Electric Shocks on Aching Bones

At the start of the Weekend of Sister, I finished work and met her outside Covent Garden tube station. Well, eventually, after a conversation of “I went past the Apple store? I went past David and Goliath?” “Do you see Whitt…. I SEE YOU! STOP WALKING!”

We went for a steak (I love a steak) and then went to take our seats ready for the Snow Patrol gig at the 02. Having been given tickets, I was fearing that they were standing. I like going to see live music, but I am only content with standing if I love the band and can dance along singing to the tracks with merry abandon. Seeing as I could only think of one song that they had done (If I lay hyyyyyyere, if I just lay hyyyyyyere), I was a bit worried that I might suffer from a case of boredom and want to go home, but have to stay as my sister loves them.

That wasn’t the case.

And I can barely look at you/But every single time I do/I know we’ll make it anywhere/Away from here

When we got there, we were ushered to a suite. A suite? Right. Fanceh. We grabbed a drink and took our seats, ready for the show. The warm up act were called Everything Everything; the sort of band that apparently people had heard of, but seeing as I listen to Magic, I hadn’t. Little sister and I concluded that they were the sort of band that you could listen along to while chatting, but not the sort whose CD we would buy.

When Snow Patrol came on, I was pleasantly surprised. The lead singer has a fantastically haunting voice, and as they started their set I suddenly remembered. Snow Patrol were the soundtrack to my summer the year I left school.  Every song that I recognised took me back to a place; a garden in the sun or a room in the house that I used to live in, and I smiled. Every memory was something that shaped the person I am today, and I loved it.

Strain this chaos turn it into light /I’ve got to see you one last night /Before the lions take their share /Leave us in pieces, scattered everywhere

Little Sister was in her element too. She looked at me when I didn’t recognise the songs, incredulous that I had never heard the melodies before. It turns out her friend supported them a few years back, and I think she has been in love ever since, something that I was totally unaware of.

So my verdict? They aren’t a band that I would have chosen to go and see, but once I was there I realised how many songs of theirs I had on my iPod, and how many songs I knew the words to. The lead singer has a haunting voice that leaves you mesmerised, and when he dedicated a song to his four-year old niece who was in the crowd, I welled up. It was a fantastic night, and I would definitely go again.

Thanks to the people at Superbreaks who provided us with the tickets. They offer London guides and hotels in London, and sponsored this post. But all opinions are, as always, my own!

Tags: blog, dailies, music, personal