03.31.25 – By Danielle Linneweber

It was fitting that it snowed the day Snow Patrol arrived in town while on tour in support of their latest album, The Forest Is The Path. They brought their catalog of gorgeous ballads about heartbreak and love (but mainly heartbreak) to Palace Theatre on March 31. 

Sorcha Richardson, from Dublin, Ireland, kicked things off with a quiet set. It was the definition of “going out like a lamb” on the last Monday of March. She and bassist Ben Bix were dressed in black and practically blended into the all-black background onstage. Richardson recounted their first show here a year and a half ago. They only sold about thirty tickets and were worried the show would be a total flop. To Richardson’s surprise, the crowd enthusiastically embraced them and she said it’s one of her favorite shows that she’s ever performed. She knows how to get on the crowd’s good side with her praise of Twin Cities fans. Their set, however, didn’t necessarily blow my doors off. She stood in place and he sat for the forty minute set. The songs were pleasant enough but didn’t really grab me. It was a subdued lead-in that was perfectly fine, but I need more data and a bigger supporting band to draw a fair conclusion. 

The five members of Snow Patrol quietly took the stage with Gary Lightbody and his curly locks at the helm. Lightbody is the lead singer and only remaining original member of the band. For those who need a refresher, Snow Patrol is best known for their hit “Chasing Cars” off the Eyes Open album. That song catapulted them into the stratosphere when it made women around the world cry their eyes out during the season two finale of Grey’s Anatomy in May 2006. Let the record show that I knew the band long before that and fell in love with them from their first breakthrough album, Final Straw, which was released in 2003. Ticket stubs prove that I saw them at The Quest (RIP) in 2004 when they toured in support of that album. 

More than twenty years have passed since the band from Dundee, Scotland started to take off with hits like “Run” and “Chocolate,” but their sound has remained consistent. They released their eighth album, The Forest Is The Path, last year. The album doesn’t stray far from the band’s favorite themes of loss, love and more loss. Only Snow Patrol can make despair sound hopeful thanks to their spectacular soaring choruses. The band performed three songs from the new album, including “All,” “The Beginning” and “Talking About Hope.”

Seeing Snow Patrol perform live again reminded me that the vast majority of their songs should still be featured in movies and TV shows on the regular. Someone please get Netflix execs on the line and play “All” for them. That song will have Gen X, Y and Z all up in their feels during a climactic scene in which the protagonist wanders dark city streets questioning if he’s made the right choice in love. Case in point: The couple next to me shared a kiss during the song – even though the lyrics clearly state “This is not a love song.” I was pleasantly surprised at how many people in the crowd knew the lyrics and were singing along as if it were one of the classics. 

The largely Gen X and Elder Millennial crowd was appreciative and attentive throughout. The theatre was packed but not quite sold out. Lightbody was affable as he joked and bantered with some of the folks in the crowd early on. He clarified that the band does NOT actually like snow, despite the fact that several people at the airport recognized them and commented that they must “love this weather” when they arrived in the Twin Cities during a snow storm on Sunday. He shared that their original band name was Polarbear, but they were threatened with a lawsuit by a U.S. band of the same name and landed on Snow Patrol instead.

The band kicked things off with “Take Back the City” from 2008’s A Hundred Million Suns, followed by “Chocolate,” and “Called Out In The Dark.” The screens behind the band featured nature scenes calling back to the theme of the new album. This included psychedelic trees with swirling leaves during “The Lighting Strike” and a hike through the forest at night with sweeping visuals of starry skies during “Open Your Eyes.” Lightbody dedicated “The Beginning” to Johnny McDaid, who plays piano, guitar and keyboards. McDaid has had a rough go of it with multiple surgeries on both of his hands recently but has not missed a show. 

It was bold of the band to play “The Lighting Strike” live. It’s an epic ballad that clocks in at over sixteen minutes on the album. They performed a slightly shorter version of it on Monday, taking the crowd through an intense journey of emotional highs and lows. “Make This Go On Forever” had a similar dystopian vibe that saw Lightbody dropping to his knees and remaining there in contemplation for a bit as the song concluded. Few bands can hold an audience in rapt attention with long, plodding ballads and not kill the energy in the room – especially on a Monday night. Lightbody’s dedication to the performance, as well as the creative and sometimes manic background graphics, kept the crowd awake.

Another highlight of the show included Lightbody choosing an audience member to join the band and play guitar on “Run.” Nick from St. Paul did the city proud and looked equally pleased and bewildered to be on stage. The crowd roared with approval after the song had ended. 

Those who came to hear “Chasing Cars” were satiated near the end of the ninety minute set. The quiet, pulsing build for the first half of the song kept everyone riveted as they waited for the pounding crescendo and the chance to belt out the chorus while simultaneously being transported back to 2006. Snow Patrol are masters of the art of the slow build. 

The band rounded out the night with the gorgeously woeful “What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get” followed by the fist-pumping “Just Say Yes.” Lightbody voiced his frustration via an expletive when he couldn’t quite hit the high notes on “What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get.” This was the only thing that seemed to occasionally affect his performance. But it was no matter, really. Long-time fans of the band got what they came for; a heaping platter of achingly beautiful ballads about heartache served with a small side of pumped up pop songs that give you a tiny shred of hope for finding true love. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over here in the fetal position crying for all my lost loves while “You Could Be Happy” plays in the background.