Photographing Snow Patrol

Over the years I’ve photographed hundreds of bands and artists. I’ve shot everything from local bands to chart-topping artists at the peak. Naturally some of the bands will be new to me and some them I will be really familiar with. However, it is rare that I get the chance to photograph a band I am a real fan of.

I’ve been a fan of Snow Patrol for around 15 years now. I think it probably all started with their first big hit album Final Straw. It was an album that I played so much that if CDs did indeed wear out I probably would be on my 3rd copy by now! Over the years I’ve bought all their albums and been lucky enough to see them in concert a few times.

I listen to a lot of music but there is something about the lyrics of Snow Patrol songs that seem to really connect with me. I’d often listen to them while I was out running and I would find the miles would fly by as I lost myself in those meaningful lyrics. Those songs became the soundtrack of my life during that period.

After the release of Fallen Empires in 2011, things went very quiet for Snow Patrol. The reasons for this are well documented but I think like most Snow Patrol fans we wondered if they would ever come back. Fortunately the release of Wildness this year saw the band come back at full strength. It is a cracking album and one that I’ve played many, many times. As soon as the tour for the album was announced I bought tickets and so my wife I went to see them in Birmingham. It was great to see the guys back on the stage and on great form.

All that said, it should be obvious to you by now that I like Snow Patrol. Fast forward to November 2019 and I get an email from my friends at MusoMuso asking if I’d like to photograph Snow Patrol at Plymouth Pavilions on their Reworked tour. It took all of few microseconds to say yes!

At the gig it was business as usual for me. Well, for the first three songs anyway. Regardless of my personal attachment to the band I always take my job seriously and aim to do a professional job while capturing images in the three-song window. After I captured the images I got to enjoy m 2nd Snow Patrol gig of the year. This job can definitely have its perks sometimes!

I know this is a slightly different blog post than normal, but getting the chance to photograph a band or artist that you are a real fan of doesn’t happen very often. It was a real privilege taking these photographs and I hope you have enjoyed them as much as me.