Northern-Irish/Scottish band Snow Patrol is making their way through Europe in support of their latest record The Forest Is The Path (released in September 2024). The sold out show on Saturday February 8th starts with support act The Florentinas, a band from Northern-Ireland as well. When people are steadily coming in to the venue, the young men are the perfect opening with emotional but optimistic songs like “Sandcastles.” Later in the evening, Snow Patrol gives the band some high praise, giving the crowd bragging rights for “seeing them here first.”
Some of the fans in the front row have signs saying “get well soon, JMD.” Johnny McDaid, the pianist and guitarist, had to have surgery on his wrist not too long ago, with his hand wrapped in a bandage. Even with his predicament, he’s going from guitar to piano and back, seemingly effortlessly. The fans have been traveling across the continent, seeing multiple shows of the tour, addicted to the way their show feels. Most will know a song or two by the band, with the hits “Chasing Cars” and “Just Say Yes” coming to mind, but going through the night, you can’t help but to fall in love with the rest of their songs just as much.
The vulnerable melancholic rock is accompanied by the most beautiful effects, with the highlight already happening after a couple songs. We are treated to a visual projection in front of the band, showing a tree losing its leaves, whilst also having confetti rain down on the crowd. While it looks like autumn, it somehow feels like spring, with singer Gary Lightbody saying the confetti “looks like lazy butterflies.” The entire show is a visual performance enhancing their music perfectly.
The way Lightbody is interacting with the crowd, it almost feels like you’re not one of 17,000 people tonight, instead being completely in awe of the way the show is built. It’s pulling on all the heart strings, with the setlist going from old to new songs. The crowd’s singing the loudest during the songs from Eyes Open (2003) gives you goosebumps, while at the same time there’s something so magical in the quiet audience during the newer songs too.
The song “All” from the new record perfectly encapsulates the night with the lyrics, “It wasn’t that I wasn’t feeling anything, more like feeling everything at once.” Although the emotions don’t hit you all at once, the evening take us through the entire cycle of being a hopeless romantic. We go through heartbreak and nostalgia for what once was, leading up to the careful optimism of starting something new. Even though the night ends with us walking out in the cold night sky, we’re left with a warmth we don’t want to shake for a while.
The sold out European and UK tour of Snow Patrol continues through until February 27th, but tickets for their North American tour in March/April are still available! Find your date and tickets on their website https://snowpatrol.com/live/.
GALLERY: Snow Patrol at Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Netherlands (February 8, 2025)
