The word ‘luck’ turns up in the Snow Patrol story with set-your-watch regularity, and it’s commonly accepted that the period when the band cashed in theirs was around the release of their biggest selling single. I’m not sure I agree. The care and detail lavished on Eyes Open seems symptomatic of people who, finally rewarded with a budget to match their ambition, are determined to enjoy this opportunity for all it’s worth.
Forget all the chatter about solo albums and injuries sustained on the road: Snow Patrol are revelling in the end of a triumphant year, one which saw Eyes Open become the biggest selling album in the UK in '06, as well as making serious inroads Stateside.
Snow Patrol‘s Gary Lightbody may be the thinking woman’s indie sexpot, but with their new album Eyes Open going supernova all over the shop, the poor fella has no time to capitalise on his status, given that the only people he sees on a regular basis are his band and crewmates. With whom, he assures us, “penetrative sex is out of the question.” Also on the agenda: break-ups, infidelity, the Northern body politic, U2 and, of course, underpants.
As the sun sets over Dublin Castle, Snow Patrol kick off the first outdoor festival of 2006 with intent. But the early, heady pace set by Final Straw favourites 'Wow' and 'Chocolate' is soon interrupted by the new material from Eyes Open.
In the same week that Eyes Open was nominated for the Choice Music Prize, Gary Lightbody debuted his Listen…Tanks side-project on BBC Radio One when he deputised on air for Zane Lowe.
Our correspondent road-tests a rare but legal herb which might offer him an epic, life-affirming religious moment or make him feel like a mere atom in a speck of dirt up some earthworm's arse. How did he fare? Read on...
After the spiking of their last album led to the demise of co.dot, Joe Brush decided he couldn’t jump around on a stage anymore. The result is a new sound and a new band, Vapor Lounge.
Sebastian Barry's new play Hinterland concerns the reflections of a former Taoiseach and his failed relationship with his family. Joe Jackson asks director Max Stafford-Clarke if the story is based on anyone in particular
Driven out of India while filming her latest film. Water, Deepa Mehta talks about protests, effigies and the controversy that follows her wherever she goes.
Champagne corks were popped last week as Snow Patrol joined that elite group of bands who’ve simultaneously topped the charts in Ireland and the UK. It’s all a far cry from the days when their fame was confined to the University of Dundee Students Union bar. Gary Lightbody takes time out from wowing the masses in Dublin and Belfast to tell Stuart Clark about their twisty and turny route to the top.
Snow Patrol‘s Gary Lightbody waxes eloquent about burnout, creativity, exotic fowl, and why David Healy should be made First Citizen Of The Republic And Overlord Of The Universe.
From Kilkenny to LA, kerbdog have been on a seven-year learning curve that's produced a powerful second album, On The Turn. barry glendenning hears how, after an inauspicious beginning, they finally got their act together. Pic: cathal dawson.
This year’s Heineken Green Energy festival has something for every music lover. Whether anthemic stadium rock (Snow Patrol) is your thing or you enjoy boisterous pop (Kaiser Chiefs), it’s a festival packed with sonic treats.
When the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain appointed two members of the Orange Order to the Parades Commission, he set himself up for a political bruising. But worse than that, he may have fatally undermined the ability of the organisation to function.
On the eve of the release of Snow Patrol's epic fifth album A Hundred Million Suns, Hot Press finds out how singer Gary Lightbody gets inspiration for his songs.
With compass in hand and their newly unfurled Map Of The Universe nestling comfortably on their laps, Blink are boldly going where few Irish bands have gone before. But what happens when they get to Cork and Ballybunion? Intrepid explorer LIAM FAY dons his rucksack, climbs aboard the Blinkmobile and survives to tell the tale.
Yup, we thought you'd like our stab at a tabloid headline. Thing is, there was a time when Danny Boy O'Connor looked inexorably set on a course for the California State Penitentiary. Then he discovered the therapeutic qualities of the House Of Pain and apart from the odd skirmish with the 2FM Roadcaster, there's been no looking back since. Crime reporter: Stuart Clark.
Those who missed out on Snow Patrol's outdoor concert in Dublin need not worry - because The Frames have announced their own special gig on the same day.
Ahead of their headline slot at Dublin Castle on Saturday and on the day of the release of their new album, Snow Patrol will be treating fans to a special in-store show on Friday 28 April.
As soon as you spot Terry Hooley – the man who released ‘Teenage Kicks’, kids – holding court at the bar, you know you’re in for a classic Belfast rock ‘n’ roll night.
Garrett ‘Jacknife’ Lee’s management company, Big Life, have confirmed that the producer is about to start work on the follow-up to How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb with U2.
Snow Patrol have announced that they’ll be wearing blue ribbons at their Belfast Botanic Gardens gig on August 23 as a tribute to missing Bangor woman Lisa Dorrian.
As predicted, Snow Patrol emerged the big winners at the Meteor Music Awards, which took place at The Point in Dublin last night. Click for photos from the night
The line-up has been revealed for ‘An Fiach Dubh’ – Fingal Songwriter's Weekend. The first in an annual series, the weekend will bring Irish and international songwriters together to provide master classes in the art.
Sue Rose is guitarist and vocalist with The Radio and here she welcomes Jackie Hayden onto her fashion wavelength just in time for some Christmas shopping.
It's as sophisticated as any European capital but has the restless verve of an American metropolis. Local gal’ Maria Tecce takes us on a tour of Boston.
Annual article: From the strange to the mundane, from poetic champions to pornographic novels, from maverick auteurs to great lost crime novels: it was a hell of a year to be a reader.
