Snow Patrol - Live AtSomerset House

Fri 8th Apr, 2005 in Music Reviews

Ah, the music DVD. What a gamble they usually are. You fork over your hard-earned cash at a token of love for a band and you don’t know what you’ll get. Maybe you’ll get lucky, if you purchase a disc brimming with live fotoage, interviews, film clips and assorted extras (see Pavement’s Slow Century, TISM’s The White Albun and Scissor Sisters’ We Are Scissor Sisters And So Are You), but you could also end up taking home a gloriously overpriced DVD containing scant more than the same videos you’ve already seen on Rage – the whole thing which should be marked ‘promo only’ and used to rip people off on eBay instead of in HMV.

Fans of Irish boys Snow Patrol may or may not be pleased to note that the band’s first DVD Live At Somerset House is in-between; a package that offers more than it could but not as much as it should. In the UK, Snow Patrol have fallen victim to the “they’re just another Coldplay” syndrome (remarkably similar to the “they want to be Powderfinger” stigma which plagues a lot of up-and-coming local bands). But it’s unfair to dismiss Snow Patrol in that fashion. The band’s third, break-through album Final Straw sold bucketloads in the UK and it’s from that album that many of the DVD’s live tracks are drawn from. The DVD title is the main feature – a live 15-track set recorded in August 2004.
 
Opener Wow sets the scene – the outdoor venue is full of screaming, excitable Brits while the band, devoid of expensive clothes (jeans and t-shirts are the go) or trendy haircuts, seem slightly overwhelmed by it all. It isn’t until after the second song when singer Gary Lightbody steps up to the mic to offer a laconic “how the hell are you all, alright? This is pretty nice, isn’t it?” before the band break into single Spitting Games. UK singles Chocolate and the anthemic Run draw big receptions, and the concert is well-filmed with multiple cameras capturing both the onstage action and the crowd. The band’s tight, but that’s about it. It’s not mindblowing, but it’s not uninspiring. It’s a good, solid set.

You want extras for your DVD too, don’t you? Somerset House dishes up two tour films – one from the band’s Japanese tour and the other from the USA. In it, the band (including recently sacked bassist Mark McClelland) play the role of quintessentially polite Brits on tour to a tee – lounging by hotel pools, eating bad road food, expressing shock that anybody is showing up to their gigs and buying their music, and doing it all with a slight feel of awkwardness. You’ll also find 4Play – a promo-only doco similar to that on the Scissor Sisters DVD. And, like the Scissor Sisters one, it’s designed for record company and media fools who can’t be bothered Googling the band’s name and who desperately need information. There’s copious amounts of the “hi, my name is [insert name here], and I play [insert instrument here] in [insert band name here].” It’s all a bit unnecessary, and only hardcore fans would be able to withstand the tedium. All of the band’s filmclips appear, too – the revolving camera action of Spitting Games a highlight.

If you worship the ground Snow Patrol walk on, you’ll get a kick out of this DVD. If you don’t – don’t expect to become a convert. Live At Somerset House is a decent offer and a good filler in between albums (as the band are currently working on new material and settling in with their new bassist), but nothing spectacular.