Snow Patrol @ The Beacon: Well, At Least It Was Close to Home

Five questions I asked myself last night while watching Snow Patrol play the Beacon:

Is this the Sound Check or the performance for paying customers?
Do these guys have any balls whatsoever?
Why didn’t I pick the Yeah Yeah Yeahs over this dreck?
Is anyone in this joint having any fun?
Is this pussy music or music for pussies?

Needless to say, I thought Snow Patrol put on a pretty dismal show last night. My core criticism: the band couldn’t generate any energy and, as a result, it felt like the band had almost NO connection with the crowd. There was simply no “juice” in the theater. Even in instances where the band played songs with dramatic tempo changes, Snow Patrol was unable to move the needle. Adding to the problem ….Gary Lightbody’s stage presence was, to put it kindly, awkward. No charisma. No presence. No testicles. Listen, I know everyone can’t be Dave Grohl, or Bono, or Wayne Coyne. And even rock stars sometimes come up short of being “ROCK STARS.” But let me tell you something about Gary Lightbody…..if that is the best he can muster, then perhaps he should consider giving up the touring and stick with studio work …..Molly?

Molly:  Agreed. Nice songs, sure. Good show? Not so much. (And I'd like to gently remind you that I asked if you'd rather see YYY at Radio City and the answer was No, on account of their new album being "not so good.")

I tend to dred the stage banter at even the best of shows and when it's bad, it's cringeworthy. Last night I couldn't even look at the stage when Gary Lightbody (an unfortunately accurate name) was - for lack of a better term - doing material. BAD material. New York City cab driver material. Oy.

I had no problems with the songs themselves and the sound was great and their voices were great and I think they played their songs very very well, but that invisible Thing which makes live music worthwhile was sorely absent. I don't know if the venue was wrong for them (too big? too small? too formal? Sometimes I think seats ruin shows because people tend to watch the concert like a performance rather than allowing themselves to participate the way a standing, sweaty audience does.) or if they are just not a great live band (although they've been opening for U2! The biggest band in the world!) but I have felt more electricity from crappy little bar bands opening for other crappy bar bands in crappy venues on crappy nights.

A few years ago I saw Coldplay at MSG and came away similarly turned off. No balls. No charisma. No...nothing. Nice songs, but nothing made me want to stand up and holler, and that is what I like concerts to do for me. When I saw R.E.M. last year (as a casual but decidely non-hardcore fan) I had goosebumps and I teared up more than once, because Michael Stipe IS JUST THAT GOOD. Some people are rock stars. Some people are singers. I think we spent last night with the latter.

But, how sweet was it to walk two blocks to a concert?
Mediocrity is a lot more appealing when it's right around the corner.