Elaine Huang7,000 people showed up for the first glimpse of snow, or rather Snow Patrol, in always sunny Singapore. The concert was held at Fort Canning Park on Aug 6 as part of their Fallen Empires tour, promoting their newest eponymous album.
The 18-year-old North-Irish Scottish band (http://www.snowpatrol.com/), which has released 6 albums, made their mark with their most successful song “Chasing Cars”. Nominated as Best Rock Song in the 2007 Grammy Awards, it was played in the final episode of the second season of American television series, Grey’s Anatomy, (http://abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy/).
Though Snow Patrol might just be 18 years too late coming to Singapore to charm their fans, they were relatively on time with the concert. Starting off with “Hands Open” from their fourth album, Eyes Open, the band didn’t waste any time getting their audience excited, screaming as they jumped with, yes, their hands open.
As the speakers proceeded thumping to the tunes of “Take Back The City” from their fifth album, A Hundred Million Suns, the 5-piece alternative rock band got everyone clapping and singing with wild abandon.
“Thank you for being gentle, right at the front, you didn’t touch my bottom,” joked the charismatic Gary Lightbody, the lead guitarist, as he quipped that the crew at the photo pit had just lost a rare opportunity. Without skipping a beat, he launched into ‘New York’, a piano ballad from their latest album, which also made its way to Grey’s Anatomy. The rest of the boys weren’t wallflowers either. Lead guitarist Nathan Connolly was huddling up with Lightbody to share a microphone. Bass guitarist, Paul Wilson, seemed to be charming his fair share of audience on the right side of the stage. Not to forget the curly-haired keyboardist, Tom Simpson and the talented drummer, Jonny Quinn who were casually throwing glances at the crowd.
Snow Patrol fan Julien Ong, 26, a manager, said, “I came straight after work… I wanted to see them. It feels good to be so up close and personal even though it’s not the first row.”
The soulful ‘Run’ from the band’s third album, Final Straw, was one song UrbanWire was secretly hoping Snow Patrol would play. We weren’t disappointed as Lightbody serenaded the crowd with his distinct, sexy Irish accent. That voice could melt anyone, “Light up, light up/As if you have a choice/Even if you cannot hear my voice/I’ll be right beside you, dear.”
The LED screens behind the band magnified every single bit of passion on the musicians’ faces as they performed. It’s understandable that the boys were physically worn out; they began the Asian-leg of their tour with Asia World Arena at Hong Kong as their first stop on Aug 4.
We applaud them for wanting to give the crowd their very best.
Photo credits to Aloysius Lim / LAMC Productions.
Though this world tour was mainly to promote their newest album, Fallen Empires, which was released last November, Snow Patrol played many of their older tracks like “Chasing Cars” and “Chocolate”, getting the crowd into a state of nostalgia as the night wore on. They also performed new tracks like “Called Out in the Dark” and “Fallen Empires”.
Esther Tay, 23, an undergraduate with Nanyang Technological University, who was lingering around with her friends after the show, said, “I thought the new album was really good. It’s still Snow Patrol, you know, not like they changed their music [style] entirely.”
It sure was a hell of a concert nothing less than what was expected of Snow Patrol. The band worked at engaging the crowd, always bringing them to an even more hysterical state. We can’t wait to see snow more often…
Setlist:
Hands Open
Take Back The City
Crack The Shutters
This Isn’t Everything You Are
Run
In The End
New York
Set The Fire
Make This Go On Forever
Shut Your Eyes
Chasing Cars
Chocolate
Called Out In The Dark
Fallen Empires
Open Your Eyes
You’re All I Have
Encore:
Lifening
Just Say Yes