingly comical banter ensues between the likes of ‘Crack The Shutters Open’ and an emotional ‘Give Me Strength’ which Lightbody describes as a love song to the rest of the band. The unequivocal highlight though is the special guest performance of James Corden on ‘Set The Fire To The Third Bar’; singing a part originally written for Martha Wainwright and recently performed by Cheryl Cole. The moment Corden bounces onstage, people start to laugh expecting an affable if not comical performance, but jaws start to hit the floor as it soon becomes evident than he can actually sing despite bouncing around like a child and hugging Lightbody at every opportunity.

If any criticism were to be levelled at the band it would be for a lack of pace at times, with a set totalling 2 and ¾ hours which could have easily been trimmed. A botched proposal from an audience member aside, tonight goes off without a hitch, resulting in a triumphant evening that the band are clearly overwhelmed by.

Jen Thomas