Snow Patrol have been called Slush Patrol, even Snooze Patrol, by detractors. When the Travelodge hotel chain surveyed its customers for their favourite music to fall asleep to, Snow Patrol came third. Coldplay came first, of course. In so many ways they are similar, purveyors of sad melodic anthems, nice young men.
Their lead singer, the Belfast-born Gary Lightbody, doesn’t even have Gwyneth Paltrow as an accessory to make him seem interesting. He’s never had an actress girlfriend, or a girlfriend at all for five years. His songs are often about loving somebody more than they love you back. But their latest album, Fallen Empires, has already sold nearly a million copies and has been No 1 in Britain and America. Their British arena tour