Snow Patrol @ Pechanga, May 11, 2012

The other day I told a friend I was going to see Snow Patrol in concert and he was like, "On purpose? Is that like, your guilty pleasure?" I didn't really understand, Snow Patrol has never been I've been embarrassed to like, (though the time I saw them wasted on my birthday and cried through most of the show was probably pretty embarrassing). Or maybe I'm just old enough now that "guilty pleasures" have merely become "pleasures" and I don't really care if everyone else doesn't like what I love.  Anyway, Jeff bought tickets for this show a while ago (and they were RIDICULOUSLY expensive, so I can't blame most people I know who are fans for skipping their nearest stop to San Diego). The show was fantastic and I was kinda in between just wanting to film it for the audio and then realizing that my camera was no worse than the 100 iPhones that recorded the show, and eventually I realized security wasn't stopping anyone with cameras, so the videos actually get better as the show moves along, but my camera was sitting on my purse which was on my lap and honestly I was trying not to pay too much attention to what I was shooting, so the visuals on these are pretty terrible with my frame drifting to the ceiling more often than not, but this is the entire concert in case you wanna check it out.

In the end, there's nothing more to life is there?

Setlist:
Hands Open
Take Back The City
Crack The Shutters
This Isn't Everything You Are
Run
In The End
New York (with Ed Sheeran)
Set Fire To The Third Bar
Dark Roman Wine
Make This Go On Forever
Shut Your Eyes
Chasing Cars
Final Straw
Called Out In The Dark
Fallen Empires
Open Your Eyes

Encore:
This Is All I Ever Wanted From Life (acoustic)
Just Say Yes

Sophie's Lounge with Snow Patrol, 11.29. 2011

I pressed the snooze button (or so I thought) and woke up two hours later to realize I almost missed Snow Patrol. Radio Sophie was hosting Sophie's Lounge with lunch at West Coast Tavern and an acoustic performance by half of Snow Patrol in the Birch North Park Theatre. Don't you love the era we live in? I mean, I got home about an hour and a half ago and already have the videos for you to watch. One day, that's going to seem like forever, like early fax machines, but for now, I'll take it.

The band is doing a small radio-station only promotional tour for Fallen Empires, their newest record that will be released stateside on January 10, 2012. The record is fantastic (available in the UK and thus all over the interwebs), and you can pre-order it now. The band will start touring mostly the UK and Germany in January and February and should be in the U.S. sometime in March/April.

As a promotional event, the band was only going to play three songs from the new record, but instead played a couple older songs, too. I really wanted to hear "Chocolate" but I think that predates most radio airplay. All of the videos are below in a playlist and will play in order of the performance.

1. Called Out In The Dark
2. This Isn't Everything You Are
3. Lifening
4. Just Say Yes
5. Chasing Cars



Thanks again to everyone for this, especially David at West Coast Tavern and Mookie at Radio Sophie. This one was beyond words for me.

Snow Patrol, SDSU Open Air Theatre, 10.17.09

To say Saturday was a very interesting day/night is an understatement. I didn't plan on staying up all night Friday, but by the time I got home from the Casbah and was settling in to some late night TV, I saw people tweeting about English Premier League Soccer on tv and decided to catch the fun while my videos from Friday were uploading. At that point I should've gone to sleep, but instead Devin came over and we kept watching soccer, listening to music, and catching up. Around 1 pm, when he realized my eyes wouldn't stay open, he sent me to my room and left. I was out for the next 6 hours. When I awoke, I discovered that I'd missed my ride and a pre-show dinner offer with Jeff, and that there was concern about my whereabouts. Anyway, I quickly got ready, called Taxi Rob, and arrived to Open Air Theatre with 10 minutes to spare before Snow Patrol started.

I kinda feel like Snow Patrol is one of those bands you have to apologize for liking. Somehow being on Gray's Anatomy does that to a band, they get relegated to the guilty pleasure corner and nobody wants to admit to liking them. But then I see them, know every song, have emotional epiphanies, and realize I've seen them every time they've played in San Diego and just have to come out of the proverbial closet. I love this band.



This is a fairly long post. Click 'keep on reading' for videos, setlist, and how I almost got in a fight.


Jeff bought great seats to the show, about 4 rows back from the orchestra area so that we were perfect eye level with the stage. OAT was about 2/3 capacity and the crowd was really mellow. Except for the assholes in front of and to the side of us. This was where the night got weird. I'm just trying to enjoy the show like everyone else, but when I get annoyed with something, I tend to fixate...like if I hear the bass of a car getting gas across the street from my house, it becomes THE ONLY THING I can hear. If I see someone being completely absurd, I will just stare as they become the only thing I see. So I'm watching the show, taking some photos and video for the bloggy blog, and notice the woman next to me making the craziest noises ever throughout every song. On video it sounds like she had a pekingnese dog in her purse, or a bird, but in person, it sounded like she was having an orgasm or had some sort of Tourette's. To accompany the "Oh...oh...oh....", she was thrusting her hips. Air-fucking, if you will. Whatever it was, it was driving me crazy. Add that to the two guys who within 5 minutes of the show, lit up a joint, and the cosmos aligned for them, giving them about 4 seats of space on either side, so they could flail their arms as if conducting a symphony. For the whole show. Not only that, but these assholes threw an inhaler onto the stage, which very easily could've hit Gary, or just pissed him off so much he could've called it quits on the show right then and there. Fortunately he joked that the idiot wouldn't get very far without his inhaler should Gary want to chase him down and kick his ass. I wish he had.





So anyway, at some point I just looked at the lady in totally disbelief, I believe my jaw was dropped to the floor. She got in my face and asked if I had a problem, which is when I realized the chardonnay she was drinking was probably her 6th. In a nutshell I replied that I did have a problem, that I was trying to enjoy the show, and that her orgasm was preventing me from doing so. Add about 20 expletives, asking her is she's retarded (so un-PC, I know), and telling her to STFU and you kinda catch the drift, to which she replied that she didn't care what I thought and very lightly pushed me on my sternum. Being that she was middle aged and had those crazy drunk googly eyes, I refrained from getting physical, but there was a definite "fucking touch me again and I will beat your fucking ass" threat somewhere in there. Don't make me get all Chula Vista on a bitch. Anyway, I was really trying hard to move past it, and she actually stopped at a point, but then I suppose just to antagonize me, did it even more than before. At that point I told Jeff what was going on, the people around me were getting angry at her, so there were some final words and we attempted to move away. Drunk bitch kept moving toward us so there was no escaping but I did my best to move on. So yes, I almost got in a brawl at Snow Patrol. Now we can move on to the show.

Setlist:
Signal Fire
Final Straw
Hands Open
Chocolate
The Golden Floor
The Finish Line
Make This Go On Forever
Run
Shut Your Eyes
Chasing Cars
Crack The Shutters
Just Say Yes
Take Back The City
Open Your Eyes

Encore:
The Lightning Strike (3 parts)
You're All I Have

There are a lot of reasons I love Snow Patrol. I kind of have attached meaning and sentimentality to just about every single song, whether it's a memory of a friend, a movie, an ex-boyfriend, or the crush that cannot evolve into anything more, the music speaks to me, and I know it is probably the same for a lot of people. The band plays with such precision that every song sounds perfect, especially on a chilly foggy night in the open air. Gary is such a great frontman, leading the band but never a showoff, telling stories and still being completely humble, like someone you wanna just have a beer with. A couple girls screamed "I love you" to which he replied "Thank you, I love you, too, but you wouldn't love me if you got to know me." Somehow I don't believe him. He talked about the soccer games that I'd stayed up all night watching, too, which was pretty hilarious and while I didn't get the whole story on video, you can see him explain why he carried a red balloon with 1-0 written on it across the stage and handing it off to his guitar techhere.

I was still trying to get over the people around me intent on ruining the concert for me, but Snow Patrol rose above and performed a phenomenal set.





For the encore, a scrolling text explained that the band, collaborating in Dublin on a stormy night, created three songs that became their own story, to which they called the end result "The Lightning Strike". This is part one of that story.



The show was amazing. The near fight and douchebags in front of us, not so much, but I'm glad I didn't miss this show and can be pretty sure that anytime the band return to San Diego, I will be there.

The band is releasing a 'best of' compilation, too. Here are the details of that:

Multi-platinum recording artists, Snow Patrol, will release the compilation album, Up To Now, on November 10th, 2009 via Fiction/A&M. This 30-track double album is a must-have for Snow Patrol fans everywhere as it features all their hit singles, cover versions, rarities and album tracks that span the part-Irish, part-Scottish quintet’s amazing 15-year career.

Up To Now includes three previously unreleased songs, “Just Say Yes” “Dark Roman Wine” and “Give Me Strength”, as well songs from the two albums Snow Patrol released on UK indie label Jeepster Records: 1998’s Songs For Polarbears and 2001’s When It’s All Over We Still Have To Clear Up. The album also includes two songs by The Reindeer Section — an indie supergroup featuring members of Belle and Sebastian, Idlewild, Mogwai and Teenage Fanclub, among many others — from their 2002 album for Bright Star Recordings, Son of Evil Reindeer.

Other highlights include a cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” that was recorded as a live track for BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe’s evening session at Maida Vale in London (with a rap performed by Lowe). Up To Now also features live versions of Snow Patrol’s hit singles “Run” (from their 2003 album Final Straw) and the double-platinum “Chasing Cars” (from 2006’s Eyes Open) that were recorded at London’s Union Chapel as part of an exclusive one-off show put on by Radio 1 presenter Jo Whiley to raise money for the charity MENCAP.

Snow Patrol is singer, songwriter Gary Lightbody, bassist Paul Wilson, guitarist Nathan Connolly, drummer Jonny Quinn and keyboardist Tom Simpson. Since the mostly-Irish band formed in Scotland in 1994, the band’s hard-earned rise has seen them become one of the world’s biggest bands, culminating in sales of more than 10 million copies of their last three albums, taking in Grammy, BRIT, BMI, Meteor, and Ivor Novello nominations and awards along the way.

This was just the start of my Saturday night. Jeff and I left and made our way to the Casbah to catch The Black Heart Procession to conclude an amazing Saturday night. Post on that to come.

Free Tickets To Snow Patrol!!

Snow Patrol is playing Open Air Theatre this Saturday night and I've got one pair of free tickets. Email with subject "Snow Patrol" and include your name, phone number and mailing address (tickets will be sent via overnight) and tell me your favorite SP song. Your information will not be used for anything other than this contest. Frankly I'm not that organized.

I have to have a winner TONIGHT, so contest will close at 9pm. I will choose one winner at random.

Win A Snow Patrol Autographed Poster

I know it's been a while since I've had a contest. Sorry for that. This one is for the lucky 1000 people or so who managed to see the incredible free Snow Patrol show presented by Shockhound in San Diego in December and want an autographed poster from the night. If you didn't go to the show, I'm sorry you missed it, but you can enter to win a poster if you'd like. I've got three to give away, just email your name and address and I'll notify 3 winners on Wednesday. Your information will be confidential and will not be used for any other purpose other than to send the poster. E-mail sddialedin AT gmail DAWT com with the subject Shockhound.

Also, fans of Snow Patrol should read this article in which Gary Lightbody responds to critics.

Check out Shockhound

Snow Patrol @ House of Blues 12.13.08

I'm not even gonna try to hide how stuck I've felt lately. I have about three weeks worth of shows I need to catch up on and despite the amount of free time I have these days, I have not written about much of anything lately. It isn't that I haven't been out, its just that I've been a bit blocked up when it comes to writing. I will eventually post all the pictures from the past few weeks, but for right now, I'd rather just post the pictures from tonight. And really the only reason I want to write now is because I felt extra special tonight thanks to Shockhound.com, the House of Blues, Jeff, and Cornerstone Publicity.

Let me rewind and say that I've been a huge fan of Snow Patrol since Kristian gave me their first CD a few years ago. I can say that they are one of the few bands that has brought me to tears...I mean who could not cry after that whole scene during Grey's Anatomy...yes, I'm a sap. I got to see them on my birthday at House of Blues, then again at the Open Air Theater, where, singing along at the top of my lungs, I cried my eyes out.

When the opportunity came to see them tonight at the House of Blues, I was all over it, but still had this feeling like it wouldn't come through. I'll skip all the issues I've had in the past and just say that tonight was incredible. I don't even know how to write about the show without feeling like I'm completely bragging so I'll just say that we got wristbands that gave us choice balcony seats, an open bar, and I was the only person in the photo pit. (Dear Santa, I would like a bitchin camera and to feel worthy of photo priveleges.)

I thought Snow Patrol would bring me to tears, as they did both times I saw them in the past, but I was too giddy about this show. The way everything worked out, I felt like I was living someone else's life for the night. There really is no other way to describe it except that I don't ever take nights like this for granted. It only helps that Snow Patrol can sell out stadiums but still act like they're a little band just begging to be loved. The stage banter is humble and they reach out to every fan in the room, acknowledging all of us who crumble and clap and sing along to every word.

All that said...here are the photos from the night.
First, the setlist:





By the way, if you haven't logged into Shockhound.com, it is time that you do. They've got exclusive band interviews and performances, band merch, music downloads and more.

The rest of the pictures if you click 'keep on reading'.

Snow Patrol

My friend Dave sent me these pics from the Snow Patrol show.





I forgot to mention that I captured video but there's someone singing so loud that it really isn't worth posting. Dammit, singlalongs....

Super ridiculously long weekend recap: Snow Patrol, OK GO, Silversun Pickups, Orion Frequency, Republic of Letters, The Dissimilars, The Postals

The weekend is not quite over. Tonight I’ll be at the Ken Club with five bucks in hand to attend the benefit for Free Radio San Diego and you should be there, too. Support local enterprise and be there.

It has been an interesting music weekend for me in that the bands I witnessed couldn’t be more polar opposites. Friday night was spent at the Ken Club for The Postals, The Dissimilars, and Rich White Males.

This was my first time seeing The Postals, despite knowing Fred from his years of employment at the Ken Club and I always thought of him as such a quiet guy. He spent a year in the peace core teaching English in Moldova and according to him, drinking more vodka than most people should ever consume in a lifetime. His band is an aggressive punk band with that accelerated pace that bands have that allow them to play 20 songs in approximately 36 minutes. They were really fun to catch live.

They did not adequately prepare me, however, for my sweet quiet friend Jimmy when he took the stage with the Dissimilars. I mean, I guess I knew Jimmy had a thing with getting down to his tighty whities before, but he took advantage of the space in the room for sure. It was a lively performance, to say the least, and Jimmy knocked half my drink out of the glass in his mad offstage antics. Not quite as full contact as the Homeless Sexuals but not too far from it. And let me just say for the record, I don’t need to see any more of my friends onstage with their chones purposely partitioned so that one’s balls may be seen. I just don’t need to know my friends that intimately. Witness the madness.

By the time Rich White Males came on I was bouncing around the bar and laughing with Jimmy the Worm that I didn’t need to see his balls. It was only a few short months ago that I allowed him to crash at my pad when he was inebriated and had to sternly lecture, “I DON’T SPOON!” So anyway, Rich White Males played and fit the bill just fine with fast aggressive punk but it was drink o’clock and there were red headed sluts to be had. Oh, and to that stalker guy who told me you dumped your girlfriend and you were “just putting it out there,” I don’t know what made you think I care, but you freak me out so please maintain your distance in the future.

Saturday rolled around and I got up early to see if Shins tickets were onsale at Soma. They were not, but Andrea secured tickets on the Casbah site, so we’re golden. It will be my first show at the mainstage at Soma since it’s been in its current location. I couldn’t bring myself to do it for the White Stripes, DCFC, Muse and a ton of others, but I will suck it up and do it.

Still kinda sick, I rested most of the afternoon until it was time to head to the Open Air Theatre for Silversun Pickups, OK, GO, and Snow Patrol. I went with my old friend David, this kinda crazy New Zealander who I met just from seeing each other at shows like Keane, Starsailor and Stereophonics. Not quite thinking, we had a beer at my house before taking off and unfortunately arrived in time to catch SSPU in their last song, “Lazy Eye”. Bummer. This is the venue I’ve been waiting to see them in, too, because Brian is powerful onstage, too much so for HoB sidestage, the Belly Up, and Rimac is indoor so that brings standard arena issues, but the OAT is the perfect venue for his quiet mellow singing to build up into that scream that he does. Poo.

Ok, Go was next and I thoroughly enjoyed their set. I don’t own any of their CDs but I’ve seen them live a couple times and I like their sound, gimmicks and all. There was no choreography on this night, but some cool moments, nonetheless, like when Damian got the entire crowd to do the wave (“This is like an arena for sports, only there’s no sports.”) and when he got everyone in the crowd, during the second verse of “Tonight”, in lieu of lighers, to hold up cell phones, cameras, self-pleasuring devices, etc. for illumination. It was pretty cool. I don’t know all their song titles, but since they tend to follow the formula of repetitive choruses, here’s my completely inaccurate set list with titles I made up. (If you feel like doing the work, you can grade my accuracy of titles):

You Don’t Have to Be Alone (To Be Lonely)
Television, Television
Seemed Like A Good Idea
It’s Not Over Yet
Don’t Ask Me How I Am
Get Over It
Tonight
Invincible
Here It Goes Again
Do What You Want

I don’t know who put this show together, but despite being annoyed that I missed SSPU, this show was amazing in that the tickets said 7:30, the band started promptly, the set changes were fast but still long enough to grab a beer and return to your seat. My only complaint is the port a potty situation, but that is so standard at pretty much every event it’s just something you have to live with. A guy in front of me took a REALLY long time so I was dreading entering behind him, but fortunately he’d not been taking a dump but smoking a joint, so it could’ve been much worse.

While waiting in line for beer, I saw Brian, the singer of the Silversun Pickups, and we took this pic together. His shushing was because he was being incognito in the crowd and didn’t want any attention. If I hadn’t seen him with his girlfriend at the last show, I might’ve turned my head a little in his direction and napped a besito. Maybe next time.

Snow Patrol finally started and I was suddenly happy that all the cool indie crowd have disowned them a la Coldplay and they are comfortably in the mainstream because there’s something to be said for dancing in your seat, singing along, screaming, and being a total dork through the whole set. Not that I would do such things, just like I wasn’t totally crying during Run, but some people were and they were free to do so. Gary was really chatty which is really different from before, and not just chatty, but witty and funny. This was an amazing show in that it’s a huge venue (4,600 capacity) but still felt intimate. I took pictures, but my zoom disappoints, so this is the best of it.

I did compile the set-list by writing lyrics then going back and finding the nonsensical song titles, so here you go.

Spitting Games
Wow
Chocolate
Beginning To Get To Me
Headlights on Dark Roads
How to Be Dead
Grazed Knees
Chasing Cars
Shut Your Eyes
Set The Fire To The Third Bar
Somewhere a Clock Is Ticking
Make This Go On Forever
Ways & Means
Run
You’re All I Have

Encore:
The Finish Line
Open Your Eyes
Hands Open

The show was done by 10:45 or so, but my night was far from over. I headed out to The Alibi, had a drink, then went to the Sports Club to catch the last of the Nevermind The Cancer benefit. Republic of Letters was playing. They did their Nirvana covers and one of their originals and I found my friends and chilled out for a bit.

When they finished, we ventured to the Alibi to catch Orion Frequency. I, of course, had my earplugs, but Andrea and Kara did not, so we hung out on the patio until we heard the bass line of Waiting Room and came in to hear it. Everyone was going crazy for it and demanded that they play it again, and they did. A request for a third time was denied temporarily until they played their own song, then went back into Waiting Room. Sometimes you gotta give the people what they want. They were good sports about it all. After the show, I dropped the girls off and I was sound asleep with a quickness. Thank goodness today was a total day of rest for me…

In Anticipation of Snow Patrol, Silversun Pickups, and OK, Go

This Saturday is the Snow Patrol, Silversun Pickups, and OK, Go, show at the Open Air Theatre. I bought two tickets in pre-sale in hopes that I'd have a boyfriend by now.

HAHAHA. Ok, I'm totally kidding, but I did buy a pair assuming someone I know would want to go. Anyway, if you wanna go with me to the show, the ticket is $42.

The show is Saturday, doors at 7. I'll post the actual seat location when I have my tickets in front of me. E-mail me if you're interested.

House of Blues: Upcoming shows

Upcoming shows, most are on presale now, but can be purchased on Friday:

My Morning Jacket @ HoB Jan 2. $25
Blues Traveler @ HoB Jan 4. $25
Keller Williams @ HoB Jan 13. $22
G. Love @ HoB Jan 30 (limited all ages)& Jan 31(21+) . $25. (really? $25? maybe tristan prettyman will appear)
Los Amigos Invisibles & Si*Se @ HoB Feb 17. $22. (Si*Se is a great Rock en Espanol local band)
Snow Patrol, OK Go, & Silversun Pickups @ Open Air Theater Mar 3. $25-$32 (count on hefty service charges!)

Another Reason to see Silversun Pickups tonight:

The next time they play San Diego will be at the Open Air Theater on March 3. They and OK, Go! are opening for Snow Patrol. I can't believe how much I just paid for tickets in the presale.