The Taking Back the Cities Tour was a concert tour by
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
/
Northern Irish
Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...
. It was launched in support of the group's 2008 album ''
A Hundred Million Suns
''A Hundred Million Suns'' is the fifth album by Scottish-Northern Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. The album was written by Snow Patrol and was produced by longtime producer Jacknife Lee, who has previously produced albums for Bloc Party ...
''. The band visited numerous arenas internationally from 2008 throughout 2009. The tour was the collective name of many smaller tours and festivals Snow Patrol played in support of their album. The tour has spanned 9 legs and had over 150 shows. The tour commenced on 26 October 2008 with the band playing a short whistle-stop tour of four capital cities.
The tour has seen the band visit continents like Europe, North America, Australia and Africa. The band has mainly toured as a headlining act, though they have also supported
Coldplay and
U2 on their respective tours. Tour dates have included a number of summer rock festivals. Often, the band's set on tour has included playing the sixteen-minute-long "
The Lightning Strike" in full, though sometimes only the first part is played. The official end date of the tour is not known, though the last scheduled concert was held at
Ward Park
Ward Park is situated in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. The 37 acre park contains 10 tennis courts, a duck pond and a selection of wildfowl housed in breeding pens.
In the park there is a large war memorial and also located nearby is ...
on 5 June 2010.
Keyboardist
Tom Simpson
Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager b ...
has said that the band has wanted to tour Asian countries like
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. They have not yet done so because they wish to give justice to UK and Ireland, as they feel they've been "neglecting them". He also said that there's a possibility of Snow Patrol touring Asia in 2010. Lead singer
Gary Lightbody has written on the band's website that they'll be returning to headline their own mini-festival at
Ward Park
Ward Park is situated in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. The 37 acre park contains 10 tennis courts, a duck pond and a selection of wildfowl housed in breeding pens.
In the park there is a large war memorial and also located nearby is ...
next year. He has also revealed that it will be one of few concerts they'll play in the UK and Ireland in 2010, as they intend not to play any festivals and only "special occasions".
The show
![Snow Patrol at Sheffield Arena 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Snow_Patrol_at_Sheffield_Arena_2009.jpg)
The lighting for the tour was done by UK lighting company HSL, which also supplied the crew. HSL previously worked with the band for their tours in 2006 & 2007.
The lighting on the tour is based on the concept of "creative synergy", which employs four visual mediums – lighting, digital lighting, video and movement. The initial ideas came from the band itself, who pitched them to Davy Sherwin, lighting & visuals director. Sherwin had previously worked with the band on their tours in 2006 & 2007.
He came up with a simple arrangement of
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
and moving lights, which he felt went well with the music of the album. A metalwork layout of five trusses running upstage/downstage was then added, referring "sun rays" from the album title. The trusses are hinged down at upstage end, so they are freely movable into the performance area. After the design was finalized, Sherwin started to program the show on an ESP Vision visualizer system. He then recorded every song onto a hard drive, and made
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...
movies of the lighting scenes. These were used by Robin Haddow (live visuals director) and
Blue Leach
Blue Leach is a video director. He is the winner of the 2009 TPI Video Director of the Year Award. He has recently directed shows for the Taking Back the Cities Tour for Snow Patrol. Other recent projects include R.E.M., directing the live album ...
(video director) to program the screen looks, colors and effects, referring to Sherwin's cues. They rehearsed the show for six days at
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...
. In live concerts, Sherwin, Haddow and Leach work together to ensure all four cues (lighting, digital lighting, video and movement) work properly. Sherwin and Haddow operate two WholeHog 3 consoles each, and Rupert Reynolds works the Kinesys system, which produces the effects. The tour is the first ever to use
Barco's digital moving lights.
;Lighting gear
* 26-point Kinesys automation system
* 8 columns of Barco O-lite video screen (13.5 ft. high)
* 4 Barco DLM 1200 digital moving lights
* 5 lighting pods
* 20 Vari*Lite 3500 Wash fixtures
* 36 Martin Professional Atomic Colours
* 34 Robe ColorWash 2500E ATs
* 28 V*L 3000 Spots
* 20 i-Pix BB4s
* 5 BB16 blinders
* 5 4-cell moles with scrollers
* 6 2-lites with "eyelids"
* 4 Robert Juliat Ivanhoe 2.5K follow spots
* 2 WholeHog 3 consoles (+1 backup)
The Snow Patrol concert on the Irish TV Series ''
Other Voices 8'' marked the first time
optical burst switching technology was used in the transmission of a live concert. Fans were provided a live high-definition streaming of the concert at the Benners Hotel, nearby the venue St. James' Church, among various other locations that were connected to a
fiber optic network. The link could also be picked up in
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
spots on
PDA
PDA may refer to:
Science and technology
* Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books
*Personal digital assistant, a mobile device
* Photodiode array, a type of detector
* Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...
s,
laptop
A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...
s and
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s. This instance was aimed to demonstrate the new technology, which was invented and developed in Ireland.
Tickets
Tickets for the Take Back the Cities Tour were initially available to only those who had signed up for the Snow Patrol mailing list on or before 2 October 2008 due to intimate nature of the four shows. Members chosen received an e-mail with a pin-code which was needed to access their tickets.
A week later, a small competition was announced for fans in the US, where fans were required to sign up to enter. For the last two tickets,
Xfm
Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...
teamed up with Snow Patrol. The winners were chosen via a lucky draw. Winners, and a friend travelled with the band on their private plane and got to attend all four shows. They were provided with a video camera to capture the events. The captured footage was later put up exclusively on the band's
MySpace. The prize included round-trip airfare to and from the US, transportation and tickets to all four shows. The tickets were priced at £22.50 each. The Xfm tickets were bagged by Michael Green and his girlfriend Etly. Michael later wrote a review for Xfm describing his experience. Ticket holders also received artwork at the concert, and instructions on how to download highlights of the shows, which were made available the next day of the concerts.
Tickets for the UK & Ireland Arena Tour initially went on pre-sale exclusively from the official website from 31 October, 9 am until 1 November midnight. Tickets for general sale started from 7 November, 9 am. The tickets were priced £30 and £32.50 and a booking fee of £3.00/£3.25 was charged. Tickets could be obtained through services like
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Entert ...
and Trinity St. Direct for UK & Ireland customers. Three pairs of tickets for the show at
SECC in Glasgow on 24 February were given away in a last minute competition on the band's website. In mid-February, Trinity St. Direct ceased trading. Tickets for the shows had not yet fully dispatched. In an official statement, however, the company stated that they would ensure delivery of all outstanding orders.
On the Australian Promo Tour, Snow Patrol's promoter Frontier Touring Co. employed a strict ticketing policy because of the shortage of tickets for the one-off show at the 1,350 capacity
Metro Theatre.
General sale tickets were available through phone, website, or the venue box office one day before the event (18 November) from 9 am and could only be purchased with a
credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
.
One card holder could only buy two tickets, and the system was designed such that it'd reject attempts of subsequent bookings that bore the same e-mail, phone number or address. The buyer received a confirmation number at the time of booking and not the physical ticket itself. There were other ways of obtaining tickets too. Snow Patrol's official website held a small competition for members where ten pairs of tickets were up for grabs.
Universal Music Australia also ran a competition for fans where they had to buy the album or the single "
Take Back the City" from
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
or
JB Hi-Fi and write in telling a reason why they needed to see the band. Winners received tickets for front row and centre. On 19 November, 12 pm (the day of the concert), wristbands were made available at the venue. To obtain the bands, a photo ID, the credit card used for purchase and the confirmation number were required. The ticket purchaser and a friend had to arrive together with all proof to be wristbanded. As the show was for people in the 18+ year old bracket, a photo ID was necessary to ensure the attendee was old enough. The tickets were priced at $66
and were non-exchangeable nor transferable.
Anyone with a tampered wristband was refused entry.
The Australian V Festival tickets went on pre-sale for 24 hours, from 19 November, 9 am. Pre-sale for Snow Patrol's official website members began on 25 November, 9 am
EST. General tickets went on sale from 28 November, 9am. Tickets for the side-shows went on pre-sale exclusively for official website members from 20 February, noon. General sale began from 23 February, 9 am EST. Tickets for the free ShockHound concerts on the US Tour were available exclusive through their website from 21 November, 10 am,
PST. Members of Snow Patrol's official website also had the chance to grab the final 20 tickets for each of the shows by answering a question on the website.
Tickets for the Oxegen Festival initially went on pre-sale exclusively for Oxegen.ie members from 25 February 2009. General sale began from 6 March. The tickets for T in the Park went for general sale from 27 February. They could officially be obtained through phone or from Ticketmaster. The tickets were priced at £72.50. Tickets for the UK V Festival went for sale from 6 March, 10 am. Tickets for the iTunes Festival were not available for general sale. Tickets could only be won by entering a competition, which could be found on iTunes'
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page. The official website later held a competition as a "final chance" for fans to win tickets to the event. Tickets for the show at The Rockhal were priced at €35 each (standing). Tickets for the BBC
Children in Need concert could only be won by a ballot. Interested fans were required to register on the Children in Need website, between 16 October 2009, 7 am (
BST and 20 October 2009, 12 pm (BST). The people whose names came up were notified by e-mail, and were allotted a maximum of two tickets, each priced between £50–£100.
Since it was a charity concert, all profits from sales of tickets and recordings went towards the organization. For the
Versus Cancer
Versus Cancer was an annual concert, reportedly then the largest annual charity concert in the United Kingdom. It raised money predominantly for Cancer Hospital Christie Hospital in Manchester to assist research for effective alternative treatmen ...
concert, tickets were priced at £32.50 and were available from Ticketmaster, See Tickets and Ticketline. Proceeds from the concert went to local charities in Manchester, with the
Christie Hospital
The Christie Hospital in Manchester, England, is one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe. It is managed by The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital was established by a committee under the chairmanship of Richard Ch ...
being one of beneficiaries.
![Snow Patrol Germany Concert Ticket](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Snow_Patrol_Germany_Concert_Ticket.jpg)
Tickets for the European leg of the tour went up for sale from 25 February. They could be obtained from online outlets like Ticketmaster, Oeticket and Eventim.
Additional European shows were announced later. Tickets for the Denmark and Switzerland show went up for sale from 6 March, and those for the France show from 9 March. The prices ranged from €29 to €41.25, depending on the venue.
Tickets for the shows that will see Snow Patrol support Coldplay were released between 14, 21 and 23 March. Tickets were priced between $35.00 to $97.50. For the shows supporting U2, field level tickets were priced at $55, and approximately 10,000 tickets per show costed $30. The price points were $30, $55, and depending on the market, $90–95 and $250. Tickets for the sideshow could only be won through a competition organized by
BNN. Though 15 pairs of tickets were initially announced as prizes, 48 winners were announced, who were notified through e-mail.
Tickets for the North American tour initially went on pre-sale, exclusively for members of the official website. Tickets for all dates went on general sale on 27 June, except for the dates in Washington, which went on 10 July, and Kansas City, on 11 July.
Tickets for the Nashville show, which was announced earlier, went on pre-sale on 12 June. General sale began the next day, on 13 June and tickets could be purchased through Ticketmaster. Before the tour began the Myth Nightclub closed. The band issued a statement instructing ticket holders to obtain their new tickets from the new venue's (State Theatre) box-office. These tickets went out on 27 August 2009 at 10 am and were exchanged on a first come, first served basis.
Tickets for the concert in Seattle were priced at $32 (advance) and $35 (day of show). They could also be bought online or by phone. Tickets for the last concert of the North American Tour, held at The Wiltern LG were priced in the range of $35–$45. For the intimate concert at the Houndstooth Pub, the radio station gave away two passes for the show. Participants had to answer a trivia question to be eligible to win. KINK FM (of Portland) held a competition for members to win tickets for the live performance, that ended on 10 October.
KNRK radio station of Portland also held a competition where listeners had to answer to a question, and the winner would be sent backstage at Snow Patrol's concert at The Schnitz on 13 October 2009.
Tickets for the Reworked Winter Tour went on pre-sale on 19 August 2009 at 9 am. General sale began at 9 am on 27 August.
and tickets could be purchased from Gigsandtours (English dates), Ticketmaster (Irish and Scottish dates). Each purchased ticket will contain a code that will enable the buyer to access a free live download of "
The Lightning Strike",
recorded during the band's UK & Ireland Arena Tour of February–March 2009. 2,000 seated tickets for the Castlebar concert sold out fast, all in 39 minutes, which is a record for the venue. Tickets were priced at £37, £47 and £57. Tickets for the other shows were priced in the range of €51.80–€62.50.
Additional tickets for various shows were later released.
On 16 October 2009, a competition called the "Up to Now Pub Quiz" was launched on
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
. Fans were required to create teams of five, and were posed with ten questions, related to the band's entire career, each week. The team with the most correct answers at the end will fly to London to see one of the concerts at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
, with a certain part of travel cost paid. The team will be allotted their own private box at the venue, and will get a chance to meet the band afterward. Along the same lines, a Swiss radio station 20 Minuten hosted a similar competition for listeners. They had a pair of tickets for the concert for the Royal Albert Hall concert of 24 November to give away. All flight and hotel accommodation costs were paid for by the radio station. UK radio station
Xfm
Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...
organized a competition called "Xfm's Snow Patrol Bad
Photoshop Challenge", with ten pairs of tickets were up to win. These tickets would enable fans to see the band rehearse in a yet-unnamed location in
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
at the eve of the Reworked Tour. The challenge was to associate five
photoshopped
Photograph manipulation involves the transformation or alteration of a photograph using various methods and techniques to achieve desired results. Some photograph manipulations are considered to be skillful artwork, while others are conside ...
pictures with Snow Patrol song titles. The competition will end on 10 November 2009. A further fifteen pairs of tickets will be given away on air. Tickets for the intimate acoustic show in London for the promotion of ''Up to Now'' could only be obtained via two competitions, one organized on
Play.com
Rakuten.co.uk is a website owned by Rakuten, that operates as an online marketplace. The website does not sell any products directly, but instead allows third party sellers to sell their products. The website replaced Play.com, which was origin ...
and the other on the band's official website. Both involved answering a simple question.
For the HMV singing and performance, wristbands were available from 9 am on 3 December 2009. One band was assigned to one person, however, it was not necessary to have one to see the band perform. The bands were required only to gain access to the signing.
Tickets for the mini-festival at Ward Park will go on pre-sale on 9 December 2009, and on general sale on the 11th, priced at £44.
As a headlining act
Take Back the Cities Tour
Snow Patrol played a short two-day concert tour two days before the release of their album, the tour being named after the single "Take Back the City". The band played in four capital cities in a 48-hour period.
The band shuttled between the four cities in a twin propeller private jet. Dubbed the "Patrol Plane", it was used to accompany the band, the crew and competition winners to the four shows. The band also asked local schools, and got kids to draw pictures on the theme of the album title, which was displayed in the entrance lobbies of the chosen venues.
The band's homecoming show in Belfast saw the frontman Gary Lightbody's family attending. He admitted being nervous before the show. During the show, he dedicated "The Golden Floor" to his 15-month-old niece Honey. Following the concert, the band signed copies of the album at HMV Donegall Arcade. The next show in Edinburgh saw a pleased
Paul Wilson return to his home country, Scotland. On the way to the final show in London, Wilson mentioned "Crack the Shutters" as the next single from the album. The band shot the music video a couple of days later.
;Typical set list
# "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It"
# "Chocolate"
# "Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands"
# "Chasing Cars"
# "On/Off"
# "The Golden Floor"
# "Shut Your Eyes"
# "Crack the Shutters"
# "Open Your Eyes"
# "Take Back the City"
# "Run"
# "What If This Storm Ends?"
;Tour dates
Australian Tour
Snow Patrol undertook a small promo tour of Australia in November 2008 to celebrate the album reaching #6 on the Australian charts and getting certified Gold. The tour included a one-off show in Sydney
and two television appearances. This included an intimate concert for a crowd of 300 for
Max Music TV. Dubbed the "MAX Sessions", the concert was held at the
Hordern Pavilion
Hordern Pavilion is a building located in Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the grounds of the old Sydney Showground. "The Hordern", as it is affectionally known by Sydneysiders, has been an architecturally and socially signif ...
, which was transformed into a makeshift studio for the night. The performance aired on MAX on 7 December at 7 pm as "MAX Sessions: Snow Patrol" and was interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews the band as they prepared for the show.
;Tour dates
US Tour
Snow Patrol visited the United States in December to play four
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
radio shows
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio networ ...
and three free shows sponsored by
ShockHound.com. They were joined by
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...
for a couple of shows.
They played a last show for KROQ's Acoustic Christmas concert. At the
Bowery Ballroom concert, the band invited a brother-sister duo they had found on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
to sing "
Set the Fire to the Third Bar
"Set the Fire to the Third Bar" is a song from Snow Patrol's fourth album, '' Eyes Open'', featuring Martha Wainwright on vocals. The song was released as a single on 13 November 2006.
Background
The song was the last track to be recorded ...
".
;Typical set list
# "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It"
# "Chocolate"
# "Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands"
# "How to Be Dead"
# "Run"
# "Set the Fire to the Third Bar"
# "The Golden Floor"
# "Shut Your Eyes"
# "Chasing Cars"
# "Make this Go on Forever"
# "Crack the Shutters"
# "Take Back the City"
;Encore
;Tour dates
UK & Ireland Arena Tour
![Snow Patrol in Frankfurt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Snow_Patrol_in_Frankfurt.jpg)
Ahead of the Snow Patrol's UK & Ireland Arena Tour, the band played a one-off intimate show at the
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
on
Regent Street
Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...
, London on Friday 13 February. The performance was released as a live
EP called ''
iTunes Live from London'' on the iTunes Store a week later.
Snow Patrol kicked off their UK & Ireland Arena Tour on 22 February 2009 at the Bournemouth International Centre in
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
. The tour lasted one month and featured a number of support acts. The band's website reported that the band had hand-picked their favorite new artists to support them on the tour. Longtime friend of the band Miriam Kaufmann toured with the band and sang lead female vocals on "Set the Fire to the Third Bar", which originally featured
Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums.
Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III a ...
. On 9 March, Gary Lightbody & Nathan Connolly appeared as guests in Iain Archer's set at the
Ulster Hall, Belfast, which was hosting "Do You Remember the First Time?" a one-off event by
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Across The Line. Lightbody wrote a blog about the other artists that appeared at the event later. The last show of the tour had the band's friends & family and the Northern Irish Football squad in the 9,000 strong audience. The band played to an estimated 200,000 fans on the tour, which is their biggest to date.
The tour constantly featured the sixteen-minute-long "
The Lightning Strike" as an encore. For the performance, a high definition sixteen-minute animation was played on a 60×40 ft projection screen as visual, as the band performed the song. The animation featured origami in the style that appeared on the album artwork for ''A Hundred Million Suns''. The film was created by Undabo Studios and Atticus Finch and took three months to make.
;Typical set list
# "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It"
# "Chocolate"
# "Hands Open"
# "Spitting Games"
# "How to Be Dead"
# "The Golden Floor"
# "You Could Be Happy"
# "Run"
# "Make this Go on Forever"
# "Shut Your Eyes"
# "Chasing Cars"
# "Set the Fire to the Third Bar"
# "Crack the Shutters"
# "Take Back the City"
# "Open Your Eyes"
;Encore:
;Tour dates
European Tour
Snow Patrol kicked off the European leg of the tour on 18 June. This leg of the tour saw the band visit Sweden, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland & France. Various artists supported the band throughout the tour. It was later announced that the show in Hamburg had been cancelled due to "personal reasons". The show was rescheduled to 29 July, which was a part of the Open R Festival. The show at Stuttgart's
Porsche Arena
Porsche-Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located in Stuttgart, Germany. The seating capacity of the arena varies, from 5,100 to 8,000 people and it was opened in 2006, after 14 months of construction. The arena is part of a sport complex located in ...
was shifted to a new venue. "The Lightning Strike" made an appearance again in the German and Austrian shows, though it was not played in Sweden.
Typical set list
# "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It"
# "Chocolate"
# "Hands Open"
# "How to Be Dead"
# "The Golden Floor"
# "You Could Be Happy"
# "An Olive Grove Facing the Sea"
# "Run"
# "Somewhere a Clock is Ticking"
# "Make this Go on Forever"
# "Shut Your Eyes"
# "Chasing Cars"
# "Crack the Shutters"
# "Take Back the City"
# "Open Your Eyes"
;Encore:
;Tour dates
North American tour
Snow Patrol returned to the United States and Canada in September–October to play a full-length tour. The shows coincided with shows that saw Snow Patrol support U2 at the
360° Tour
36 may refer to:
* 36 (number), the natural number following 35 and preceding 37
* One of these years of Gregorian or Julian calendars:
** 36 BC, 1st century BCE
** AD 36, 1st century
** 1936, 20th century
** 2036, 21st century
Arts and entertain ...
. The tour commenced 10 September and finished 20 October and spanned 22 dates across various locations. Following the positive response following the shows at Nashville (during supporting Coldplay on the Viva la Vida Tour), the tour also saw the band return to the city for a headlining show. American rock band
Plain White T's
Plain White T's are an American Rock music, rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground music, ...
supported the band on all dates. The band also appeared on the
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
on 24 September 2009 to perform during the tour. In Portland, Lightbody took a walk in the city and visited
Powell's Books
Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores in Portland, Oregon, and its surrounding metropolitan area. Powell's headquarters, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. Powell's City of ...
, which he described as "his favorite bookshop in the world".
He picked up a couple of copies of his favorite book, ''Grab Onto Me Tightly as if I Knew the Way'' by Bryan Charles, among others for friends
Lightbody later wrote a blog for the official website describing his Portland experience, and also revealed plans of side-projects
Listen... Tanks! and
Tired Pony
Tired Pony was an indie folk supergroup consisting of Gary Lightbody, Richard Colburn, Iain Archer, Jacknife Lee, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Troy Stewart. Lightbody formed the group out of his appreciation for country music, and has during t ...
.
;Typical set list
# "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It"
# "Chocolate"
# "Hands Open"
# "How to Be Dead"
# "The Golden Floor"
# "The Finish Line"
# "Make this Go on Forever"
# "Run"
# "Shut Your Eyes"
# "Chasing Cars"
# "Crack the Shutters"
# "Take Back the City"
# "Open Your Eyes"
;Encore:
;Tour dates
;Notes
* † Concert was initially held at the Myth Nightclub, but the venue was changed as the club closed down.
* ¶ Concert was initially held at The Wiltern LG, but was moved to the Henry Fonda Theatre.
;Sideshows
![Snow Patrol at Houndstooth Pub on 23 September 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Snow_Patrol_at_Houndstooth_Pub_on_23_September_2009.jpg)
Snow Patrol played a few side-shows for various radio stations on the North American leg of the tour. These included an acoustic set for
Cities 97, on the first day of the tour before the show at the State Theater. The band was next showcased on
WRNR-FM
WRNR-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Grasonville, Maryland, broadcasting mainly to the Annapolis / Anne Arundel County area and the Eastern Shore of Maryland on 103.1 FM. WRNR-FM airs an adult album alternative music format.
WRNR-F ...
, and Lightbody and Connolly played an acoustic set as a part of 'Rams Head on Stage'. The same day, they played a three-song acoustic in-studio performance for
WRFF. The band later played a set at the Houndstooth Pub, which they partly own, for the radio station
WRXP. In Atlanta, the band played an acoustic intimate show for
Dave FM. In October 2009, Lightbody played an acoustic set for KINK FM.
In Seattle, Lightbody again did a set for
KMTT, performing obscure songs like "Reading Heaney to Me" and "Fifteen Minutes Old". In Oakland, they played an acoustic promo set for
KFOG. In Toronto, they did a set at Studio Q for
CBC.
;Tour dates
Reworked Tour
![Snow Patrol at Royal Albert Hall on 24 November 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Snow_Patrol_at_Royal_Albert_Hall_on_24_November_2009.jpg)
Snow Patrol played a special tour at the end of 2009, dubbed the "Reworked Tour". Drummer Jonny Quinn had initially revealed plans for such a tour in an interview before. Members on the Snow Patrol mailing list initially received an e-mail revealing details of the tour, which said that the band will be playing re-worked versions of songs spanning their whole career, as well as songs from
The Reindeer Section
The Reindeer Section are a Scottish indie rock supergroup formed in 2001 by Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, which released albums and gigged in 2001 and 2002.
Lightbody describes the band's sound as "pretty much all very slow, quiet, folky-ty ...
.
Lightbody has credited the idea of the tour from
Jo Whiley's
Little Noise Sessions {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
The Little Noise Sessions was a series of acoustic charity concerts held annually at the Union Chapel, and at St. John at Hackney from 2011 in November, although one was held in Exeter in December 2009. The procee ...
(Snow Patrol did one in 2007) saying there's a "never before heard them" vibe to it.
The band used strings, brass sections, and choirs to rework their songs. Nathan Connolly warned fans to not expect to hear the hits as they were. The band visited a south London studio to rehearse the reworked songs,
where they experimented with styles as
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
,
motown
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
and
heavy metal.
The band said that the reworking of the songs is not because they're inferior. They hoped that trying something new may bring them more credibility, and made it clear it was not something to "look cool". They also felt that they had done plenty of "typical" concerts, and wanted to put in more effort to give the fans more value for their money.
The tour began in mid-November and continued till early December. Snow Patrol played without any support act, so as to play the maximum number of songs possible. They took the stage twice, the whole show being divided in two-halves with an interval in between.
The first half spanned about 40 minutes and featured softer, older material. The "louder" songs began from about halfway in the second half.
The band was accompanied by guests on-stage. Though 18–20 musicians were initially reported,
11 accompanied the band for various songs in each half.
These musical guests included former songwriting-collaborator
Iain Archer
Iain Archer is a writer, producer and solo artist from Bangor, Northern Ireland. He is a two-time Ivor Novello Award winner, winning the 2004 Album Award – ''Final Straw'' by Snow Patrol and Most Performed Work in 2016 for Grammy nominated ...
. Archer played a variety of instruments, such as the
lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...
,
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
and the
twelve-string guitar
A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...
. Other guests included members of
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...
,
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared ...
and
Idlewild,
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
ist Jennifer Crook (on vocals and harp) and longtime friend
Johnny McDaid.
At the Royal Albert Hall concert on 24 November, Snow Patrol brought in actor
James Corden
James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey''. In the Un ...
to sing the female vocal parts on "Set the Fire to the Third Bar". Lightbody had previously been impressed by the actor's vocal ability, seeing him singing at a Concert for CARE charity show. At the after-party of the
Children in Need concert, a drunk Lightbody asked him if he would be interested to sing with the band on-stage. Corden initially thought Lightbody would not remember, and agreed to the invitation. Lightbody, in his blog on the official website wrote that he was very nervous on stage at the first concert in Brighton. He said that he was feeling so for much longer than the time, when the band had started playing their earliest gigs.
The band arranged "Chocolate" and "Chasing Cars" as
Nashville ballads.
Lightbody was delighted with the new arrangement for the latter, and revealed that "Set the Fire to the Third Bar" was set to go through many arrangements during the tour. The band tried to vary the set lists for each show, definitely so where they played multiple nights.
;Tour dates
Festivals
The band headed to South Africa after their Australian Promo Tour to headline the Coca-Cola Zero Festival. The band played two shows, and then returned to Europe to kick start the European leg of the tour. Apart from playing at the festival, the band also appeared at the
IPL
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
opening ceremony to play a short set. Snow Patrol headlined
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Radio 1's Big Weekend at
Lydiard Park,
Swindon
Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
on 9 May and 10.
Gary Lightbody and Nathan Connolly personally joined
Chris Moyles on his
radio show
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio networ ...
to announce details of the event. The band was the main headlining act on the 9th.
In June, Snow Patrol headlined the
Pinkpop Festival
The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. ...
, among others. The band played their set on the main stage on the last day, after which they joined
Coldplay as a support act on their
Viva la Vida Tour. The band further played at the
Donauinselfest in the end of June.
Snow Patrol was one of the acts at the iTunes Festival, which was held throughout July. The band played on 5 July, and was the co-headlining act for the day. The performance was released as a digital EP on the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
as ''
iTunes Live: London Festival '09''. The band later co-headlined
Oxegen 2009
Oxegen 2009 was the sixth Oxegen festival to take place since 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 10 July, Saturday, 11 July and Sunday, 12 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland. Kings of Leon, Snow Patro ...
in July along with newly re-formed
Blur. The band joined Blur again to co-headline the
T in the Park, just two days after the Oxegen Festival. The band returned to Germany to headline the Sonnenrot Festival. The show, though had to be cancelled due to torrential rains. The band followed with
Rockhal
The Rockhal is a concert hall in Esch-sur-Alzette, in southern Luxembourg. It opened on 23 September 2005, has a maximum capacity of 6,500 people and is sited on the former industrial site of Belval, Luxembourg, Belval in the west of Esch-sur-Alz ...
, T-Mobile Street Gig, Stimmen Festival and Open R Festival. In August, the band will play at the
Sziget Festival, and the
Pukkelpop
Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium, in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the ...
Festival. After the band's concert at the Street Gig in Dettenheim, lead singer Gary Lightbody broke a rib in a
go-karting accident. Lightbody was livid with himself: "I had my very best idiot trousers on in Germany at the Street gig and we did a go-kart track in Dettenheim. I did say beforehand that I shouldn't go on them as firstly I shouldn't be in charge of anything that can go over 20 miles an hour and secondly I am the most accident-prone idiot in the western world. Did I heed my own advice? Did I fuck! So on I went and crash after crash later; finishing on a particularly nasty one that put took me to hospital where I discovered I have a broken rib. Sweet." He made a full recovery and resumed touring in a few days. Months later, in October 2009, Lightbody revealed the "truth" behind his crash, admitting that he cannot drive. He went on the explain the exact details of what had happened: "At the very last corner, I skidded to miss Jonny (Quinn) and I smashed into the side of the wall and actually came out of the go-kart. It was hilarious - for everyone who was watching. Everyone thought it was just me being me, 'Ah...leave him, he's fine.' But, an hour later, I was in hospital. It was good actually having a real injury rather than all the ones I make up in my head." He also admitted his bandmates did not believe he was actually hurt, as he was a "drama queen".
The band was initially booked as a support act to
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
at the UK
V Festival, playing the "Weston Saturday/Hylands Sunday" stage, However, Oasis frontman
Liam Gallagher became ill with viral
laryngitis
Laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx (voice box). Symptoms often include a hoarse voice and may include fever, cough, pain in the front of the neck, and trouble swallowing. Typically, these last under two weeks.
Laryngitis is categorised ...
, and Oasis pulled out. Snow Patrol then filled in the headlining spot and played an extended set. The band's set was available to listen live and uninterrupted through
Absolute Radio
Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW.
History
1993–1997: Virg ...
's LiveAmp application for the
iPhone. In November 2009, they played at the
Avo Session Basel
Baloise Session (previously known as the Rheinknie Session and AVO SESSION Basel) is an indoor music festival, which takes place every October/November in Basel, Switzerland. The festival features international as well as national artists of dive ...
.
Sandi Thom and
Emilíana Torrini
Emilíana Torrini (born 16 May 1977) is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2009 single "Jungle Drum", her 1999 album '' Love in the Time of Science'', and her performance of " Gollum's Song" for the 2002 film '' The Lo ...
supported them at the concert.
;Tour Dates
As a support act
Supporting Coldplay
Coldplay asked Snow Patrol to open for them on the
Viva la Vida Tour.
They accepted, and supported the band on the June leg of the North American arena tour, which started in Indianapolis on 5 June 2009. Snow Patrol was a support act for a total of eleven dates. The band were well received, and even had a few-singalongs, Lightbody noted.
;Typical set list
# "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It"
# "Chocolate"
# "Hands Open"
# "Run"
# "Shut Your Eyes"
# "Chasing Cars"
# "Crack the Shutters"
# "Open Your Eyes"
# "You're All I Have"
;Tour dates
;Side shows
Snow Patrol played an intimate acoustic set and held a signing session at Grimey's Record Store, Nashville, ahead of their appearance at the Sommet Center, supporting Coldplay. They did another in-store when the tour reached Omaha.
;Tour dates
Supporting U2
Snow Patrol supported
U2 over two legs on a handful of shows on their European and North American legs of the
360° Tour
36 may refer to:
* 36 (number), the natural number following 35 and preceding 37
* One of these years of Gregorian or Julian calendars:
** 36 BC, 1st century BCE
** AD 36, 1st century
** 1936, 20th century
** 2036, 21st century
Arts and entertain ...
.
The second leg of shows from 12 September coincided with Snow Patrol's own headlining North American Tour. During the first leg of supporting shows, the band played a concert in Poland. Lightbody was overwhelmed by the show U2 put up, and broke down crying, only to find everyone else around him was doing the same. He later wrote a piece for U2's official website, describing his experience of the show, saying that it was one of the best nights of his life and the best reception they had gotten on the support shows.
;Typical set list
# "Take Back the City"
# "Crack the Shutters"
# "Open Your Eyes"
# "Run"
# "Spitting Games"
# "Chocolate"
# "Chasing Cars"
# "Hands Open"
# "You're All I Have"
;Tour dates
;Side shows
To promote the release of "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It" in the Netherlands, Snow Patrol played an intimate show at Desmet Studios
after supporting U2 on the second night at the Amsterdam ArenA.
The show was a part of
BNN's That's Live.
The concert was broadcast on 5 November 2009 at 23:35 on a program called "BNN presents Snow Patrol". The broadcast will also be available on thatslive.bnn.nl. When the U2 tour reached Chicago, the band played a set at the Abbey Pub (Studio X) for
WXRT-FM.
;Tour dates
Festivals
A mere 5 days after the UK & Ireland Arena Tour ended in March 2009, the band headed to Australia to play on the second stage of the
V Festival, headed by
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingd ...
. In July 2009, Snow Patrol played at the Open Air Gampel Festival, supporting headliner
Lily Allen.
;Tour dates
;Side shows
During the V festival in March 2009, Snow Patrol played an additional 3 sideshows. Ex-
Rilo Kiley frontwoman
Jenny Lewis supported them on these shows.
;Tour dates
One-off shows
As promotion for the then unreleased album, in September 2008, Snow Patrol played an intimate acoustic set, a part of
Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...
Tour 2008. Host
Jo Whiley joined the band in their London residence to cover the session. Just before heading to Australia in November 2008 to do a short promo tour, Snow Patrol visited Berlin (where a part of the album was recorded) to play an exclusive one-off show. The band also played a
Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...
performance at
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
's
Maida Vale Studios during the studio's 75-year celebrations on BBC presenter
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', ...
's show. The band's set included cover versions of most famous songs that were recorded in the studio over the years: "
Teenage Kicks
"Teenage Kicks" is the debut single by Northern Irish punk rock band the Undertones. Written in the summer of 1977 by the band's principal songwriter, the song was recorded on 15 June 1978 and initially released that September on independent Be ...
", "
New Sensation
"New Sensation" is a song by Australian rock group INXS. It was the third single released from their 1987 album, ''Kick''. The music was composed by Andrew Farriss and the lyrics were written by Michael Hutchence. The song reached 3 on the US ...
", "
Ray of Light" and "
You Really Got Me".
Three of those were recorded and later broadcast on
Greg James
Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...
' show on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
. Lightbody felt "honoured" to be playing at the studio, which has seen performances from artists like
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
and
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
in the past.
For the promotion of ''
Up to Now
''Up to Now'' is the first compilation album by alternative rock band Snow Patrol. The album features tracks spanning Snow Patrol's fifteen-year music career, including tracks from The Reindeer Section, a side-project/ supergroup involving musi ...
'', the band played an intimate, acoustic show in
Crouch End
Crouch End is an area of North London, approximately from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described by the BBC as one of "a new breed of urban villag ...
, London.
On 3 December, Lightbody played at HMV Dundrum before signing copies of ''Up to Now'' with the band (with the exception of Connolly, who was ill).
The band also played a set with full orchestra for Irish TV series ''
Other Voices 8''. Lightbody has announced that the band will return to play their mini-festival at Ward Park in 2010.
It will be the first time the band returns to their hometown since the last Ward park concert in 2007.
;Tour dates
Charity events
Snow Patrol played at the Music Industry Trusts' Award 2008, held to honor Lucian Grainge,
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
. They opened the show by playing "Chasing Cars", standing in for singer
Duffy Duffy may refer to:
People
*Duffy (surname), people with the surname Duffy or Duffey
*Duffy (nickname)
*Duffy (singer) (born 1984), Welsh singer, born Aimee Ann Duffy
Places
*Duffy, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Duffy, Ohio ...
, who was struggling with throat problems. All proceeds from the event, a record breaking sum of £568,593 went to two charities: the
Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and the
BRIT School. In October 2009, Snow Patrol played at a headlining set at the second annual fundraiser for ONEXONE, a charitable organization committed to fighting health issues and preserving the lives of children globally. The band played at
Children in Need, a BBC charity concert, organized by
Take That singer
Gary Barlow in November 2009.
Following the event's tradition of every artist duet-ting with another, Barlow had asked the band if they were interested in duet-ting with British singer
Cheryl Cole. Quinn later said that it was not something the band would normally do, but agreed to, because it was for charity. Cole rehearsed with the band one night before the show and sang Martha Wainwright's vocal parts on "Set the Fire to the Third Bar". Additionally, the band played "Chasing Cars" backed by the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works.
The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
.
In December 2009, the band will play at the fourth edition of
Versus Cancer
Versus Cancer was an annual concert, reportedly then the largest annual charity concert in the United Kingdom. It raised money predominantly for Cancer Hospital Christie Hospital in Manchester to assist research for effective alternative treatmen ...
, an annual one-off concert to raise funds for the treatment of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. Snow Patrol will again collaborate with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra on 12 December, with proceeds going towards local cancer charities.
Lightbody expressed his happiness on being involved: "Versus Cancer is a fantastic charity and we're delighted to be involved." The concert will be organized by
Andy Rourke, past member of
The Smiths.
Awards
Lighting & visuals director Davy Sherwin has won one award for his work on the tour.
Box office score
References
External links
Snow Patrol official websiteTour photos of Snow PatrolBuy tour merchandiseUpcoming tour dates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taking Back The Cities Tour
2008 concert tours
2009 concert tours
Snow Patrol concert tours