Snow Patrol are one of those bands that, no matter how hard they try, they are unable to cross over to the mainstream. For instance, two weeks ago the band released one of the finest albums of the year and yet tonight’s gig is only around half-full. It doesn’t matter anyway because later on in the evening, singer, Gary Lightbody will tell the audience that tonight is the best gig the band have ever played.

Before the Snow Patrol actually play a single song they start giving out presents. "Who likes cider?" enquires Lightbody, "because I hate the stuff," and at which point he throws the few tins he has onstage into the audience. This will happen again later on but bottles of lager will replace cider. "I can’t throw you any, it’ll kill you. The bottle’s like a bloody mallet".

Before Gary’s announcement about the evening’s gig, Snow Patrol have already stormed their way through ‘Wow’, ‘Spitting Games’ and ‘When It’s All Over We Still Have To Clear Up’. Next it’s the much-anticipated ‘An Olive Grove Facing The Sea’, for which the audience respect a five minute silence until the song is finished. ‘An Olive Grove…’ is followed quickly by, quite simply, a superb ‘Run’, at the end of which the band stop playing and the audience sing every word back to the band. This is the point when tonight becomes more than a gig. It becomes the gig.