Live Review: Snow Patrol, Husky

Irish rockers Snow Patrol performed to an enthusiastic audience at ICC Sydney's Darling Harbour Theatre, their first headline shows in Australia since 2012. The band were performing tracks from their latest album Wildness, which they released in May.

Starting off the night in the impressive, beehive-esque theatre were Melbourne-based band Husky, who performed a lightning-fast, blink and you'll miss it set featuring songs from last year's album Punchbuzz among a few older tracks.

From opener Chocolate, it was clear that the night's performance from Snow Patrol wasn't merely going to be a run through of their new album. Rather, it was a chance for the band to sift back through their large discography and play some of their (and the crowd's) favourite songs. That being said, the new songs from Wildness stacked up really well against some of the band's better-known tracks. The crowd responded just as eagerly to newer songs like Don't Give In and Empress as they did to older classics Take Back The City and Open Your Eyes.

Frontman Gary Lightbody was a natural charmer on stage, busting out goofy dance moves during songs and bantering effortlessly with the audience. Throughout the set, he read out notes from audience members that they had typed on their phones and bravely left on stage, the highlight of which was a spontaneous proposal.

It was very obvious when watching Snow Patrol play that they all absolutely love what they do. The pure enthusiasm of Lightbody was infectious and from the first song, when he demanded everyone get up out of their seats, it was a really captivating show. When they played arguably their most famous track, Chasing Cars, the band still seemed to really enjoy playing it to the crowd. Similarly, it seemed like they were just as excited about performing their new material to an audience, with Lightbody declaring that their track Heal Me was his favourite song of theirs to date.

Whether it was the upbeat tempo of the night, the quality of the performance or potentially the shorter than you'd think setlist, it seemed that way too quickly it was time for the encore performance. A beautiful rendition of What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get? was followed by their 2009 single Just Say Yes. It was an interesting choice finishing on that track when there were probably a few others more fitting for the position of final song. However, the audience seemed to love it, with many leaving their seats and rushing down the aisles to form a mini-mosh in front of the lads.