Take Back the City For Yourself Tonight/ And I'll Take Back the City For Me

Who: Snow Patrol with Ram's Pocket Radio
When: March 7, 2012
Where: Le Zenith/ Paris, France
With: A whole bunch of European hipsters, apparently 
Of Note: I WAS IN PARIS!!!

I have loved Snow Patrol for a long time and have been trying to see them live for the last...6 years?  They were scheduled to be in Toronto at one point, but that tour ended up canceled because of the lead singer's health issues.  While I was planning my oh so amazing European vacation, I saw that Snow Patrol was announcing European tour dates. As fate would have it, they were in Paris when I was in Paris.  I was ecstatic.  

I had a bit of trouble getting to Le Zenith - there was, apparently, a more convenient metro station I could have used; Google Maps sent me a weird way around through some sketchy parking lot; I was looking for a much smaller venue because my ticket was general admission; it was raining; blah blah. None of it really mattered; I was in Paris. 

It was one of the weirdest venue set ups ever - like I said, I was anticipating something smaller (Town Ballroom sized, for the Buffalonians reading), but this place was a huge arena (Blue Cross/Blue Shield sized, for the Rochesterians reading), even though all the tickets were general admission.  So, I walked onto the floor of this huge arena and found a spot to stand, maybe 20 people away from the stage.  Okay then.  I was surprised by how the seats filled up before the floor.  

The opening band was called Ram's Pocket Radio. They were adorable.  It was, apparently, their first time in Paris; they're a very new band who was very honored to be opening.  The lead guy said both the band's name and that they were from northern Ireland about a million times.  They had the fantastic floppy haired, skinny jeans, insolence of youth styling and were so adorably Irish.  Their first song was called '1 Plus 2' and I think it was about cheating?  They had a great pop/punk/piano driven sound and a phenomenal front man.  

The rest of their set was good, but the other stand-out song was definitely the closer 'Aria'.  At the song's beginning, all four members of the band played drums in a great syncopated rhythm over some vaguely trippy electronic vibe.  They went back to their original instruments and delivered a pretty great almost ballad.  Judging by the applause, the rest of the crowd dug them as much as I did.  I'll definitely be looking for music from them in the future.   

And then...Snow Patrol.  (It's worth noting that the house music mix was awesome. It's also worth noting that there was an older, Irish gentleman a few rows back from me that just kept yelling, "Come on Gary!" This guy becomes important later.) 

Again, I'm not sure what I expected, but I was not expecting an ass-kicking arena rock show.  The lead singer, Gary, has one of those voices that cuts right through me - you can hear so much emotion; almost all their songs make me cry.  Live, his accent was more pronounced (squeee!!!!), but he had much more of a rock edge to his delivery than their recordings.  It was definitely still full of emotional resonance; it just had a bit more bite.  

The set started with a punch of songs (and some awesome visuals and light show) - 'Berlin', 'I'll Never Let Go', 'Take Back the City', 'Hands Open'.  It dawned on me that I was more of a super fan than I realized; I knew every word to every song.  Paris was, apparently, the last night of the European tour and Gary had quite a cold.  He encouraged us to sing along if we knew the words or, "Fuck, just sing la la la; sometimes that's what I do."  He had such rock star swagger.  He was also really into telling the crowd to "Show me your hands!"  

At some point during the set, between songs, the older guy who had been yelling for "Gary"before the show started, yelled something about Pat Jennings, who is a famous Irish soccer player?  Gary had a conversation with this guy and then commented how it was a bit strange that he was having a conversation with the darkness.  

I got choked up during 'This Isn't Everything You Are' - the line "Feels like you loved him more/ Than he loved you" gets me every time. The crowd sing along at the end of that song was pretty magical though.

The female bass player from Ram's Pocket Radio joined them for 'Set the Fire to the Third Bar' and 'Garden Rules'. I was really excited that 'Garden Rules' was his favorite song from the new album because it's MY favorite song from the new album.  She looked and sounded gorgeous.  

Paul, a French guy I had spoken to while waiting for the show to start, kissed me during 'Chasing Cars'.  I loved listening to the people around me who were not first language English speakers mangle some of the lyrics when singing along.  I think I alarmed some aloof Parisians with my dancing and excitement.  

I can't say enough good things about the visuals and lighting; it really was an elaborately staged arena rock show - the whole band had such swagger and they rocked so hard.  The lights, etc. for 'Fallen Empires' was particularly awesome - all blinking lights and bright colors and quickly flashing graphics that really enhanced the intensity of the song.  

The encore was incredible - starting with 'Lifening' (parts of the crowd went nuts at the line 'Ireland in the World Cup')- which is such a beautiful song, moving on to 'Open Your Eyes' and ending with 'Yes' (which was so, so, so good - there were girls in the front row with a small sign that said, "yes," that the camera caught and projected on the screen.  The whole place went absolutely nuts when they were done, so much that I was kind of expecting a second encore.

This was such a special night for me - seeing one of my very favorite bands for the first time, in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, while on the vacation of a lifetime.  The band was so amazing; the set was so tight; the visuals were so on point.  

So, who wants to see them in Toronto next month?